March 28, 2024 |

Gimmel Goings On

Posted on November 1, 2016

Shalom Gimmel Families,

It has been a busy month of holidays and I hope everyone enjoyed celebrating!

This past Sunday Gimel students jumped back into the swing of things.  They wrote in their journals about the importance of community and joined the entire school for Tefillah where they had an opportunity to act out some of the Bircot Hashachar.

MORNING MEETING
Students reviewed the morning greeting (Boker Tov) by picking a popsicle stick out of a jar and greeting the person whose stick they picked.  They also reviewed the schedule for the day, the days of the week, the calendar, the weather and the season.  They enjoyed our number game where they practiced counting to shesh (6) and also played a new game called Zip Around to review some of their reading.  Ask your Gimel student how to play Zip Around!

HEBREW
Students were introduced to our new prayer curriculum!  The first set of blessings they will be studying will be the Bircot Hashachar (morning blessings).

Binders
Each student received a binder in which to store their  Hebrew materials,  their homework calendar, a copy of the Bircot Hashachar, and a color coding sheet which they can use for reference to review their vowels.   In class students highlighted the different vowels in lines 1 and 2 in different colors.

QR code and Temple website
Their copy of Bircot Hashachar has a QR code which students were shown how to use.  If you are able, it would be great if you could download a free qr reader app.  The one I use on my iPad and iPhone is QR Reader.  Just scan your device over the code and it should come right up.  If you are not able to download the app, here are the steps to find the Bircot Hashachar on the Temple website:

  1.   www.tiofnatick.org
  2. Click on Music of TI
  3. Click on Shabbat
  4. Click on Saturday Morning Melodies
  5. Scroll all the way down to Pesukei Dezimra
  6. Click on Bircot Hashachar and enjoy the melody!

Information Letter and Google Voice
In their binders, students have a letter with information and explanations of how the homework calendar works.   There is also a Google Voice number on the bottom of the calendar.  I encourage students to call the number each week to practice the lines they are studying.  When I hear their message, I will send an email with feedback.  Students can use a cell phone or landline to call Google Voice.  This week we are working on lines 1 and 2.  For homework I would like students to practice reading these 2 lines for 5-10 minutes each day.  
Please feel free to contact me via email with any questions about the letter,  the homework calendar, the QR code and Google Voice.   My email is eberelowitz@gmail.com
TORAH
This year our Torah curriculum will focus on Jewish values in some of the stories from the Book of Exodus,  and we will explore these Jewish values in the context of being part of a community.  Yesterday,  students wrote in their journals about what community means to them and what values they think is important for their communities to have.  Students shared interesting ideas such as kindness, safety, friendship and respect as being important values for a community to have.
During the week, we will continue to explore these ideas and will also talk about why their own communities are important to them.  They will also create a poster which will be a visual representation of what their ideal community looks like.
RECAP OF LAST WEEK
Last Sunday we enjoyed a walk to the Greenberger’s Sukkah and we thank our hosts for welcoming us.  Students enjoyed a snack, story and game and had an opportunity to shake the lulav and etrog.
Our Wednesday group used an iPad app called Explain Everything to review all of the fall holidays.
Wishing everyone a wonderful week and we are super excited to welcome both our Tuesday and Wednesday groups during the week!
L’hitraot
Elana & Marc