November 20, 2022
Hello Aleph Families! Today we talked about God as our partner. The learning goal was for the students to understand that they are partners with God. We started our day with a story called " God in Between" by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso. It is about a town of people who have no windows or roads by their homes and are wondering if there is a God. There are two people who do have windows and the townspeople ask them to go in search of God so that their problems will be solved. They went to the mountains, dessert, the sea, etc and did not find God there. When they returned to the town, the man and the woman helped the townspeople build roads. The moral of the story is that God is between us and our partner in life.
We brainstormed a list of ways that we could be partners with God. The students came up with great answers. We then followed that up with an activity sheet where they had to color, cut, and match the pictures of what God created and what people created.They found a partner and played the matching game with a friend! You may have seen a cup with the cards brought home.
Some students played spot it. That game can only be played with a partner so it further brought the concept of partnership to light.
The students reviewed Hebrew letters and learned the letter Nun today.
SAVE THE DATE:
December 11- our family education project. For this day, please have photos of the person who your child is named after. (Hebrew name) We will be creating beautiful name bracelets and posters with the children.
Thank you for all your support.
November 13, 2022
Aleph 1 and 2:
Hello aleph class families! Today was a fun filled day! We learned about the Tower of Babel. We read the story and learned that the people built a tower up to the heavens. God was upset because the people were trying to upstage the power of God so God made it that all the people spoke different languages. The people could not communicate and they got frustrated and left the area.
To represent this idea, the students learned how to say hello in several different languages! We joined with the other Aleph class and played Tower of Babel bingo using M and M's for the chips. They had a blast!
To show that we do not always need to speak to communicate, we did a team building activity where the students had to get into height order without speaking! That was fun!
From there, we each created our own towers out of Lego.
We reviewed our Hebrew letters by creating letters out of modeling clay. They created a gimel, dalet, hey, bet, tav, mem, final mem and shin. They did an amazing job!
Thank you for sharing your wonderful kids with us every Sunday!
November 6, 2022
Aleph -Hello Aleph families! This week we learned the story of the Garden of Eden.
The students had to sequence the story and then we made snakes using strawberries and bananas.
We learned the letter Hey while reviewing the previous letters we worked on over the last few weeks.
Please let us know if you ever have any questions! Have a great week!
Aleph 2 -
October 30, 2022
Aleph 1- Today we spoke about Shabbat and started the lesson by reviewing last weeks lesson on creation. The final day of creation, day 7, is the day that God rested. We call this day Shabbat. Going around the room we charted what do the kids already know about Shabbat. Many of the kids knew that we light candles, say prayers, and have a family dinner. Using a prayer book, we practiced the three main Shabbat prayers, it was so wonderful hearing how many of them knew them already. We then read a story titled, The Friday Nights of Nana. The story is about a grandma who is preparing the Shabbat meal with her granddaughter. For our craft we created Shabbat challah covers. Each student had a choice to include their Hebrew and/or English name on the cover. I hope you highlight this cover at one of your next Shabbat meals. In Hebrew lesson, Parker reviewed all the letters we have already learned, including shin, tav, bet, gimmel, resch, men, and final mem. The students did an action for each letter to help them remember. Since the rain prevented us from using the playground, we stayed inside and played pass the stuffed challah!
Please remember our Family Education program is on December 11th. You will be receiving more information as it gets closer.
Aleph 2-
Hi families,
This week we continued learning about Abraham and Sarah but this time in the context of the mitzvah of Hachnasat orchim (welcoming guests). We watched a few short videos and had discussions to learn about the concept, how Abraham and Sarah did hachnasat orchim, and how we can do it in our lives with friends, family members, and strangers alike. They are doing such a great job participating and remembering previously learned concepts so they’re very close to earning a class prize. In the spirit of democracy they came up with a list of possible prizes and then voted to determine the winner. In a few weeks they’ll be treated to a well deserved pj’s and ice cream party…more details to follow.
In Hebrew, the children did a fun movement game to practice the sounds different Hebrew letters make and they learned the letter ג (gimmel).
Please remember to send your child to Hebrew school with a water bottle, kippah, and if you’re able, tzedakah.
Please remember our Family Education program is on December 11th. You will be receiving more information as it gets closer.
Have a great week!
October 23, 2022
Aleph 1- Hello Aleph 1 families. This Sunday our class learned about Creation. We talked about how God created the world in 7 days. Starting from Sunday as Day 1 and continuing until Saturday, our day of rest, which is Shabbat. The children had fun putting the cards in order of when God created it! Day 1- Day and Night. Day 2- Sky and Water. Day 3- Plants. Day 4- Sun, moon and stars. Day 5 - fish and birds (including dinosaurs) Day 6- Animals and People and Day 7- our day of rest- Shabbat.
