Kindergarten
Today we learned about Rosh Hashanah. We learned about significant things we do/eat during this time (ex: apples and honey, round challah, shofar, etc). We also learned that the Rabbi blows the shofar to symbolize the welcoming of the new year. We got a chance to make/ decorate our own shofar out of blow horns! Lastly, we got to eat some sweet apples and honey for a sweet new year!
Ask your child: 1. What is Rosh Hashanah? 2. Why do we eat apples and honey on this holiday?
1st Grade
We discussed what mitzvot are. We also talked about Derek Eretz. We made mitzvah leaves for our mitzvah tree. We did mitzvah book pages and heard a story about the mitzvah magician. We colored a picture of us doing a mitzvah.
Ask your child: 1. Why do we eat apples and honey on Rosh Hashanah? 2. What is the name of the Hebrew month that Rosh Hashanah is celebrated in?
2nd Grade
This week we learned about Rosh Hashana and all of the New Year's Traditions. We will learn: What is Rosh Hashanah? The Jewish New Year. Birthday of the Universe. What does it mean? “Head of the Year” God writes down what is to happen to every person. How do we celebrate? Light candles, blow the shofar (rams horn), eat sweet things (apples and honey). Cast our sins into the water. Some throw bread into water that has fish. (Tashlich) Why do we celebrate? During the ten days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, we reflect on our actions and ask for forgiveness for what we have done wrong. The shofar and the calls. Tekiah - one long blast Shevarim - Meaning “breaks” or “fractures” These three medium blasts. T’ruah - twelve short, quick blasts
Ask your child: 1. What are the calls of the shofar? 2. Why do we celebrate Rosh Hashanah? 3. What year are we entering?
3rd Grade
Judaics - We worked on creating a positive atmosphere and excitement through learning class rules and playing getting to know each other games. We also discussed our first very special Hero: Natalie Portman. students listened to her wonderful life story and in small groups discussed values they would use to describe her and present their answers to the class.
Ask your child: 1. What values did you use to describe Natalie Portman? 2. What have you done to make the world a better place?
Hebrew
To start off the lesson, each child will open up their Siddur and go over familiar prayers in search of words that are used to describe God. After writing down 10 words on the whiteboard, we will narrow the list down to 5. Each student will choose 3-4 words from the remaining list that they believe applies to themselves, and explain why they chose those words. After a classroom discussion about how we are all similar to God in different ways, we will talk about Rosh Hashanah and how it is the celebration of God's creation of the world.
Ask your child: 1. Why do we eat apples and honey on Rosh Hashanah? 2. What is the name of the Hebrew month that Rosh Hashanah is celebrated in?
5th Grade
Judaics
This week we talked about the story of Cain and Abel! We continued our discussion from last week regarding being responsible for the wellbeing of each other, as well as talking about conflict resolution and ways of handling arguments with friends and family. Students will be bringing home a card they made with conflict resolution strategies; please feel free to put this on the fridge or other visible location so they can see it and think about it with some regularity.
Ask your child: 1. What is one time you handled an argument without losing your temper, getting angry, or yelling? 2. Why is it important to be responsible for each other’s safety?
Hebrew
We talked about the month of Elul and the importance of foregiveness. Why do we need a whole month to ask for forgiveness. Who needs to ask for forgiveness. We created our Shofar of "S'lichot" and tried to make sure we will start the new Jewish year with a big smile.
Ask your child: 1. Tell us about the month of Elul. 2. How can we as a family be able to forgive and talk about everything?
6th Grade
In class this week, we focused on important pieces of history leading up to the Holocaust.
We began with a very minor introduction into WW1 that led us to a conversation about the Treaty of Versaille. Ask your child about the 3 categories of terms for the treaty (1. Territorial 2. Military 3. Economic/Financial). Students learned that Germany suffered territorial loss, military restrictions, and significant economic loss (reparations) due to the terms of the treaty. We then began to discuss the early rise of the Nazi Party, in part, as a reaction to the Treaty of Versaille. Students studied the original platform that Hitler proposed in February of 1920. They were tasked with taking some of this complex language and putting into terms that other 6th graders would be able to understand. They came away with a deep understanding of Hitler’s promotion for Germany first and his early attempt to scapegoat the Jewish community. We concluded our lesson with a brief introduction into the rise of Hitler as a leader, and we will continue to learn about his rise in the coming lessons.
7th Grade
An amazing week of bonding, team building, and creating our kehillah kedoshah at the Jewish Community Center. Our 7th graders were able to do the low ropes course, the rock wall, and lake activities. It was a ton of fun. Click HERE to see the photo album on our Facebook page!
8th-10th Grade
Dear Confirmation Academy Parents (8th, 9th-10th grade),
We had an awesome class today that revolved around The Meaning/Purpose of Life.
Is there one? Is it pre-determined? Do we create our own? What are the different approaches on this from both Scientific and Jewish point of view?
We, as modern-Jews, are hyphenated and informed by both…
BUT, ultimately we choose what we want to believe, and that belief informs how we live our life.
It also determines how we interact with the world around us, our expectations for relationships, and our ambitions.
This was an animated conversation, and as you can imagine, our kids have tons to say.
Please ask them about it.
B’shalom!
-S
