January 4, 2013

Dear Gefen Families,

Happy New Year! I hope that everyone had a restful winter break.

In this short week we continued with our time unit in math. Some students have moved on from reading a clock to solving elapsed time word problems. We also reviewed fractions and money.

We began our new social studies unit on civil rights. After writing a list of what we already know, we learned about the word "segregation." Then the children were asked to list some of their traits and find others who were similar and different. We discussed that although we may look different on the outside or have different kinds of families, etc. that we are all the same on the inside. We shared an African Folktale called "Why Frog and Snake Never Play Together" to help the children understand why segregation is wrong. And, last, we gave the children different scenarios to act out. The audience members had to tell who was being segregated and why.

For Torah, we touched on the story of the binding of Isaac. We discussed that a sacrifice is when we give up something important to us. The children were asked to think about a time that they made a sacrifice and how they felt about it.

And, last, contractions were introduced.


Shabbat Shalom,

Hamorah Caren

Reminder:

The next book report was given out. Book choices are due by next Wednesday.