First Grade – Kitah Alef

Ms. Lewis and Morah Rachel

Archive for April, 2012

29
Apr

A Peek at Our Week–4/30

This week we will…

-Read the story, Peter’s Chair, and discuss what treasures we share at home.

-Work with compound words.

-Select AR books and enjoy reading groups.

-Practice our spelling words: backpack, outside, baseball, herself, flashlight, bluebird, lunchbox, suitcase, inside, brainstorm, picture, remember.

-Work with the high-frequency words (word wall words): picture, remember, room, stood, thought.

-Continue our study of adjectives with a focus on adjectives that tell how many.

-Continue with our Rocket Math program, and start a Problem Solving Skills group for the children how have “soared” through our Rocket Chart.

-Continue our Numbers to 40 chapter. We are working with adding and subtracting two-digit numbers. Please refer to “The Friendly Math Notes” we sent home a few weeks ago. These notes detail how to help your child add and subtract without necessarily “borrowing” but rather by using number bonds. 30-5 can be thought of as 20 + (10 – 5). You can subtract the 5 from 10 and add that to 20, which equals 25. You borrowed, but you did not set up the math problem as most of us were taught to in elementary school.

-Continue our study of Force and Motion.

-Continue our “Operation Todah Rabah” project. Thank you for your tremendous support! You’re generosity is amazing!

Reminders:

-Catalogs for our final Scholastic Book Order of the year were sent home this week. Please take an opportunity to support our classroom by placing an order by May 3rd. If you don’t order books for the summer, we strongly encourage you to visit the library this summer.  Your child should continue to read at least 15 minutes every day even when school is out! :)

-edJEWcon will be held at our school this week! Please check the main blog for more information.

-Donations for Operation Todah Rabah are due by this Friday, May 4th.

 

 

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29
Apr

Week of April 30—Jewish Studies

The 50th Anniversary Celebration of our school is this week and we hope to see lots of you throughout the coming weekend.  Please find our class picture on the wall (along with Morah Rachel’s 1st Day School class from 1977) and notice how we found many similarities and differences.  You will also find a writing assignment that we did in Mrs. O’Neill’s class about what we will be in the future.  ENJOY!

אריאות כותב  Ariyot Kotev  Ariyot Writes (in Cursive!!!) By now, you should be seeing lots of great work being done in cursive!  Our workbook has fun stories (in cursive) to read and practice pages to write.  Also we are using our מחברת machberet notebook that is blue for more writing practice.   We are now on the letters

ג  Gimel  (of course in cursive)

ר  Resh  (it looks very similar to the print version)

ה  Hey  (also looks similar to the print version just rounded a bit)

תפילות Tefillot   Prayers  It is a pleasure to daven with this class now.  Our  prayer leader,

שליח ציבור  Shaliach Tzeeboor  or

חזן  Hazan   Cantor, leads our daily service,  by calling out page numbers and starting the chanting.   Those students who have shown the respect needed for this important job, SO FAR, are:

משה יוסף  דליה ואריאל  Moshe Yosef, Dalya and Ariel.  We look forward to everyone being able to lead us in prayers.  Thanks to Dr. Mitzmacher for davening with us and for sharing the duties of the prayer leader with others.

פרשת השבוע Parshat HaShavua the portion of the Torah this week that we read is another double portion:

אחרי מות  קדושים Acharey Mot and Kedoshim.

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24
Apr

Operation Todah Rabah

Many of you may know that Lt. O’Neill is out to sea with a detachment from his helicopter squardron. What you may not know is that he is a “host” to our very own Pilot Flat Stanley. He sends us weekly e-mail updates about FS’s experiences at sea and about visiting foreign countries. We have traveled the city of Rome through pictures, discovered interesting information about pirates, and learned about life on the ship.

As a mitzvah and gemilut hasadim–act of kindness and love–we have decided to send a care package to Lt. O’Neill, Flat Stanley and the rest of the detachment at sea. This is a completely voluntary project. The children are writing thank you letters for all the information FS is sharing with them. If you would like to donate an item or two to add to our letters please see the list below. This is an opportunity for us to give to those serving–we are sure that the men and women who will receive these acts of kindness will greatly appreciate your generosity.

Common Items for Military Care Packages:

-gum

-candy (jolly ranchers, skittles, starburst–but NOT chocolate)

-hand-held games/cards

-toys such as water balloons, small balls, putty (like from the dollar spot in Target or the Dollar Tree)

-magazines (new or even old ones from home that you’ve already read)

-trail mix

-chex mix

-nuts

-power bars

-popcorn

-drink mixes (like crystal light or gatorade–the individual packet kind work best)

-beef jerky

(It’s best not to send liquids–they often burst during shipment OR chocolate–it melts.)

If you decide that you would like your family to participate in Operation Todah Rabah, please e-mail Staci Scharf to let her know the item you are donating. We will be collecting donations until Friday, May 4th. We’re also accepting $1 donations to help with shipping costs.

Please let us know if you have any questions!

