Hello Gan Class Families!
Welcome to the month of Kislev! Today was the very first day of this new month. During Tefillah with Cantor Ken, we learned that Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of a new month, is a special holiday that happens at the new moon. This is when there is only a little sliver of the moon visible. We practiced some songs from the Hallel service which is part of the Rosh Chodesh observance and sang prayers of gratitude to thank God for a new month. Because Kislev is the month in which Hanukkah takes place, it was time to start practicing the blessings we will say while lighting the menorah. There are two more classes before Hanukkah begins so we will be pros by the time we light the first candle!
Today we created our illustrations for the story of Cain and Abel. Students are doing an excellent job retelling our Torah stories each week. Our next story is always a favorite one! We will meet Noah and learn how he built an ark to save the animals from the flood God creates.
We had two new letters today, mem and aleph. Mem makes the sounds m- and begins the word mezuzah. Aleph is a tricky letter - it makes no sound on its own. Aleph is the beginning letter of the word ehad which means one and aron kodesh, the name for the ark where the Torah's are kept. Students are continuing to practice all of the letters each week and are working hard to pair letters with their sounds.
Ann helped us learn about the importance of the mezuzzah. She showed us pictures of ones in her home and explained that they are used to indicate that Jewish people live there. She shared that inside the mezuzah is a special claf which includes the Shema prayer we have been practicing during Tefillah. Then we became detectives. We traveled around the building looking at all the different mezuzot. As we explored the building, some students began kissing the mezuzot they could reach. Other students did the same and by the time we returned to the classroom, ever Gan Class student had kissed at least one mezuzah (using their hands of course) in the building. Back in the classroom we talked about all the different shapes, sizes and materials of the mezuzot that we saw and realized that, though they all look different, the prayer on the inside is the same.
Our Mystery Readers today were Kaleb's mom and dad. Kaleb's dad read The Mitzvah Magician by Linda Elovitz Marshall. This story was about a boy named Gabriel and how he learned to use his powers to do good deeds. We had time for a second story so Kaleb's mom read Sammy Spider's First Trip to Israel by Sylvia A. Rouss. In this story, Sammy Spider travels to Israel and finds lots of things to see, smell, hear, taste and touch that he wants to share with his mom.
When we return to class on December 3rd we will enjoy our first experience with the story of Noah's Ark and participate in Aleph Bet Centers to practice the letters we have learned so far!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Michelle
No comments:
Post a Comment