education – 3rd Grade

5/21: Today in class we worked on:

1) Today was our last day of the year and what a year it has been!
2) We started with our all school Boker Tov/“Meet and Greet”. Brady H, one of our 3rd graders led the entire school in the warm up exercise of 20 pushups and 25 jumping jacks in honor of the 45th day of the Omer. We blessed and counted the 45th day of the Omer with Rabbi Prass. Morah Ari led us in a Good Morning song.
3) 1st – 3rd grade had t’fillah with Rabbi Bellow and Morah Ari.
4) We concluded our Torah study with Moses being selected by God to tell Pharoah that the Israelites must be freed. We learned about the miracle of the burning bush, and how Moses felt he did not speak well enough to be the spokesperson and so his brother Aaron was tapped to work with him and speak.
5) We then joined Morah Ari for shirah.
6) When we came back, we wrote letters to 3rd grade’s year long tzedakah project, Fat Cat Rescue.
7) Rabbi Prass came into our class and led us thru a self-evaluation where we wrote down:
a. 4 things we learned on Sundays this year
b. 2 reasons the things we learned on Sundays are important
c. 1 bit of advice for next year’s 3rd grade students
8) We then made up questions for a year-end trivia game, which was a lot of fun!
9) Those who had not received their illustrated Torah Scrolls last week, received them yesterday. Any unclaimed scrolls may be picked up at the synagogue from Rabbi Prass.
10) After class, everyone enjoyed refreshments from the ice cream truck, which has become an end of year tradition at Beth Am. It was wonderful to see so many parents present.

Homework to be completed by next class:
1) Thank you all for a wonderful year. Wishing you a spectacular summer and looking forward to seeing you next year.
2) Don’t forget to register for the 2023-2024 school year.
3) There are lots of Beth Am events happening over the summer. You can find them all here.
4) Have a great summer! Try to attend Shabbat services before the next school year. It’s a great way to review your Hebrew.

5/14: Today in class we worked on:

  1. Today was a fun day.
  • Then all of 1st – 3rd grade had shira with Morah Ari.
  • We reviewed what we have learned about Joseph over the last few weeks and read about the birth of Moses. We worked on exercises in our books to reinforce our lessons.
  • We also did a special project noting the Jewish tradition of Ayshet Chayil (Woman of Valor) and noted how and why we are thankful for a mother/grandmother/aunt in our lives.
  • We also received our illustrated Torah scrolls that we have worked on all year to take home.  Please make sure you get those from your students and look them over together.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. complete the exercises in A Child’s Bible book for this week’s chapter.

5/7 Today in class we worked on:

  1. We had our all school Boker Tov/“Meet and Greet”. One of our 3rd graders, Everett G. led the entire school in a warmup exercise of 31 jumping jacks in honor of the 31st day of the Omer.  We blessed and counted the 31st day of the Omer with Rabbi Prass.  Morah Ari led us in a Good Morning song.  It was wonderful to have the 6th grade Muslim guests from the Hadi School of Excellence join us for this.
  • Today was a busy day. We started with our Boker Tov program.
  • We then joined 1st – 2nd grade, Rabbi Bellows, and Morah Ari for tefilah.
  • Then we continued our Torah studies learning what happened to Joseph when he was sent to Egypt as a slave.
  • We then learned how his wisdom and God’s gift of dream interpretation allowed him to rise to a position of power to help with coming famine and resulted in his reunion with his family and bringing Jacob and the whole family to Egypt.
  • We then watched most of the rest of the movie, Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
  • If you would like to finish watching the movie, you can find it here: https://youtu.be/57pUKrzVaDw
  • We had fun with Morah Ari and all of 1st – 3rd grade for shirah.

Homework to be completed by next class:

N/A

4/30: Today in class we worked on:

  1. e of holding a plank for 24 seconds in honor of the 24th day of the Omer.  We blessed and counted the 24th day of the Omer with Rabbi Prass.  Morah Ari led us in a Good Morning song.
  • Today we continued with our Torah study by learning about Joseph. We learned how he was his father, Jacob’s favorite son, and was even given a special multi-colored coat y his father. He had the ability to interpret dreams, and some of these dreams angered his brothers so much that they ended up selling him into slavery and telling their father he was killed by a wild animal.
  • We then began watching “Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” which we will finish next week.
  • We had fun with Morah Ari and all of 1st – 3rd grade for shirah.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Complete you exercises for the chapter in your Torah book if you have not. Continue to look for opportunities to spread kindness and shalom bayit.

