Please remember to bring your (appropriate) bathing suit, towel, sunscreen, and goggles (optional) for tomorrow’s first swimming class in P.E.!
Happy Monday!
Last week in Jewish Studies, we wrote wishes and prayers for our model Western Wall on a hallway bulletin board. In Torah, we read about Adam and Eve’s punishment from God for eating from the tree of knowledge. The lessons we learned are: to be responsible for our own actions, to always tell the truth, and to follow the rules we are given, even when we don’t know why we’ve been asked to follow them.
This is our display from the 50th Anniversary celebration. We researched Solomon Schechter and Martin J. Gottlieb.
On Thursday, we participated in a Lag B’Omer activity with Rabbi Olitzky and Hazzan Holzer. With extended-day kindergarten, 1st grade, and 3rd grade, we sang songs around a campfire and then enjoyed a treat of s’mores!
Spelling Blogger (Noah) – “Today in spelling, we are studying -ed and -ing, two inflected endings. “Targeted” and “targeting” are my favorite words.”
Math Blogger (Benjamin H.) – “This week in Math, we are practicing division. Here are examples: 12/3=4 and 4/1=4. We are making fact triangles to do division. The reason why we use fact triangles is because they help people in a way. They are fun to do.”
Here, we are skip counting by 3′s.
Wordly Wise Blogger (Julia) – “This week, we are on Lesson 12. On Monday, we wrote on the window. We played Jack’s Wordly Wise memory game.”
“On Thursday, we read the sandcastle story and we looked at cool sandcastles.”
On Wednesday, we had two special presentations by Ben’s wonderful grandparents! Dr. Joanne Davis performed an adorable puppet show.
Dr. Leo Davis gave a fun and educational presentational on dental health.
Enjoy the rest of your week!
Morah Rivka & Ms. Stein
Shalom, Families!
In both Jewish Studies and General Studies, we have been discussing the 50th Anniversary of MJGDS. We have studied the histories of Solomon Schechter and Martin J. Gottlieb, himself. We’ve also compared and contrasted what life was like 50 years ago in 1962, and what it might be like 50 years from now in 2062! We’re all very excited for the events happening this weekend! We also enjoyed watching the funny 50th Anniversary video again, especially the Bloopers!
Our Mystery Reader last week was Dr. Mitzmacher, and he read us a very funny story called The Stinky Cheese Man!
Our Mystery Reader today was Mrs. Fixel. She read two very special books from her childhood: The First Snowflake and Little Prickly Weed. We also had the chance to see Abigail’s beautiful butterfly!
Math Blogger (Abigail) – This week, we continued to work on multiplication. We did a silly problem about pairs of ears: 1 x 2 = 2, 2 x 2 = 4, 3 x 2 = 6, 6 x 2 = 12. We did lots of other problems on the Smartboard, including true and false number sentences. “Start with what you know to figure out what you don’t know,” like Miss Stein says. We also did brain twisters.
Abigail took so many notes this week as our Math Blogger, and I appreciate all of her hard work! She wrote many examples of the problems that we practiced in class.
With the Talent Show approaching (May 31st), we were given a sneak peak at one special performer!
After watching our school’s 50th Anniversary video several times, the students began singing the theme song on their own. What enthusiasm and wonderful chutzpah!
https://vimeo.com/41585310 (Click Here)
We look forward to celebrating with you this weekend!
Shabbat Shalom,
Morah Rivka & Ms. Stein
Good Afternoon!
In Jewish Studies this week,we continued to study Yom Ha’Atzmaut. We discussed Hatikva (the Israeli national anthem), the flag, and our wishes for the state of Israel. In Torah, we continued to study Perek Gimmel. Third grade also visited us to share a story they had written all about themselves in Hebrew. We enjoyed their visit, and we appreciated their work!
Math Blogger (Nahila) – In Math this week, we took notes on multiplication problems. For example: 2 x 6 = ? We had to come up with different strategies. The answer is twelve! Then, we practiced multiplication problems we had learned, and also true/false number sentences. We finished multiplying by 2 and began multiplying by 3.
Wordly Wise Blogger (Ben D.) – Lesson 10 had a lot of cool words like astronomy.
On Wednesday, we visited the Science Lab with Mrs. Burkhart! Please enjoy this slideshow.
Science Lab Exploration (Click Here)
On Thursday, we had a fun-filled morning, celebrating Yom Ha’Atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day)! We began in the Sanctuary by honoring Yom HaZikaron (Israeli Memorial Day). Then, we had an activity in the gym where we created skits. Afterward, we went outside for all kinds of sports and games! Then, we had lunch in the Gazebo, and a little while later, cupcakes during Jewish Studies. We also danced with 3rd grade and sang Yom Ha’Atzmaut songs. What a busy day!
Yom Ha’Atzmaut Singing (Click Here)
Shabbat Shalom,
Morah Rivka & Ms. Stein
Hello, Families!
We hope you had a wonderful Pesach! Last week in Jewish Studies, we started learning about Yom Ha’Atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day). Here the kids are singing a Hebrew song about Israel’s birthday.
In Torah, we began Perek Gimmel (Chapter 3), which explains how Adam and Eve ate fruit from the forbidden tree.
General Studies
Math Blogger (Jake L.) – In Math, we got back to multiplication.We started on Tuesday counting by two’s. We counted forward and backward, and then we counted the evens on a hundreds chart, first uncovered and then covered. I figured out that this whole unit is on multiplying by two’s. We also played a game like Bingo. It was fun.