We made beautiful drawings of all the days of creation. Some of the students wanted to bring home their pictures, the others I will hang up in the classroom to admire.
Parker taught the children Mem and final Mem today with a review of the other letters we worked on the past few weeks. They worked on finding the shin, mem, final mem, bet, tav and resh on a sheet and had to color each Hebrew letter a different color.
Have a great week!
Aleph 2- Hi families,
This Sunday we took a step away from learning about Jewish holidays and started at the beginning (Bereshit). We reviewed the number of books in the Torah, the name of the first book, and some stories found in it, such as Adam and Eve and Noach. We then went deeper into the story of Abraham and Sarah. We read some of the Torah text using the book, Lech Lecha and looked at a map of their journey to Canaan. Based on that text we talked about what it means to be a blessing and what a covenant is. The kids each wrote and/or drew some ways that they are a blessing and together we made a class covenant (photo will be sent next week). In Hebrew class, the children learned the letters mem (מ) and final mem (ם) and reviewed previous learned letters.
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October 16, 2022
Section 1 - Morah Suzanne
After Shira/ Tefillah, the class ate snack in the sukkah and had the chance to shake the lulav too!
We talked about Simchat Torah and learned many things about this holiday. We learned that we walk around the sanctuary 7 times. It takes a year to read the Torah from beginning to end. Bet is the first letter in the Torah and Lamed is the last letter. Together lamed and bet make the word lev, which means heart. We created our own Torah scrolls out of pretzels and fruit roll ups! In Hebrew, we learned the letter Dalet,which is the first letter in the word degel, which means flag! Then, we waved flags to celebrate Simchat Torah!!
Have a great week!!
Section 2 - Morah Jen
Today we spent some time in the sukkah admiring the decorations we made last week, smelling the etrog, and shaking the lulav. The kids also had fun doing a scavenger hunt in the sukkah. Some items were hard to find so we used the Hebrew words for hot (cham) and cold (kar) to help them figure out where the items were located. Back in the classroom we completed the book, This is the Sukkah that name Built. Some students wrote their name in English and others wrote them name in Hebrew. We also read a bit about Simchat Torah and learned the first and last words in the Torah. Based on that, we figured out that the first and last letters of the Torah spell לב (lev or heart). Finally we completed a craft to go along with that new discovery. In Hebrew, Parker reviewed previously learned letters and introduced the letter dalet ד.
SUNDAY, October 9
Aleph – Section1 - Suzanne
Hello Aleph families!!
I hope you all had a meaningful Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Today we began our discussion on Sukkot. The students learned all about the holiday including the following:
1- it is a temporary dwelling 2- it is a Mitzvah to eat and sleep in the sukkah 3- we typically hang fruits and vegetables in the sukkah to represent the harvest 4- we shake the lulav and etrog all around us to show that God is all around us.
In Hebrew, we learned the letter resh and reviewed the letters shin, Tav, and bet.
We decorated flags to hang in the Temple Israel Sukkah and made edible sukkot using graham crackers!
We also read “The Best Sukkot Pumpkin Ever” by Laya Steinberg What a fun filled day of learning!!
Have a great week!
Morah Suzanne, Parker and Max.
Aleph - Section 2 - Jennifer
Hi families,
This week we learned about Sukkot by reading the book, Night Lights by Barbara Diamond and watched a LEGO sukkot video (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SRHkgWGyn4Y). We talked about our experiences sleeping and/or eating in a temporary shelter be it a sukkah or a tent. In Hebrew, the children learned the letter ר (resh). The children are also getting very good at finding their name written in Hebrew as part of our morning activities. Last, we did a craft to hang in the sukkah.
Please remember to send your child to TIRS with a kippah and water bottle each week. We also collect tzedakah, so please send in some coins each week if you are able.
B’Shalom, Morah Jen
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
Aleph 1
Hello awesome Aleph families! Happy first day of TIRS! After an amazing opening assembly, our class had some get to know you activities. There are 12 students in out section and we are looking forward to getting to know one another. We promised to be respectful and kind to everyone in our class. Each student had a chance to share their wishes for the new year with the rest of the class. Many of the students said they wanted to have fun and to learn a lot! On our first day we learned the letter 'shin' and talked about our Hebrew names.
It is wonderful getting to know your children and I look forward to a great school year.
Shabbat Shalom, Morah Suzanne, Parker (Hebrew madrich) and Max
Aleph 2
Hi Parents,
We had a great first day of Hebrew school in Aleph 2! We played some getting to know you games, talked as a group about what we already know about Rosh Hashanah, and read a book about it. The students also learned about the letter ש (shin) including the sound it makes and some words that begin with it. I look forward to a wonderful year of learning and fun with your children!
Reminders: Please send your child to school each week with a kippah and a water bottle. We will also be collecting tzedakah each week so please feel free to send some coins in with your child.
B’shalom, Morah Jen