4/23: Today in class we worked on:

  1. Yom Yisrael.  We had one of our special all school days in celebration of Yom Ha’atzamut, Israel’s 75th Independence Day which is this coming week.
  2. We began in our individual classrooms sharing
    1. Which one of us has been to Israel?
    1. Who in our family has been to Israel?
    1. What is one you would want to do in Israel?
  3. e of 17 jumping jacks in honor of the 17th day of the Omer.  We counted the Omer with Rabbi Prass and discovered we were now on the 17th day of the Omer which just 33 more days to go!  Morah Ari led us in a Good Morning song.
  • Then we rotated thru 4 stations, by grade, to celebrate Israel:
    • 75th Yom Ha’atzmaut Global Poster Contest organized by The National Library of Israel.  There is a $750 prize which can be used towards a trip to Israel
    • Rekudei Am (Israeli Folk Dancing)
    • Creating Flag of Israel filled with Birthday wishes and Singing Yom Hooledet to Israel
  • All of 1st – 6th grade gathered together in the Atrium for a wrap up which included hearing from the madrichim and morim who have been to Israel.  They shared one thing they loved about their time in Israel. 
  • As we left, we were each given some chocolate from Israel

          Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. See you Next week

4/16: Today in class we worked on: 

  1. First in Boker Tov/“Meet and Greet”, One of our 4th graders, Ben Greenberg led the entire school in a warmup exercise of 10 mountain climbers in honor of the 10th day of the Omer.  We counted the Sefira with Rabbi Prass and discovered we were now on the 10th day of the Omer, with just 40 more days to count!  Morah Ari led us in a Good Morning song. 
  1. We enjoyed being together with the 3rd grade classes for T’Fillah with Rabbi Bellows. 
  1. This week in class, we continued our Torah study by learning how Jacob returned home and reunited with his brother Esau. We learned that the night before he was to meet his brother, he met a stranger and they wrestled all night long, with neither winning. Finally the stranger twisted Jacob’s hip and was the victor. He then told Jacob that his name would now be “Israel” meaning one who wrestles with God. That is how we became known as the Children of Israel. Then we drew the parshat. 
  1. At Shira, Morah Ari led us in songs that were “Israel centered” in the runup to Yom Hatzmaut,  Israel’s Independence Day which comes up in about ten days.   

Homework to be completed by next class:  

  1.  Finish any exercises in your Gamebook that you have not completed for this chapter. Keep practicing Shalom Bayit at home. 

4/9: Today in class we worked on: 

  1. Today was a busy day!  
  1. First we joined the rest of the school for Boker Tov  where we counted the Sefira with Rabbi Prass and discovered we were now on the third day of the Omer, with just 46 more days to count!  Morah Ari led us in a song and one of our 5th graders helped lead the movement…three pushups for the 3rd day of the Omer. 
  1. Then went right into Tefilah with Rabbi Bellows and Morah Ari. 
  1. Then we reviewed our last Torah parshat about Jacob tricking his father and brother and having to leave home. This week we studied the next parshat about Jacob working for his uncle Laban and falling in love with Rachel. Laban had him work for 7 years to marry Rachel, only to marry him to Leah since she was the oldest. Jacob was forced to work for another 7 years to marry Rachel, thus was tricked himself. From this incident, we get the bedeken at the wedding ceremony, where the groom lifts the veil prior to the wedding to make sure he is marrying the bride he intended! 
  1. We enjoyed Shira with the 1st – 2nd grade class and Morah Ari.  Today is the 4th day of Passover, so we sang Passover songs! 
  1. We then illustrated this parshat and listened to music from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in anticipation of getting to that parshat in a couple of weeks. Students then helped tell the story that goes with the song O vanya, Ti vanya, about 2 seals in love at the north pole who sing to each other in Yiddish. 
  1. Have a great week! 