-Mrs. O’Neill, Morah Rachel and Mrs. Scharf :)

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22
Apr

Week of April 23—-Jewish Studies

It’s great to be in כיתה א Kitah Alef!!  Lots of interesting and fun happenings occur daily…. like loosing teeth!!! מזל טוב Mazal Tov to all those who have lost teeth recently.  We’re growing up!!!

אריאות כותב    Ariyot Kotev   Ariyot Writes

in  CURSIVE!!  We are all enjoying learning cursive.  Please note that in Hebrew we write from right to left so all letters flow from right to left.  Soon a

מחברת      machberet     writing notebook

will be given to each student in order to practice writing.  Every night writing practice will be expected!!  This does not mean that reading practice stops.  PLEASE help your child to review their  Hebrew reading and writing.

יום השואה    Yom HaShoah   Day to remember the Holocaust

Last Thursday, Morah Liat read to the students in Kitah Alef,  Bet and Gimel, the inspiring book, “The Lily Cupboard”.   We also commemorated this day by sitting around a large yellow  מגן דוד Magen David with 6 yahrzeit candles lit on each point and heard Morah Hanna’s story of her birth in the forest and the miracle of her life after the war.

יום הזכרון     Yom HaZikaron Memorial Day in Israel

We will remember the soldiers who have fought in Israel’s wars.  Unlike America’s Memorial Day, there are no picnics!  And then immediately afterwards, we celebrate

יום העצמאות   Yom Ha’Atzmaut Israel’s Independence Day!!

יום הולדת שמח  Happy Birthday, Israel!!!  We will celebrate with the whole school and hopefully, you have read the email that explains which color your child should wear  this Thursday.

פרשת השבוע  Parshat HaShavuah   Portion of the Week in the Torah    A double portion this week:

תזריע Tazriah  and מצורע Metzorah.

תפילות Tefilot   Prayers

Our students are taking turns leading  ברכת המזון Birkat Hamazon, the Grace after Meal, in front of 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders at lunch.  We are very proud of them and how serious they take this responsibility and honor.   We also have our students leading prayers in our classroom with Dr. Mitzmacher and in the chapel with Hazzan Holzer.

 

 

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22
Apr

A Peek at our Week–4/23

This week we will…

-Read the story, The Lady in the Moon, , and discuss how we share special days with family and friends.

-Work with long i words with ie and igh (lie and light.) We will also work with words with kn (that sounds like /n/ in knee) and wr (that sounds like  /r/ in wrench.)

-Select AR books and enjoy reading groups.

-Practice our spelling words: lie, tie, high, might, right, night, bright, light, pie, tight, above laugh. Bonus words: happy, happier, happiest (Review of our previous work with dropping the y and adding an i before the ending.)

-Work with the high-frequency words (word wall words): above, eight, laugh, moon, touch.

-Continue our study of adjectives with a focus on adjectives that describe what kind. For example a happy celebration or a juicy watermelon.

-Continue with our Rocket Math program, and start a Problem Solving Skills group for the children how have “soared” through our Rocket Chart.

-Continue our Numbers to 40 chapter. We are talking about the meaning of the ones and tens place, and will begin adding and subtracting two-digit numbers by the end of the week.

-Begin a science unit on Force and Motion. We will discuss how objects move, explore motion and experiment with a special visit to the science lab.

-Start our “Operation Todah Rabah” project. A new blog post will be added in the coming days with more details.

Reminders:

-After a long delay we are excited to announce Part 2 of our Flat Stanley project. In Part 1 your child had FS visit for the weekend. Now we’d like you to select a family member or friend to host FS. We are trying to learn about the country and the world so someone that lives  far away is best! Please send in a stamped envelope that is addressed to your selected “host family.” We will add a letter and FS paper doll to the envelope and mail it out in hopes the that “host family” will return it to our class within the coming weeks. Thanks for your support!

-We will celebrate Yom Ha’ Atzmaut with a Field Day on Thursday. Please make sure your child wears his/her team color. This is sure to be an exciting day!

-Catalogs for our final Scholastic Book Order of the year were sent home this week. Please take an opportunity to support our classroom by placing an order by May 3rd. If you don’t order books for the summer, we strongly encourage you to visit the library this summer.  Your child should continue to read at least 15 minutes every day even when school is out! :)

-If you would like your child to participate in the special Wednesday snacks this May, please return the payment and form to the front office or in your child’s folder.

 

 

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16
Apr

A Peek at Our Week–4/17

Welcome Back! We hope you had a wonderful break and Passover! We are also excited to have Mrs. Watkins back in our room. :)

This week we will…

-Read the story, Mister Bones: Dinosaur Hunter, and discuss how we can find treasures.

-Work with long o words with oa and ow (boat and snow) and three-letter blends (splash).

-Select AR books and enjoy reading groups.

-Practice our spelling words: boat, road, snow, row, yellow, loaf, coat, soap, blow, pillow, once, wild. There will be no bonus words this week.

-Work with the high-frequency words (word wall words): found,  mouth, once, took, wild.

-Continue our study of adjectives with a focus on adjectives for size.

