Grade 5 Update

Last week, we continued our community unit through activities that required teamwork and communication. One game required the class to work as a whole to problem solve their way into a small circle placed on the floor. In time, they concluded that the only way to get all members of the class to fit in the circle at the same time was if they each placed a finger inside. Great working as a community!

Later, students worked in partners and faced back-to-back. Each person had to describe his or her typical Seder table to his or her partner and both teammates had to draw it according to the description. With detailed descriptions and active listening, the pictures turned out very similar among partners. Fifth graders loved this activity! This also lends itself to a discussion on Passover traditions. 

This past Sunday, we started our unit on Justice and had the most thoughtful and interactive discussion of the year. First, we brainstormed different ways to define Justice and followed that by discussing injustices in the world. Students were impressive with what they said. For example: If we’re all people, what would make one person a slave and another a slave owner? / Not only is war unjust because it’s war, but also because innocent people have to live near bombs/ Some people are homeless and don’t have food to eat. Fifth graders then worked with partners to think of a time they personally witnessed an injustice and had to describe what they think it felt like to be that person. The next step was to come up with a plan for how they could make a difference. We then linked this lesson to the Passover story. 

In Hebrew, students have been working in centers to practice reading fluency. Some of the centers included games like Hebrew Bingo with body part names and Hebrew reading pick-up sticks. Other centers offered reading about kashrut and practicing reading and singing prayers that we’ve learned.