Homework to be completed by next class:  

N/A

3/19 Today in class we worked on: 

  1. We started off today with a Boker Tov assembly led by a 6th grade madricha, Rabbi Prass, and Morah Ari. 
  1. Then we joined Rabbi Bellows, Morah Ari, and the Gan-2 classes for tefillot. 
  1. We then continued our Torah studying by continuing with the life of Rebecca and Isaac, learning about their sons – Jacob & Esau. We learned that, like many of us with siblings, Jacob & Esau were very different individuals with different interests and they did not always get along. We learned how Esau, who was the eldest twin, sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew. Later, with the help of his mother Rebecca, Jacob fooled their father Isaac into giving him the special blessing of the first born. Rabbi tell us this is because Rebecca saw that Jacob would be the better leader of the family going forward. 
  1. Gan – 3rd grade joined Morah Ari for shira. 
  1. And then came back to class to discuss a song students wanted to play last week – Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up, which they really enjoy and know all the words to. Since we are in Sunday school, we discussed the themes of the song about kindness, love, lifting others up, and how this song could be about several things, from someone the singer loves to God. We then sang the song and discussed the themes on video. 
  1. We also drew the parshat from this week and worked on exercises in our Game book. 

Homework to be completed by next class:  

  1. Complete any exercises in your game book that have not been finished. Continue to look for ways to bring Shalom Bayit into your home and spread kindness around. Also continue to use your Shalom Bayit chart if you have it up on your refrigerator. 
  1. Have a great spring break! 

3/12: Today in class we worked on:

  1. Today we started with our Boker Tov assembly with the whole school.
  2. Then, we joined Rabbi Prass and Moreh Mathew for tefilah.
  3. Then we continued our Torah study by learning how Sarah died and how Rebecca became Isaac’s wife. We learned the importance of being kind and considerate to others.
  4. We then joined the 1st & 2nd grade for Shirah with Moreh Matthew.
  5. And then illustrated the parshat we had just learned, and did exercises in our Game book for chapter 9. We then reviewed the day with a game of hodgy podgy.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Finish any exercises in your Game Book that have not been done so far.
  2. Continue to look for opportunities to promote Shalom Bayit at home and ways to spread kindness and happiness.

3/5: Today in class we worked on:

  1. Purim Sunday!!! It was great to see so many wonderful costumes!!!!
  2. We began in our classrooms where we shared our secular school, who is a woman we admire and respect (like Queen Vashti & Queen Esther), who is a hard working and wise leader (like Mordechai), and we came up with a team/class name playing off of a Purim theme.
  3. Then we joined in an all school t’fillah led by Rabbi Prass and Morah Ari.  We did our prayers in very Purim ways i.e. marching in place as we sang Mi Chamocha, standing on our head for barchu.  Then we all helped with the story as each class taught the 4 Purim Mitzvot from Esther 9:20 – 22 in special voices like Robot, British accent, Southern accent, Opera, and Rap.
  4. Then we rotated thru 4 rotations, by grade, to do the Purim Mitzvot: (a) Reading the megillah: Megillah Madlibs (b) Eating a festive Purim Meal: writing down the traditional Jewish Holiday Baked Goods for 6 Jewish holidays and then coming up with a Purim playful spin on them. (c) Creating a day of Joy and Merrymaking: we wrote our own Purim jokes (d) Matanot Levyonim: gifts to those in need.  We created pictures for An organization called Lemons of Love.  These pictures will be given to people who are fighting cancer to help them smile.
  5. We gathered together as the entire school for Purim Shira, Rabbi Bellows showing us the megillah and reading from it, the 6th graders reading an English 5 minute Megillah so we could boo Haman a lot. 
  6. We ended the day with Ring Pops as part of our Purim festive meal and to celebrate Queen Esther.

          Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. There are lots of other events happening at CBA.  You can learn about them by going to: (a) The CBA Facebook group (b) The CBA Shul Cloud Calendar (c) The CBA School Newsletter

2/26: Today in class we worked on:

  1. First at our Boker Tov/“Meet and Greet”, in addition to Morah Ari leading us in song, Harrison Bond, one of the 4th graders, led the entire Beth Am Religious School in 20 jumping jacks counted off in Hebrew!
  2. Then we went right into tefillah with Rabbi Prass. We enjoyed being together with the Gan – 2nd classes. We paid special attention to Rabbi Prass’ engaging words on what we all can do to help dispel ill will and bigotry in our world today!
  3. Then we continued our Torah studies by reviewing last week’s parshat of the birth of Isaac and destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah. This week we learned about the parshat called Akeida, where God tells Abraham to take Isaac to a mountain in Moriah and offer him as a sacrifice. At the last minute, God calls to Abraham not to kill his son, for he has passed the test God had set him. Further we are taught that children are precious and are not to be subject to child sacrifice as practiced among some other nations. We discussed why children are so beloved and important in Judaism, and that family is a central tenet in our teachings.
  4. Students illustrated the parshat and worked in their Gamebooks.
  5. We then met for shirah with Gan – 2nd Grade where Morah Ari led us in learning Purim songs.
  6. And then played hodgy podgy to review our parshat this week.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Remember to bring in tzedakah and finish the exercises in your gamebook.

2/19: Today in class we worked on:

  1. Today we started our day with Boker Tov with the whole school. One of our 6th graders, Dani, helped lead it.
  2. Then 1st – 3rd grade had tefillah with Rabbi Prass and Morah Ari.
  3. We then continued our Torah study learning about Abraham and Sarah gaining new names from God as well as the promise of a child, who would be named Isaac. We also learned how Abraham bargained with God to not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if at least 10 good people could be found to live there – which i where we get the number for a minyan for services. Unfortunately, 10 good people could not be found, and both cities were destroyed. Lot, Abraham’s nephew, and his family were saved and told to not look back. Lot’s wife looked back at the last moment, and turned into a pillar of salt.
  4. We then met for shirah with Morah Ari and began learning Purim songs.
  5. Then we illustrated the parshat we just studied and worked in our Game book. We finished up class playing hodgy podgy to review what we had learned today.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Finish any exercises in your Game book that were not completed. Remember to bring in tzedakah next week.

2/12: Today in class we worked on –

  1. Boker Tov assembly! With all the classes together.  We had a chance to see all the different sports swag we all were wearing.  And Rabbi Prass read a note Rabbi Bellows from the Beth Am trip in Israel.
  2. Today we continued our Torah study by reviewing our chapter about Abram, Sarai & Lot following God’s direction and moving to Canaan. After a while there, Abram & Lot both grew their herds and wealth, leading to stress and strife among their workers over resources. Abram told Lot to choose where he wanted to live and Abram would go in the opposite direction, because peace between family is paramount. Shalom Bayit – peace in the home – is a central tenet in Judaism. Students illustrated this parshat.
  3. We enjoyed being together with the 1st/2nd grade class for T’Fillah with Rabbi Prass and Morah Ari.  We connected many of the prayers to today’s Yom Sport.
  4. We also made Shalom Bayit charts for our homes where students and family members can put stickers everytime they do something to increase or contribute to Shalom Bayit in their homes.
  5. We enjoyed Shira with the 3rd grade class and Morah Ari. In celebration of today being Yom Sport and Super Bowl Sunday, we sang the following Americana/folk songs: Country roads, American Pie, Hallelujah, The Hope, and the Star Spangled Banner.
  6. We ended our day playing hodgy podgy reviewing Shalom Bayit.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1.  Post your Shalom Bayit chart in your home and start using it with your family. Remember to be kind and work to make your home more peaceful.

Today in class we worked on: 

2/5-

  1. Today we began the chapter of the Torah about Abram and how he is considered the very first Jew because he realized that there is one God. God asked Abram, his wife Sarai, and their household to travel far from their home to a new land they would be shown. Following their arrival, both Abram and his nephew Lot, who had travelled with them, had become prosperous and there was discord among their workers of their flocks. To prevent future hard feelings, Abram let Lot choose where he would live and Abram would go the other way, because it was not good for families to  fight. We had a long talk about Shalom Bayit, the concept in Judaism of Peace in the Home, and what we can do to promote this at our own homes. 
  1. Owing to the 5th Grade Faux Wedding we had an unusual morning schedule, we had an all school t’fillah, which featured the 5th graders acting out a Shabbat Chatan V’Kallah. 
  1. We enjoyed Shira with the 1st/2nd grade class and Morah Ari.  
  1. We also continue in our “Partners with God’ book about what b’tzelem elohim – being made in God’s image means and how we can behave to show respect to that concept. 
  1. We closed out the day with a game of hodgy podgy. 

