November 13, 2022
Bet students continued working with the four Hebrew letters and two Hebrew vowels sounds that they are learning. They completed an activity where the teacher called out letter and vowel combinations, and then the students wrote what they heard on individual white boards. They also practiced converting one sound to another sound. The students had fun challenging each other with their own made-up sounds. One student gave the class a seven letter (made-up) word to write, which all the students wrote correctly. This activity was very helpful in assisting some students that were struggling to read the letters and vowels while it also reinforced letter writing and reading with all students. In Tefillah, we sang Hatikvah, learned the prayer “L’chu N’ranina”, and continued practicing other prayers from the Kabbalat Shabbat service. In Judaic studies, the students learned that we face Jerusalem when we pray and then solved riddles and completed fill in the blank questions about what we do in synagogue and the meaningful items in a sanctuary-including the Aron Hakodesh (ark), Bimah, Ner Tamid (eternal light), and Menorahs. We ended the day by playing an around the circle game where each student said why they were going to Temple Israel and used their memories to repeat their classmates’ reasons (who had their turn before them). At this point, the students understand that we pray in a sanctuary or chapel facing Jerusalem and are aware that Torahs are kept in the Aron Hakodesh, the Ner Tamid, (eternal light) hangs over the Aron Hakodesh, and services are lead from the Bimah. Next week, we will learn how we dress to pray!
