June 14, 2013


It is so hard to believe that this was our last full week of school and that soon Gefen will be third graders! I have truly enjoyed working with all of your children. Thank you for sharing them with me.

This week we tied up a lot of loose ends. We continued learning about multiplication and the kids got to practice three digits times one digit. We learned about pronouns. We finished learning about Joseph and what happened to him in Egypt and then assembled our Torah journals which will be coming home next week. We completed our study of Ghana and our unit on planting. And, we joined the first grade to watch The Trumpet of the Swan as they just finished reading the book by E.B. White.

Thank you to everyone for contributing to the ice cream party. The kids had a blast and told me it was the best day of the entire year!  :)

Shabbat Shalom,

Hamorah Caren

Happy girls enjoying sundaes.

Three happy boys enjoying ice cream (one who doesn't want his picture taken!).

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Our International Fair was a huge success! Mazal tov to all of the second graders and a HUGE thank to those who helped us prepare for this special day.

Making a Greek salad from Greece.

Reviewing a recipe in preparation to make sticky caramel pudding from Ecuador.

Discussing facts about Russia

Learning about China

Learning all about Ecuador

Shabbat Shalom,

Hamorah Caren

May 31, 2013

This week we spent a lot of time completing our finishing touches for our International Fair. We worked on our welcome sign, we created stickers for our passports and we practiced sharing our information with each other so that we are prepared when people visit our countries. At the beginning of next week we will be preparing our international dishes to share with our guests. Thank you to Beth M. and Dalia W. for cooking and thank you to Ali G. for doing all of the shopping!!

In math we worked on our multiplication facts. Everyone was successful in finding the answers as they used repeated addition. We also learned and shared other strategies. For example, if you know what 5x5 is then you can figure out what 5x7 is because you only need to add two more fives.

In planting this week we learned about all of the parts of a flower. We labeled diagrams and then we played matching games with vocabulary cards. Last, we dissected an actual flower and labeled the parts.

For Torah this week week we read the story of Pharaoh's Dream and we discussed how these dreams helped to save the lives of many people. Then, we shared about our own dreams and tried to interpret them.

Shabbat Shalom,

Hamorah Caren

Reminder:  the grade 2 International Fair is Wednesday, June 5th from 8:30-9:15.

May 24, 2013

We had a fantastic time visiting the Museum of Science on Tuesday. Some favorite parts were the animal exhibits, learning about space and the indoor "playground."

This week we spent our math sessions taking the Gmade tests. We also had a very brief introduction to multiplication as it will be our last unit.

We continued our study of how to write a paragraph. First, we read paragraphs that contained unnecessary information and we located it. Then, we wrote our own paragraphs by using a guide and filling in blanks. Next, we will construct our own without any help.

In Torah we talked about Joseph being thrown into the pit and being sold into slavery. We made a connection about slavery to our civil rights unit. Next we discussed why we thought that Joseph didn't defend himself when Potifar's wife lied about him.

Finally, we began learning all about how chocolate is made. First, we "visited" a cocoa plantation in Ghana and learned about how the pods grow and are removed from the cacao trees. Then, we learned about how the beans are turned into chocolate. Ask your student to share his/her "How Chocolate is Made" book with you.

Shabbat Shalom,

Hamorah Caren

Reminders: no school this Monday in observance of Memorial Day
The second grade International Fair is Wednesday, June 5th at 8:30 a.m.

May 17, 2013

This was a short but busy week.

On Monday the class learned about Shavuot and created special bags for fruit to be used for our Shavuot celebration on Tuesday. We also worked on assembling our "passports" for our International Fair. As most of our country boards are finished, we spent time researching different foods from our countries and created menus to display at the fair. And, we continued to practice solving story problems by using either addition or subtraction.

On Tuesday we had a very exciting morning. We went to a "challah shaping" workshop. Each child got to shape and then bake his/her own challah. Then, later in the morning, we had a Shavuot procession and we sang lots songs. The students were also given a special treat of ice cream for dessert at lunch.

And, finally, today we celebrated our year long theme of "differently-abled" with a special connection to Shavuot. Grades K-2 got to circulate between two special activities: reading and discussing Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes and creating a "People Bouquet" showing the people who were standing at Sinai.

Shabbat Shalom,

Hamorah Caren

Reminder: our field trip to the Museum of Science is this Tuesday. Please sent your child's lunch in a paper bag.

May 10, 2013

Another busy week in the Gefen class!

This week we began our G Rade testing. This is a test to check reading comprehension and listening comprehension. Shortly, we will have our G Made testing as well. That test focuses on math skills.

We have just about completed our country study boards and we were able to share them with our special guests for Special Visitors Day. Over the next two weeks we will prepare for our International Fair by making sure that we all able to answer questions about our individual countries. And, of course, we'll be making some delicious foods from our countries as well.

We continued with our letter writing skills as we wrote thank you notes to one of our country study helpers. And, we began learning about topic sentences as we will start to write paragraphs very shortly.

Shabbat Shalom,

Hamorah Caren

Reminders: we do not have school next Wednesday or Thursday, May 15th and 16th in observance of Shavuot

Special Visitors' Day

Learning about South Africa

Sharing information about Denmark

Teaching Special Visitors about Russia

Special Visitors' Day

May 3, 2013

This week began with such excitement as we celebrated Lag B'Omer with a field day. The four teams were so motivated to earn points and everyone had a blast playing games and dancing.

Our country studies continued with a goal of having our boards completed by next Friday. Then, we will spend time creating menus from our countries and preparing foods to offer at our International Fair (June 5th, 8:30 a.m.).

In math we've been focusing on story problems and locating the key words which tell us whether we need to add or subtract (how many more, total, how many fewer, in all, how much less, etc.).

We continued to work on our letter writing by creating our own Dear Abby questions. Next, we will answer the letters.

And, in Torah we read the story of Joseph being thrown in the pit and then going to Egypt. We talked about what it means to be a slave and we made several connections to our Civil Rights unit.

Shabbat Shalom,

Hamorah Caren

Reminders: the book report is due on Friday!

This Monday at 9:30 we will be releasing our butterflies. Parents are welcome to join us.

Making a giant Israel Facebook page.

Working on our country study presentation boards.

Our sunflowers are starting to grow!