Homework to be completed by next class:  

Work on shalom bayit at home. Make an effort to do things you are asked the first time, or communicating why you may need to delay doing something.  

Today in class we worked on: 

1/29-

  1. Today was 3rd Grade Boker B’yachad, where we welcome our parents to class for the morning. We had a full class with parents and a great morning.  
  1. Parents joined us for tefillah with Rabbi Bellows and then went for a special study session with her.  
  1. We discussed the concept of blessing and thanking God, about the different prayers we have for special occasions – hearing thunder, eating cake and cookies, smelling beautiful flowers, returning from a trip, seeing a wise person, seeing an exotic animal, seeing a rainbow, and even eating chocolate. We talked about gratitude and how prayer is a time to come together and recognize the amazing things God does for us all, not so much for asking for things. We can pray for strength or serenity, but not necessarily an Xbox. Rabbi Bellows’ drash even mentioned the need of us to move forward with challenges instead of just relying on God to fix things. That is how the Israelites were able to cross the Red Sea during the exodus – someone had to take the first step to get things moving. 
  1. Parents joined us for Shirah, and then came to class where the students performed their 10 Commandments song and we did a project together about how we can bring God more into our homes.  
  1. We also created our own Etzim Tovim to note special occasions at home that remind us of God. Students then showed their parents how to play Hodgy Podgy about what they did today. 

Homework to be completed by next class:  

N/A

Today in class we worked on: 

1/22-

  1. Boker Tov assembly! With all the classes together. 
  1. We shared “Chesed Happenings” which means Acts of Kindness and Love moments in their lives.  
  1. We enjoyed being together with the Gan and 3rd grade class for T’Fillah with Rabbi Bellows. 
  1. We learned in our Hebrew book lesson about the Hebrew Letters ALEPH with no saying sound, Aleph is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet and signifies the number one. We also learned the letter DALET with the         saying sound of “D” (Hebrew Hint-looks like the letter RESH but the top looks like a door make sure it is written like a “hinge hanging over”). All the flashcards I provided have the name and the sound on the back.    
  1. We enjoyed Shira with the Gan and 3rd grade class and Morah Ari. 
  1. We discussed the word “Mensh” the Yiddish word that means “good person”. The students came up with words and descriptions of what makes a Mensh. 

  7. Lihitaot (good-bye)!  

Homework to be completed by next class: 

  1.  Please remember tzedakah. 

Today in class we worked on: 

1/15-

  1. Today we worked on our 10 Commandments song and made posters for our presentation to our parents.  
  1. We also played hodgy podgy to review things we have learned so far this year. 
  1. We joined Rabbi Prass and Morah Ari for Boker Tov, joined Rabbi Bellows for tefilah and learned about prayers and God’s name, and then joined Morah Ari for shirah and sang songs about trees in honor of the upcoming Tu B’Shevat. 

Homework to be completed by next class:  

  1. Continue practicing your 10 Commandments song. Here is a link to the song on YouTube: https://youtu.be/kq4h3Opy-Xc 

Today in class we worked on: 

12/18- 

  1. We had an all school t’fillah led by Rabbi Prass and Morah Ari.  One student from each class helped with the physical holy objects.  We focused on the symbols of light we Jews use: the 2 Shabbat candles, then moved into making Havdalah (the wine cup, spice box, and twisted Havdalah candle), and then we lit the chanukiah in preparation for the first night of Chanukah.  At the end of t’fillah we had the opportunity to ask Rabbi Prass questions about Chanukah or the lights.  
  1. Then we went broke into 10 groups for the CBA Chanukah Candle Challenge (think Amazing Race for Chanukah).  The 9 challenges were: 
  1. Make a group magen (shield) just like the Maccabees 
  1. “figure out” the Chanukah story thru a rebus and then video it 
  1. Calculate how many candles you need for all 8 days including the shamas 
  1. Prepare a Chanukah song and record it (those will be posted on the CBA Facebook page) 
  1. Match Chanukah customs from around the world 
  1. Different spellings of Chanukah (the most correct one is the Hebrew one 😊) 
  1. Dreidel learning thru dreidel play 
  1. What are the important Chanukah gifts I can give (the answers will be posted on the CBA Facebook page) 
  1. What are my brachot (their work will be posted on the CBA Facebook page) 
  1. We regathered as an entire school to for a Chanukah shira led by Morah Ari.  We also heard the Chanukah story in the form of a play led by the 4th grade class.  

