Dear families:
We began with tefillah. Led by Cantor Ken, we sang the morning
blessings, the shema, and “hallelu” with all the instruments. The second grade led the V’ahavta, using the
hand motions that they had learned.
After singing Hatikvah and This Land is Your Land, we went back
to class.
HEBREW: We learned the letter tsadee, צ the first letter
in tzedakah, “tzfarde’a” (frog), and “tzipoor”
(bird). Besides taking turns reading
from our text, the children review the letter packs in pairs.
As I explained to the children,
every school has periodic fire drills, just in case. Today, we knew about it in advance, and we
had time to put on our coats and hats.
We walked silently to the basketball net near the playground. Then we returned to class—and snack with our
usual brachot.
We began learning about Purim,
that jolly holiday. We celebrate by listening
to the megillah, eating hamantaschen and special meals, wearing costumes,
sending mishloah manot (baskets of goodies) to friends, and giving tzedakah.
I did the GODLY PLAY
lesson on Purim. As you can see by the
photos below, I tell the story, using simple wooden figures and little scenery,
so that each student can imagine what it looks like. After the story, I ask “wondering”
questions like which part of the story did you like best, where do you see
yourself in the story, what part was exciting, etc. The students are very attentive and have thoughtful answers to the questions.
Two activities
followed. CRAFT: As a project, the children created
drawings to make their own picture megillah.
During free time, students could do a word search, read books, or play
Purim games.
BIBLE: With
Cheryl, students read and discussed the pamphlet Esther; they thought of
things that Jews everywhere do, and how to be loyal to Judaism, such as
lighting candles, giving tzedakah, etc.
Our last
activity was singing some Purim melodies: “When You Hear the Name of Haman,”
(to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It”), “My Hat, it has Three
Corners,” and “For Purim Day,” (a song I wrote to the tune of “The Wheels on
the Bus”)
The children
are encouraged to come in costume next week.
There will be a regular session on March 12, with the Purim carnival
after school.
Shavua tov!
Judy and Cheryl (Esther and
Tzipporah)
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