Friday, October 26, 2012
October 26, 2012
Dear Gefen Families,
This week the second graders began to learn about popcorn! We read and discussed The Popcorn Book by Tomie de Paola and learned all sorts of interesting facts. For instance, did you know that the oldest popcorn ever found was 5,600 years old? Did you know that the oldest popcorn found that could still be popped was 1,000 years old? Or, maybe you didn't know that the unpopped kernels left at the bottom of the bag are called "Old Maids."
For our final week in Social Studies, we looked at the presidential election. The students were put into groups and asked to research particular questions and then report back to the class. Some of those questions were:
What is an election?
What is a democracy?
What are the rules for someone who wants to be president?
The story of Noah and the flood was read and discussed during Torah this week. We focused on what it means to be righteous and then we brainstormed for other "adjectives" that describe Noah. Then, the children were asked to imagine what it might have been like to be inside of the ark for 40 days and 40 nights while the rest of the earth was destroyed.
Shabbat Shalom,
HaMorah Caren
Reminders:
Please make sure to help your child to study for our weekly spelling quiz. Words go home on Mondays and the quiz is always on Friday.
Also, although we have moved on to our unit on fractions, I encourage you to continue helping your child to review addition and subtraction facts. We continue to practice our regrouping skills weekly.
Friday, October 19, 2012
October 19, 2012
Dear Gefen Families,
This week in math we began our unit on fractions. We read the Hershey Fractions book and through that we learned that a fraction makes up parts of a whole and that all parts must be equal. The children were asked to label fractions, shade particular parts of a whole and make some comparisons (two 1/4's are the same as 1/2).
For Torah, we discussed the story of Adam and Eve eating the apple from the Tree of Knowledge of Good from Evil. We focused on whether or not Adam and Eve should have considered the advice they received from the snake and then we thought about who we can trust to give us good advice and why.
We continued with our study of grammar. Now, we know nouns, verbs and adjectives. All 10 students were able to come up with 84 adjectives to list on the board!
In social studies we completed our posters on American symbols and shared them. Then, we brainstormed for what we know about the presidential election and about what qualities a president should have. Then, we listed our questions.
How old do you need to be to vote?
What if you can't make it on voting day?
Does your vote really matter?
How do you vote?
Do you have to vote?
We will continue our look at the election next week.
Shabbat Shalom,
HaMorah Caren
Reminders:
The GMADE testing will be next week. It will take place at math time.
Spelling will now be done weekly. Words come home on Monday night and the quiz is on Friday. Please initial your child's quiz and send it back on Monday.
Dear Gefen Families,
This week in math we began our unit on fractions. We read the Hershey Fractions book and through that we learned that a fraction makes up parts of a whole and that all parts must be equal. The children were asked to label fractions, shade particular parts of a whole and make some comparisons (two 1/4's are the same as 1/2).
For Torah, we discussed the story of Adam and Eve eating the apple from the Tree of Knowledge of Good from Evil. We focused on whether or not Adam and Eve should have considered the advice they received from the snake and then we thought about who we can trust to give us good advice and why.
We continued with our study of grammar. Now, we know nouns, verbs and adjectives. All 10 students were able to come up with 84 adjectives to list on the board!
In social studies we completed our posters on American symbols and shared them. Then, we brainstormed for what we know about the presidential election and about what qualities a president should have. Then, we listed our questions.
How old do you need to be to vote?
What if you can't make it on voting day?
Does your vote really matter?
How do you vote?
Do you have to vote?
We will continue our look at the election next week.
Shabbat Shalom,
HaMorah Caren
Reminders:
The GMADE testing will be next week. It will take place at math time.
Spelling will now be done weekly. Words come home on Monday night and the quiz is on Friday. Please initial your child's quiz and send it back on Monday.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
October 11, 2012
Dear Gefen Families,
This week, as we continue to learn about America, we focused on American symbols. The children were put into four groups and asked to "research" about one particular symbol (The Statue of Liberty, The Liberty Bell, the Bald Eagle and The White House). Each group created a poster which they will use to teach the rest of the class about what they learned.
The Presidential election will be our next focus. The Gefen and Se'orah classes would be so appreciative if someone would like to volunteer to create a "voting booth" for us out of a cardboard box. Please let us know if you are interested in helping out.
In Torah we learned about how G-d created Adam and Eve. And, we discussed the Tree of Knowledge of Good From Evil. We asked ourselves why, when we are told "no," does it make us want to do something even more. Then, we pretended that we were Adam and Eve and we wrote diary entries about how we were feeling about being the first humans and how we felt about G-d telling us we couldn't eat from the tree.