Homework to be completed by next class: 

  1. Please remember tzedakah. 
  1. Happy Chanukah!!! 
  1. There is Hebrew School this Week (12/20 & 12/21) 
  1. The CBA Winter Break schedule is: 
  1. Sunday, December 25 - Sunday, January 8 NO Religious & Hebrew School – Winter Break 
  1. Tuesday, January 10 - Tuesday Hebrew School Resumes 
  1. Wednesday, January 11 - Wednesday Hebrew School Resumes 
  1. Sunday, January 15 - Religious School Resumes 
  1. You can always access the school calendars by clicking here. 
  1. You can always access the entire CBA calendar by clicking here. 

Today in class we worked on: 

12/11-

  1. Boker Tov! With all the classes together. 
  1. Today we began a new parshat in the Torah about the Tower of Babel. We learned that long ago, everyone spoke the same language and came to a lovely land they decided to settle in and build a city and a tower. After a time, they became so obsessed with how high they were building their tower, they decided to build it up to the heavens and make war on God, believing they were better than God. They forgot their friends, family, stopped caring about others, or appreciating the beauty around them. God became angry and caused their language to ‘babble’ so they could not understand each other. Those who ended up speaking a language teamed up with others who also spoke their language and moved off across the world and the tower was never completed. 
  1. We also joined Rabbi Prass for Boker Tov and Tefilah,and had a fun shirah with Morah Ari where we sang Chanukah songs. 
  1. We ended our day working on our 10 Commandments song,and listening to the Unicorn Song. 

Homework to be completed by next class:  

  1. Work on your 10 Commandments song at least 10 minutes a day. Focus on the chorus and the last verse.  
  1. Finish any exercises in A Child’s Bible for the chapter that you did not complete in class. 

Today in class we worked on: 

12/4-

  1. Today we continued with our discussion about Noah’s Ark. We reviewed the parshat and students illustrated it. We also worked in our Child’s Bible Game Book. 
  1. We also worked on our 10 Commandments song – students are doing great in learning the words. 
  1. We had a great tefillah with Rabbi Bellows and fun shira with Morah Ari singing Hanukkah songs. 

Homework to be completed by next class:  

  1. Keep working on your 10 Commandments song from GodCast. It can be found here: https://youtu.be/kq4h3Opy-Xc 
  1. If you did not finish the exercises in your Game book, please do those as well. 

Today in class we worked on: 

11/20-

  1. Today we began our next parshat of the Torah about Noah and his ark. We learned that several generations folloing the tragedy of Cain & Abel, many people were making bad decisions and angering God. God decided to start over with a clean slate and ordered Noah, who still followed God’s ways to build a big boat that would hold 2 of each of the animals and his family while he brought a great flood to wash the evil away. Noah did so and God sealed them in with the animals as it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. Eventually they came to rest on the mountain of Ararat and God gave us some new rules  – allowing us to eat meat as long as it isn’t alive, to take care of each other – and promised to never again destroy the earth with a flood. As a symbol of this promise, God gave us the rainbow. 
  1. We listened to the Unicorn Song, and learned why the unicorns didn’t make it on the ark, too! 
  1. We joined Rabbi Bellows for tefillah and discussed kindness and thankfulness. She gave us homework to be kind and focus on kindness this holiday weekend, especially when we gather with others.  
  1. We joined Morah Ari for a fun shirah. 
  1. We also worked on our 10 Commandments song  (and even got songsheets!) together.  