-Continue with our Rocket Math program, and start a Problem Solving Skills group for the children how have “soared” through our Rocket Chart.

-Work with problem solving skills for addition and subtraction.

-Begin Chapter 13: Numbers to 40. Please stay posted for information in your child’s folder.

Reminders:

-After a long delay we are excited to announce Part 2 of our Flat Stanley project. In Part 1 your child had FS visit for the weekend. Now we’d like you to select a family member or friend to host FS. We are trying to learn about the country and the world so someone that lives  far away is best! Please send in a stamped envelope that is addressed to your selected “host family.” We will add a letter and FS paper doll to the envelope and mail it out in hopes the that “host family” will return it to our class within the coming weeks. Thanks for your support!

 

 

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15
Apr

Week of April 16— Jewish Studies

ברוכים הבאים B’ruchim Haba-im  Welcome!! (back!!)  We hope that you had a wonderful Pesach and restful break.

Once again, a big THANKS to those who helped with our Model Seder and to those who came to see it!! We know how difficult it is to take the time (especially around Passover)  and be at school for the Model Seder.  Your children LOVE seeing you there and “showing off” all their skills.  We  heard how beautifully our students did at your family seders and we are very proud of them!

And now back to WORK!!!!

We will be completing  our 4th Ariyot  (Mazal Tov!!) and then………………….

אריאות כותב  Ariyot Kotev    Ariyot writes!!! in CURSIVE…  We begin with

א  Alef   Remember that the direction of writing in Hebrew is right to left!!! Each student will receive a מחברת machberet a writing notebook in which to practice each night. More details to follow!!! :)

ספירת העומר  Sefirat HaOmer  Counting of the Omer    From the 2nd night of Pesach  we count each day until we reach the holiday of Shavuot.  We are anticipating receiving  the 10 Commandments!!!

יום השואה  Yom HaShoah  Holocaust Memorial Day is on Thursday and we will remember together.

יום הזכרון Israel’s Memorial Day will be commemorated during prayers next week.

יום העצמאות  Yom Ha-atzmaut  Israel Independence Day is next week!  So get ready for lots of singing and wearing blue and white on Thursday, 4/26!!!  Israel’s birthday is on the 5th day of the Hebrew month of Iyar.

פרשת השבוע שמיני Parshat HaShavuah  Sh’mini    The Torah portion this week is the one about the laws of Kashrut.  We learn about what is:

כשר לא כשר  Kasher    Lo Kasher   kosher and not kosher

תפילות Tefilot Prayers   At this point in our curriculum, we will be praying with

חזנים  chazanim   prayer-leaders from our class.  This is also true when we say the Birkat HaMazon in the lunchroom.  Two of our students will be leading the Birkat with the older kids each week.  We are proud of those students who will be our leaders in prayer!

 

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01
Apr

A Peek at Our Week–4/2

During this short week we will…

-Work on handwriting.

-Read about and create our very own treasure.

-Complete the reading assessment for adjusted AR reading levels.

-Write about and discuss the upcoming Passover Break.

-Work with creating and understanding graphs.

-Use tally marks and skip counting to help understand graphs.

-Continue Rocket Math.

Reminders:

-April Reading Logs were sent home last Friday. Please return the March Reading Log by this Wednesday.

-There are no spelling words this week. But there was a math sheet sent home as homework on Friday. This is due on or before Wednesday.

-Conferences will be held on Thursday, April 5th. Please make sure you are on time to your conference. We look forward to seeing you then!

-A packet of math “cumulative tests” will be sent home on Wednesday.  This is not required work, but completing it will help keep your child’s math mind thinking over break. Don’t forget to read too!

-Passover Break begins on April 6th and continues until April 16th. School resumes on Tuesday, April 17th. Happy Passover! :)

 

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01
Apr

Week of April 2–Jewish Studies חג שמח

חג שמח Chag Sameach   Happy Holiday!  We wish you a happy and Kosher Pesach!

סדר Seder   order      Our Model Seder is this Tuesday, 4/3, at 1:30 PM in the Bessie Setzer Frisch Activities Center.  Come and kvell from our students!  We will be using The Animated Haggadah  (orange covered hard-backed book) and you can take these home for your own seders.  PLEASE return them to school after the Passover break.

תודה רבה Todah Rabah to those parents who will help us set up our Seder plates.  (Come at 1:00 to help!!)

אריאות  Ariyot   Yes, we are completing the 4th book of Ariyot and finishing the Alef-Bet!!  Mazal Tov!!

ת  Tof is the last letter  and we learn words like:

תודה todah   thanks

תורה תורות  Torah  Torot    5 Books of Moses

תעודה תעודות te-u-dah   te-u-dot  certificate (s)

אותיות o-tee-yot   letters

תנועות te-nu-ot  vowels

מתנה מתנות  matanah  matanot  present (s)

חוברת חוברות  choveret  chov-rot  workbook (s)

תפילה תפילות  tefila tefilot  prayer (s)

ש  Sin  (keep imagining this letter with the dot on the left side)   We honored these patient students:

שרה וישראל   Sarah V’Yisrael  Saylor and Yisrael

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