Hebrew Through Movement

Hi Parents,
This past Sunday we had a Tu B'Shevat lesson, since the holiday began that day at sundown.  Our new vocabulary words are:
aytz=tree
p'ree=fruit
l'ntoah=to plant
This is because, as you may know, Tu B'Shevat is known as the birthday of the trees, the Jewish equivalent of Arbor Day.   We practiced walking, jumping, spinning, and running both to pieces of fruit and a little replica of a tree, and doing the same to pictures of an Israeli acacia tree, a pomegranate tree, and one of President Obama planting a tree in Israel alongside former Israeli president and prime minister Shimon Peres.

Think about taking your children outside one day and saying lalechet el aytz--walk to the tree.  Or if you'd rather be inside, you could put a piece of fruit on the table and say l'hatzbeeah el p'ree, point to the fruit.  I'm going to try and work with them for longer now that their vocabulary has increased.  I see tremendous gains in their confidence in following Hebrew commands.  Working with them is great fun!
Have a great week!
Emily

Hebrew Through Movement

Hi Parents,

Yesterday I taught the Gan, Alef, and Bet classes together.  We focused on synagogue objects--specifically the bimah (platform from which the service is conducted), ner tamid (eternal light), aron hakokesh (holy ark), and Torah.  During the lesson I reinforced some of our basic verbs by having students pick up pictures of these things, and either walk toward the ark, sit on one of the chairs on the bimah, or point to the eternal light.  You can try some at home, if you'd like:
lakachat=to pick up
lahtet=to put down
l'hatzbeeah el=to point to something far away
l'hatzbeeah al=to point to something and touch it
lashevet al keesay=to sit on a chair

No class next week because of MLK Weekend.  I look forward to seeing your children in two weeks!
Emily

Hebrew Through Movement

Hi Parents,
Yesterday the schedule allowed me to work with the Gan/Aleph (K/1) students separately from Kitah Bet (Grade 2).  It was my first chance to assess what the younger students are picking up, and I was extremely pleasantly surprised.  Here are some of the words I think they know if you ever feel like playing around with this at home:  lakoom=stand up, lashevet=sit down, lalechet=to walk, la'atzor=to stop, larootz=to run, likfotz=to jump, l'histovev=to spin.  If nothing else, it's a great way to get exercise with your children!  No class next week, as I'll be preparing the Kitah Vav (Grade 6) students for their class service, so I'll look forward to working with them again on the 22nd.
L'hitraot,
Emily Andreano

Hebrew Through Movement

Hi Parents,
Today and last week the Gan, Alef, and Bet classes had class together because of limited available time as they prepare for their class service.  This makes for a rather large class, with diverse exposure to the Hebrew language, but most students are very game about observing their fellow students and the teacher aides to remind themselves of words they may have forgotten.  Some parents have told me that their children are remembering certain words at home, and this should increase as the year progresses.  I have not forgotten my promise to post videos, but with all the students together, our class often resembles a mosh pit filled with extremely small partiers. My aides and I will work on getting some good close-ups of them in action, though, we promise! Please don't hesitate to email me at rjandr@aol.com if you've any comments or questions.  With Liz's permission, I also welcome visitors to our class any time.
When you drop your children off this Sunday, please don't forget that there is a meeting at 9 a.m. in the Social Hall for you to express your desires vis-a-vis your child's religious school education.  Have a great week!
Emily Andreano

Special Guests

To help the students learn about the weekly Torah portion of Noah, we had some special guests. One of our Temple members visited with her therapy dogs, Kobi and Piper. We learned about how animals can help us to feel better. In turn, we have a responsibility to treat animals nicely.

Hebrew Through Movement

Dear Parents,
This week we began Hebrew Through Movement, 15 minutes when your children learn Hebrew by having fun following commands.  The Gan and Aleph classes do this together.  We'll try and post a video each week of your children in action!  They already are picking it up so quickly; I look forward to working with them!
Morah Emily

Kitah Alef Happenings

Dear Parents,
It was a pleasure spending Sunday morning with your children.  I am very excited for the religious school year.
We started our day reading and discussing the end of Sukkot and the beginning of Simchat Torah. We learned about Creation which is the first story in the Torah. Each child was assigned a day to create and these pictures were posted on our bulletin board. Please take a moment to see our project in the hallway as the children are very proud of their work.  Our service which was lead by Rabbi Meyer was very enjoyable he demonstrated how to hold the lulav and etrog.  In addition, the children witnessed Mika's baby naming ( Liz's daughter). That was very exciting!
The second half of the day was  just as busy, the class participated in music class with Spencer followed by second grade buddies helping our class  make and read their own creation books to take home to share with your families.
Nest Sunday, Oct. 11 we do not have religious school. I am looking forward to seeing the class on Sunday, Oct, 18th. 
Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns @ cshaer@verizon.net