Homework to be completed by next class:  

  1. Practice kindness this holiday weekend where you can.  
  1. Practice your 10 Commandments song 10-15 minutes each day. You can find the song at this link. https://youtu.be/kq4h3Opy-Xc 

Today in class we worked on: 

11/13-

  1. Today we reviewed the parshat about Cain & Abel then we illustrated it.  
  1. We worked on our 10 Commandments song and then played hodgy podgy to review. 
  1. We had a lovely tefilah with Rabbi Bellows discussing the importance of kindness and a fun shirah with Morah Ari. 

Homework to be completed by next class:  

  1. Complete the exercises in chapter 3 in your game book if you have not. Practice the 10 Commandments song for a few minutes every day. It can be found at this link: https://youtu.be/kq4h3Opy-Xc 
  1. You can slow the song down to .75 speed and turn on the captions to see the words.  
  1. You can find the lyrics at this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x-WilE2oIBAcpL0CPxh4a5rmDxr21mW6/view?usp=sharing  

Today in class we worked on:

11/6-

  1. We enjoyed being together with the 1st/2nd grade class for T’Fillah with Rabbi Bellows.
  2. Today we continued our Torah learning by learning about Cain and Abel. We discussed sibling rivalry, jealousy, anger, ways to positively channel our emotions, consideration, the importance of really thinking about doing something for or giving something to someone. We also discussed compassion when someone does something wrong, just as God protected Cain even though he was punished for killing his brother.
  3. We enjoyed Shira with led by one of our high school students, Matthew Swolsky.
  4. And we began studying our 10 Commandments song! Students did really well learning the first verse and chorus.
  5. We then played a couple rounds of Hodgy Podgy to review today’s Torah parshat.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Finish the exercises in chapter 3 about Cain & Abel in “A Child’s Bible.” Practice your song 5-10 minutes a day. It can be found here on YouTube. https://youtu.be/kq4h3Opy-Xc

Today in class we worked on:

10/30-

  1. Today was Yom Kayitz (summer day) where we prayed, sang, and studied like every Sunday, but did it in the mode that takes place at many of the Jewish overnight camps.
  2. We had a few minutes in our respective classrooms with introduction activities.
  3. We then gathered as an entire school in the atrium for t’fillah.  This week we made Havdalah and then were led by a student and several madrichim in a creative retelling of this week’s Torah portion, lech l’cha.
  4. Then we broke into thru 3 rotations by grades.  The rotations were:
    1. Limud (study): We studied the Torah portion and then made a creative retelling of the story.
    2. Kibud (snack): we talked about Jewish foods.  And then said the bracha (blessing) over snacks.  And then we ate smores.
    3. Zman Sport (sports time): We talked about the value of shmirat haguf (care for the body) and played ga-ga.  Ga-Ga is a Hebrew word which means ‘touch touch’.  It is a form of dodgeball  which is popular at Jewish overnight camp.
  5. We regathered as an entire school for shira (music).
  6. Then we had a special guest, Beth Rodin, the director of Reform Judaism’s summer camp in Wisconsin, OSRUI. Since JCYS’ TV wasn’t working, we did charades with the activities we could have seen on the camp video. If you want to see the OSRUI video, click here.  Many of our learners were excited to hear about the things they could do next summer at Reform Judaism’s overnight camp.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Please remember tzedakah.

Today in class we worked on:

10/23-

  1. We enjoyed being together with the 1st/2nd grade class for T’Fillah with Rabbi Bellows.
  2. Today we reviewed the parshat about the Garden of Eden, including Adam naming all the animals, and being told not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Students then illustrated it for their Torah scrolls. We also talked about how we can find signs of God all around us, especially when we take the time to let in the world around us, as opposed to shutting everything out.
  3. We joined the 1-2 grade with Morah Ari for a fun shirah with songs about Noah’s Ark, which we will be studying soon.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Finish any exercises in Chapter 2 in your A Child’s Bible Gamebook (the blue one).

Today in class we worked on:

10/16:

  1. We had a lovely tefilah with Rabbi Bellows and the 1st, 2nd graders.
  2. Today we began the next chapter in the Torah, about the Garden of Eden. We learned that Adam and Eve were warned not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, yet they did. In doing so they lost the privilege of living in the Garden and lost the innocence they had before eating of the fruit. We also talked about where we can find God in our live, especially when we slow down and take the time to pay attention to what is going on around us.
  3. And we had a rousing shirah with Morah Ari and the 1st, 2nd graders.
  4. We finished our day with a game of Hodgy Podgy reviewing what we had learned today.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Pay attention to your surroundings. Take time each day to listen and look around and see what reminds you of God.

