Gimel Goings On

Posted on February 13, 2017

Shalom Gimel Families!

So far February has been a busy month!  I hope everyone is staying warm and enjoying the sheleg (snow).

Hebrew
Students completed their study of Ein Keloheinu and are now working on the Friday evening Kiddush.  They are doing a great job mastering this and are very motivated to practice it.  During the week a new game was created – Musical Cards.  Cards with a phrase from the Friday night Kiddush were placed around the perimeter of a table.  Students circled the table to music (Friday night Kiddush).  When the music stopped each student read the phrase at the card they landed at.  So much fun had by all!
On Sundays, in addition to Morning Meeting (pegishah), Hebrew involves 3 10-12 minute rotation stations:
1.  Practice reading and singing the Friday evening Kiddush.
2.  Practice reading from reading packets from the book, Zman Likroh
3.  Hebrew Reading Games.

Holidays
Students completed their study of the Tu Bishvat and the different station rotations.  Yesterday we had a Tu Bishvat celebration in class.  Students sampled grape juice, apples, clementines, bananas and grapes (accompanied by the appropriate blessings).  While students were enjoying the fruits, they listened to the story The Great Kapok Tree which is a story about saving the rain forests.  Students also did a tree flap project.

Underneath the apple flaps students wrote down important things we get from trees.  Ideas included oxygen and homes for animals.

Last week students also played an online jeopardy game to review all the holidays learned so far.

Torah
Our next story focuses on Moses at the Burning Bush and going to Pharaoh to tell him to “Let the people go.”  Through these stories students will explore the value of leadership, what makes a good leader, what made Moses a good leader, and other modern day community leaders.  We began with a journal entry, “What is a leader” and ,”What makes someone a good leader?”  Some of the responses were:
A leader is someone who will help you make the right choices.
A leader is someone who sets an example.
A leader is someone who helps other people when they need it.
Someone is a good leader when they make sure everyone is included.
Someone is a good leader when they are encouraging and responsible.
Someone is a good leader when they make good decisions.
Someone is a good leader when they are brave and stand up to people.

We played a game of Indian Chief and then discussed why people wanted to be leaders in the game and why others wanted to be part of the crowd.  The Tuesday group read a short play of Moses at the Burning Bush and identified reasons why Moses was reluctant to be a leader and instances where G-d helped Moses to gain the confidence to be a leader. (Wednesday group will do it this week.)

Special Activity
Last Wednesday we were visited by Josh Satok of Camp Ramah who shared his photos and experiences of his recent trip to Israel.

Wishing everyone a great week!

Elana and Marc