March 1, 2013

Dear Gefen Families,

I hope that everyone had a restful February break. It is hard to believe that it is already March. Where has the time gone?

This week we celebrated our 100th day of school! There were many activities for the children to choose from: a 100 day activity book, put 100 gumballs into the gumball machines, what measures 100 cm, exercise for 100 seconds, etc. The kids had so much fun.

In our last week learning about civil rights we shared a book called When Grandmama Sings by Margaree King Mitchell. It is about a woman who goes on tour to sing in the segregated south. And, we learned about Harriet Tubman as well. As a conclusion to our unit, the children wrote about their dreams, G-d's dream and MLK's dream. We also watched a clip from the news about the Rosa Parks statue that was just unveiled. (Perfect timing as our unit came to a close!)

In math we continued our unit on geometry. We completed symmetry and now we are looking at both flat and 3-D shapes. We are also learning about the perimeter of shapes and in what real life situations we would need to know perimeter. Next, we will look at area and volume.

And, finally, for Torah, we continued the story of the birthright issue between Jacob and Esau.  We talked about why Rebecca helped to trick Isaac and whether or not she did the right thing. We also discussed whether or not Esau really had a right to be angry.

Shabbat Shalom,

Hamorah Caren

Reminder: Students in grades 3-8 are required to do a project for the school science fair. Students in K-2 will be doing a project as a class. However, K-2 students are encouraged to do a project on their own as well. It's not too late!  Please speak with Hamorah Nancy if you are interested.

100th Day Activity Books

100 Gumballs

Second Grade Creates Symmetrical Art

Purim Costumes

Working on Plural Noun Menu

February 15, 2013

I hope that everyone enjoyed last weekend's blizzard! The children were so excited to be able to play in all the snow at school.

Fun at Recess

This week in math we continued our look at symmetry. The students were asked to create symmetrical art using construction paper. The pictures are amazing!

Creating Symmetrical Art

In our study of civil rights we jumped back in time and focused on slavery. Before beginning, we made the connection to the Passover story and the Jews being slaves in Egypt. What is a slave? What does it mean to not be free? Then, we shared a wonderful story called Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine. It is a true story of a man born into slavery who mailed himself to the north in a crate so that he could be free. We also shared another book called Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson. This story tells of a girl born into slavery who creates a quilt which depicts a map of the underground railroad. As a connection, we asked the students to make representation of what freedom means to them. We will be turning these pictures into our own "freedom quilt."

Shabbat Shalom and have a wonderful winter break.

Hamorah Caren

Tying a story during writer's workshop

Working on story illustrations.

February 8, 2013


During this very short week for our study of Civil Rights we read a story called Freedom on the Menu by Carole Boston Weatherford. It is the true story of the Greensboro sit-ins. After reading it and discussing what it means to be free, the kids created picket signs to teach others what the sit-ins were all about. We also wrote some poetry about freedom.

In math we began learning about symmetry. This was an introduction to our unit on Geometry. And, for fun, we solved some Purim math problems involving addition and subtraction.

And, for grammar, we reviewed plurals and contractions. Also, possessives were introduced.

Shabbat Shalom.

Hamorah Caren

February 1, 2013

Dear Gefen Families,

This week in social studies the students created "faces" using different facial parts that they found in magazines. Our theme was "we are all different on the outside but the same on the inside." The project connected nicely to our unit on civil rights. Next, we learned about Rosa Parks through the use of a story and worksheet. We even saw the actual bus that she rode in and her own personal account of what happened to her.

Creating "faces" using magazines

In math we spent the week reviewing fractions and money. The students were put into two groups and each group was given a set of fraction or money "brainteaser" cards. So much fun was had as the kids answered questions such as: Count the students in your class to see how many there are in all. Write fractions to answer the questions - how many students are boys? girls? have brown hair? Or, read the clues and put the coins in the correct boxes - the coins in the middle column are the same, one of the most valuable coins is directly above the coin worth 10 cents, Lincoln is directly above Washington and the coin values in the top row go from least to greatest.

Solving Money Brainteasers

Solving Fraction Brainteasers

During Tefillah this week the students began to ask a lot of questions about G-d. This sparked some great conversation. We shared a story called What is G-d? by Etan Boritzer and then the students wrote about what G-d looks like/feels like to them and they also wrote about a time when they felt G-d.

We began learning about plurals. This week we learned the rule for changing the "y" to an "i" and adding and "es."

Last, we talked a bit about Groundhog Day and learned some basics about groundhogs.

Shabbat Shalom,

Hamorah Caren

Reminders:

No school on Thursday, February 7th due to staff professional day.
The second book report is due on Friday, February 8th.

Learning with Ziv and Rivi