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Sunday Synopses
Kindergarten - Today we learned about Hanukkah. We talked about why we light 8 candles and what the 9th candle is called. We decorated the classroom for the start of Hanukkah. Lastly we split up into groups to play Hanukkah games. Questions to ask your child: What is the 9th candle that lights all the other candles called? Why do we light 8 candles?
1st Grade - Today we learned that returning something is a Mitzvah. We also learned that we always tell the truth. We also visited Rabbi Spike and heard a wonderful story.
Questions to ask your child: Why is it important to tell the truth? Why should you return something that's not yours?
2nd Grade - Our class learned about Hanukkah - what it is and why we celebrate. We made edible menorahs, played with dreidels, practiced the prayers, and heard some great Hanukkah stories. We went to visit Rabbi Spike in his office and he told us a fun story.
K, 1, 2 Hebrew - 1st and 2nd grade - Ask your child which letter they learned on Sunday. Kindergarten - Ask your child to tell you 3 colors in Hebrew.
3rd Grade - In Judaics, we started with a lesson taught by Grayson, our Madrichim. Then we learned about a Hanukkah hero named Yenudah Ha'Maccab. We ended our day with a fun game called "Hanukkah Quiz".
Questions to ask your child: What was the miracle of Hanukkah? Who were the Maccabees?
In Applied Hebrew, the students read the story of Chanukah in small groups. After they finished reading, every group acted out their favorite part while the rest of the class guessed which part it was. We then discussed how the story of Chanukah can be tied to our five senses: We hear the songs and blessings, see the candle light, smell and taste the latkes and sufganyot, and play with the dreidel.
Questions to ask your child: How many days of Chanukah are there and why? Where did Mattathias live and how many boys did he have?
4th Grade - In Judaics, we are preparing for Chanukah, so we are exploring what bravery and courage means to us. We discussed many different ways we can be brave and couageous- as always, the 4th graders had meaningful insight and inspiring contributions to our lesson. Our class treat was creating an edible Menorah- it was so much fun to make and DEEEEEELISH!!!!!
In Applied Hebrew, we dug into the story of Hanukkah. Then we created artwork and described our favorite part of the holiday.
Questions to ask your child: How do we light the Chanukiah? Why is this important?
5th Grade - In Judaics, we learned about Parshah Vayeitzei (Gen. 28:10 - 32:3). This portion covers the story of how Jacob worked for his uncle / father-in-law in order to marry Leah and Rachel. We also talked about how Judaism teaches us to deal with dishonesty in others.
Questions to ask your child: Which approach worked for Jacob in dealing with his problems, running or talking? How can we take the lesson of Jacob, Rachel, and Leah and use it in our daily lives?
In Applied Hebrew, we are going to hear the Hanukkah story and creating a special cartoon based on the story. Students understood the history of our Jewish brothers and sisters in Jerusalem during the second Temple.
Questions to ask your child: How come the Jews were able to win the Temple again? If you lived in the time of the second temple would you join the Maccabim? Why?
6th Grade - This past Sunday, our 6th grade class began with a little Chanukah trivia thanks to the hard work of our madrichim, Harrison, Ryan, and Zac. We transitioned from Chanukah into our Holocaust curriculum discussing the value of “awe.” Where and when do we experience “awe”? During the Holocaust did people have moments of “awe”? If there were moments of “awe,” was God there for those? If God wasn’t present during the Holocaust, were there still moments of “awe”? The students also learned about the stories of Anne Frank, Primo Levi, and Elie Wiesel, whose stories wrestle with the notion of God and awe.
7th Grade - We continued working on our study of Rabbi Ben Zoma and his questions: Who is rich? Who is mighty? Who is wise? Ask your child what they think...
8th Grade - We ran our second PreK Preview Day! It was a lot of fun celebrating Chanukah with the PreKindergarten students.