Today in class we worked on:

10/9:

  1. We began the day with an all school t’fillah in our CBA sanctuary.  As part of the t’fillah, we talked about what makes our sanctuary space unique.
  2. Then we broke into 6 round robin rotations by grade:
    1. An ice breaker to get to know our classmates better
    2. Sukkah visit: with Rabbi Bellows where we shook the lulav & etrog
    3. Movement: Practicing reading/saying the words lulav and etrog by playing duck, duck, goose with the words lulav, etrog
    4. Craft: Talking about ushpizin (sukkot guests) and which ushpizin we want to spend time with this week of Sukkot.  Their ideas were turned into sukkah decorations.
    5. Building: we studied one of the original rabbinic texts (Mishnah Sukkah 1:1) about the Sukkah construction and then built a sukkah with either Legos, Lincoln logs, or designed them with colored pencils.
    6. Sukkot Brachot: We studied the traditional 3 Sukkot brachot, and then wrote our own creative ones based on the traditional themes.
  3. We all came back together for an all school shira in the sanctuary
  4. After shira we met with the mother and sister of Zac, who started Zac’s Zoo.  Our learners had lots of great questions for them and were clearly inspired by this project.
    1. The project continues thru Sukkot & Simchat Torah which is Tuesday, October 18th.  Our learners set the goal of bringing in 100 new stuffed animals.  Thank you to our 7th grader, Hayden Kidd who brought this project to Beth Am.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Next week, Religious School returns to JCYS
  2. Please remember tzedakah.

Today in class we worked on

10/2:

  1. Today we continued our lesson of Bresheet, Creation. We reviewed the text and students drew their interpretation of the story. Once finished, students worked in their game book to reinforce what we learned.
  2. We talked about potential tzedakah projects for the year which we will vote on next week.
  3. We went to tfillah with Rabbi Prass and shirah with Morah Ari.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Finish the exercises in your game book for chapter 1.

Today in class we worked on:

9/18-

  1. We joined Rabbi Prass, Morah Ari, and the entire school for a morning tefillah outside.
  2. This week we learned about Creation, called B’resheet, in Hebrew. We learned about how creation came into being, from the creation of light and darkness, to land and seas, plants, then animals and fish, humans, and finally how Shabbat was created by God resting from the work of creation. We also discussed that creation is an ongoing process and life and cycles are designed to keep on going. We talked about how God created humans as a partner to care for and continue perpetuating the work of creation and maintaining the world we were given.
  3. 1st  – 3rd grade joined Morah Ari for a fun shira session where we sang songs and learned a new one about a train in Hebrew.
  4. We also began our book “Partners with God’, discussing how even though we can’t physically see God, we see evidence of God all around us in the blooming of flowers, changing color of leaves, the blowing wind, and the faces of those around us.

Homework to be completed by next class:

9/18-

  1. Ask your parents about ideas for tzedakah projects we can vote on as a class for the year. Also work on the worksheet in chapter 1 of “Partners with God.”

Today in class we worked on:
9/11-

  1. What a great opening day for school!
  2. We had a special opening ceremony with the whole school and parents, where Rabbi Prass sounded the shofar to begin the new year.
  3. Then we went into our class, got to know each other, and had a wonderful discussion about cycles of our lives, how circles and cycles work together in beginning, ending, and beginning again. Students listed all the different cycles they could think of – and it was a lot! – and then we looked at how surrounding all of this amazing things, God encompasses it all. We learned about how the Torah, the central learning in Judaism, means ‘teachings’ and has many lessons on how to relate to each other, how the world came to be, and origins of the Jewish people.
  4. We had a fun shira (music session) with Morah Ari
  5. Then went back to class to begin our book on how we can be partners with God in making the world a better place and how we are all created in God’s image, no matter how different we may be.
  6. We then played hodgy podgy to review what we had learned today.
  7. A really great day and wonderful way to start the new year. Thank you all and I look forward to a really good year with you all.