An important reminder:
Next week is our first full week of school so please be aware that spelling words will be coming home on Monday. The quiz will be on Friday.
Shabbat Shalom,
HaMorah Caren
Dear Gefen Families,
This week, as we continue to learn about America, we focused on American symbols. The children were put into four groups and asked to "research" about one particular symbol (The Statue of Liberty, The Liberty Bell, the Bald Eagle and The White House). Each group created a poster which they will use to teach the rest of the class about what they learned.
The Presidential election will be our next focus. The Gefen and Se'orah classes would be so appreciative if someone would like to volunteer to create a "voting booth" for us out of a cardboard box. Please let us know if you are interested in helping out.
In Torah we learned about how G-d created Adam and Eve. And, we discussed the Tree of Knowledge of Good From Evil. We asked ourselves why, when we are told "no," does it make us want to do something even more. Then, we pretended that we were Adam and Eve and we wrote diary entries about how we were feeling about being the first humans and how we felt about G-d telling us we couldn't eat from the tree.
An important reminder:
Next week is our first full week of school so please be aware that spelling words will be coming home on Monday. The quiz will be on Friday.
Shabbat Shalom,
HaMorah Caren
Friday, October 5, 2012
October 5, 2012
Dear Gefen Families,
In math this week we had an introduction to regrouping with subtraction. We used 10's rods and 1's cubes to help us "see" the whole process. We will continue to work on this through next week and then we will have a review of addition and subtraction with regrouping before we move on to our next unit on fractions.
We were very fortunate to have Rav Shira Shazeer come in to teach us about the lulav and etrog. Ask your children what the different parts of the lulav are and what they symbolize. What is the pitom? What is the blessing that we say when we shake the lulav and etrog and in which directions do we shake? Which way do we hold the etrog? And, what happens if we accidentally break off the pitom?
We continue to learn the parts of speech. This week was a review of nouns and we also learned about verbs. This will be tied into our writing as I will be asking the children to recognize the nouns and verbs in their sentences.
Our study of America continued this week as we finished learning about the American Flag. Ask your child what the 50 stars stand for. Why are there 13 stripes? And, why were the colors red, white and blue used? We ended our study of the flag with a discussion about different colors used on flags and their meanings. Then, we asked the children to create their own flags which represent who they are. They could show their families, interests, favorites, etc. And, finally, we discussed that there is an election coming and asked who knew anything about the debates. As a connection, we shared a cute story called The First Pooch, the Obamas Pick a Pet by Carole Boston. Next week we will focus on some American symbols.
To end our week, today we met with the kindergarten and first grade to begin our study of the year long theme of appreciating differences. We discussed what it means to be created in G-d's image (not how we look but how we act) and we realized that we all have unique talents and abilities which we can use to behave in G-d's image.
Reminders:
No school next Monday and Tuesday, October 8th and 9th.
Shabbat Shalom,
HaMorah Caren
Dear Gefen Families,
In math this week we had an introduction to regrouping with subtraction. We used 10's rods and 1's cubes to help us "see" the whole process. We will continue to work on this through next week and then we will have a review of addition and subtraction with regrouping before we move on to our next unit on fractions.
We were very fortunate to have Rav Shira Shazeer come in to teach us about the lulav and etrog. Ask your children what the different parts of the lulav are and what they symbolize. What is the pitom? What is the blessing that we say when we shake the lulav and etrog and in which directions do we shake? Which way do we hold the etrog? And, what happens if we accidentally break off the pitom?
We continue to learn the parts of speech. This week was a review of nouns and we also learned about verbs. This will be tied into our writing as I will be asking the children to recognize the nouns and verbs in their sentences.
Our study of America continued this week as we finished learning about the American Flag. Ask your child what the 50 stars stand for. Why are there 13 stripes? And, why were the colors red, white and blue used? We ended our study of the flag with a discussion about different colors used on flags and their meanings. Then, we asked the children to create their own flags which represent who they are. They could show their families, interests, favorites, etc. And, finally, we discussed that there is an election coming and asked who knew anything about the debates. As a connection, we shared a cute story called The First Pooch, the Obamas Pick a Pet by Carole Boston. Next week we will focus on some American symbols.
To end our week, today we met with the kindergarten and first grade to begin our study of the year long theme of appreciating differences. We discussed what it means to be created in G-d's image (not how we look but how we act) and we realized that we all have unique talents and abilities which we can use to behave in G-d's image.
Reminders:
No school next Monday and Tuesday, October 8th and 9th.
Shabbat Shalom,
HaMorah Caren
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