Spelling Blogger (Abigail) -On Tuesday, we took a Pretest. On Wednesday, we did a spelling page where we found the missing letter, and then an unscramble page. My favorite word this week is knickknack because it’s fun to say!
Here are some more photos of us studying our Wordly Wise words and working on a Reading assignment. We chose whether to work independently or to collaborate with others.
We celebrated a special birthday on Friday!
Our Mystery Reader on Friday read us some wonderful poems from Where the Sidewalk Ends! This was perfect timing since April is National Poetry Month!
We hope you had a wonderful weekend,
Morah Rivka & Ms. Stein
I hope that you had a wonderful Pesach Break! We jumped right back into our routine this morning by taking a Spelling Pretest and beginning a new Wordly Wise lesson. We also began to study the multiplication table for 2 in Math class. With Earth Day approaching, we read aloud a book today on how we can help our world. We’ll be doing other activities this week as well. The students were enthusiastic and full of energy today, and it was nice to be with them again!
Ms. Stein
Shalom!
In Jewish Studies, we have been studying Pesach and learning the Hagaddah in class. We look forward to showing you what we know at our Model Seder on Monday, April 2nd at 1:30. Mark your calendars to join us! The entire seder will be in Hebrew, and we are so proud of our accomplishments! If your child wants to use his/her beautiful pillowcase at the model seder, then please send a pillow with him/her on Monday morning. Make sure you write their name on it! We will put the pillowcases on and have them ready for the seder.
In Math this week, we reviewed the concepts learned in Units 1 – 5 and took a cumulative test. During a very challenging problem solving activity, we discussed the strategies of “process of elimination” and “trial and error.” Here are some pictures of the kids working hard and using their brain muscles!
In Reading this week, we learned about firefighters. We read a story in our class reading book and enjoyed books from the public library. The students also had a chance to earn up to 5 white slips for our Great Behavior Jar by answering 5 Research Questions. This is the second week that we’ve had extra credit questions, and the kids seem to enjoy them. I love learning new facts too!
Today, while I was reading aloud our book 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (which has been adapted for children), we were discussing the south pole and Antarctica. When I pointed to our world map, several students came up and started exploring it on their own. This was not a staged photo! : )
In P.E. this week, the kids continued to learn to play tennis!
In preparation for Monday’s seder, we tie-dyed our pillowcases on Thursday, and it was so much fun!
Have a restful weekend,
Morah Rivka & Miss Stein
Good Evening, Families!
What a week it was! I hope that everyone is feeling healthy and well-rested. We will catch up on the missed standardized tests on Monday and Tuesday. We will also be visiting the exciting Book Fair on Monday morning to make our Wish Lists!
Last week began with a very special Mystery Reader – Nate! I recorded the kids’ happily surprised reactions. Have a look:
Here are pictures of Nate reading to the class, everyone enjoying a special treat of donuts, friends visiting together, and Nate shaking hands and giving hugs as he left.
We had another special Mystery Reader on Friday, Mrs. Sommers!
As a reminder, our Model Seder will be taking place next Monday, April 2nd at 1:30 PM! We would love to have you there!
Lila Tov,
Morah Rivka & Ms. Stein
Good Afternoon!
Standardized Testing begins tomorrow. I have discussed with the students how important it is to sleep well each night, eat a healthy breakfast each morning, bring a healthy snack to school, be on time each day, and have a very positive attitude. Please remind your child at home that these things will help them be fully prepared to do a great job on these tests, and to show the school all of the wonderful things they know!
The crumbs from the hamentaschen have barely been swept away, but we are ready to prepare for Pesach! We began learning the Hagaddah last week, and look forward to showing off all we have learned at our Model Seder on April 2nd at 1:30 PM. Mark your calendars to join us!
We will need a plain white pillow case from each student for a special project we will be doing. Please WRITE YOUR CHILD’S NAME on the tag or some VERY visible spot. The pillow case is due by this Tuesday, March 20th.
In addition to many other wonderful activities in General Studies last week, we learned about Helen Keller in Reading class. Beginning with six “Research Questions” that were written on the whiteboard, the students were introduced to this famous and brave woman’s life journey. We read a story about an experience she had as a little girl where she was very frightened when stuck outside during a big storm. We also watched a video that explained how she was born healthy; developed a terrible fever which led to her becoming blind and deaf; learned to communicate with the help of Annie Sullivan; and grew into an amazing and inspirational public figure! Helen Keller published 12 books, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Lyndon B. Johnson, introduced the Akita dog to the United States after visiting Japan, and became an advocate for people with disabilities! She is definitely an inspiration to me! After all of this study and discussion during class, I was thrilled on Friday to see that many students chose, on their own, to check out books from our library on Helen Keller! This is what it’s all about – motivating students to be self-directed learners and to go deeper in their studies. I am very proud.
We’re looking forward to a wonderful week!
Morah Rivka and Miss Stein
Hello, Families!
Last week was so busy that I did not have a chance to get this blog post published until now. Morah Rivka would like to thank all of the moms and the grandmother who helped bake hamentashen (and took pictures)! The hamentaschen turned out to be delicious!
Last week in Jewish studies, the students learned more about Purim, including the blessing we do before reading the Megillah. On Thursday, following the Megillah reading and the carnival, we assembled and exchanged mishloach manot. By doing this, we fulfilled the mitzvah of mishloach manot.
