March 29, 2024 |

Grade 5 – Kitah Hey – Jan. 11

Posted on January 12, 2016

Grade 5           Kitah hey.    January 11, 2016

We have begun to talk about Tu Bshvat. 
I asked what that means……….blank stares…….
I explained that every Hebrew letter has a number value…………
We did some “Hebrew mathematics.
         Solving:              ז +ה +ד -א
                    7 + 5 + 4 – 1 =?
Hmmmmmm, that seems to add up to 15 !
What a coincidence!  That is what ט״ו adds up to also!
I explained we do not use the Hebrew letters yud and hey for counting, as that is one way we refer to G-d.
We did a little more fun “math” before moving on.
Yesterday, Sunday, we had a fun and social breakfast.  Our cereal box had a frog on it.  The gesher class chose it to represent the Torah portion “Bo”.  The first seven plagues are introduced in this portion.
Thank you to Yael from gesher for your help during breakfast!
Before we knew it, it was time for tefillah.
Thanks to Robin and cantor Ken for making our sessions so educational and such fun!
Back in the classroom we continued our Torah talk.  Much appreciation to the seventh grade class for creating some very interesting questions for discussion!
      How did YOU feel when you were a slave in Egypt?
      Which plague was the hardest?
       Which plague frightened you the most?
       Do you remember seeing each other way back then?
        I was right there with you also…….       Well, of course.
Do you think any of these plagues could have been scientifically possible?
What IS a miracle anyway??
Animated responses followed………
We promised to continue over the next few weeks leading up to Passover.

I introduced the concept of redemption.  Our “research team” checked the dictionary.  I asked them to explain the term in 10 year old terms.  Naomi seemed concerned.  She was no longer 10.  She had a birthday.  (Where was my piece of cake!!??). We decided she could participate as an 11 year old as well.

We concluded the day with a video of the Torah portion.
Another great day!
Love these kids!


Cindy
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