Vocabulary Games and Shir Hamalot!

Hi Parents!          

First off, just like last week buried somewhere in this email is a secret word that relates to what the students have been learning class. If your student comes back to class with the correct word, they will earn an extra sticker for their chart!

Secondly, this week we finished our vocabulary study with an exciting game of “Around the World.”

Once the game was over, we moved on to studying Shir Hamalot. This Psalm is at the beginning of Birkat Hamazon on Friday evenings, and will be new for a lot of the students! We are first going to work on reading the words carefully, to practice our reading skills. Song. Once we have mastered this, we will move on to chanting.

For homework, students should do a bit of writing/translation practice on page 47, and then practice reading on page 46. 

I also wanted to remind you of some great upcoming events!  This Sunday March 20, we have our annual Purim carnival and shpiel. Come out in costume with the whole family!

Additionally, on April 3^rd, we have one of our last youth group events of the year, a MOSTY/BOSTY (3^rd-6^th grade) trip to Metrorock in Everett for some indoor rock climbing! Flyers went home last week! Please make sure to return them to me in the ARS office if your child is interested in attending.

As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. Attached to this sheet, you will find this week’s homework assignment. It is also on the blog!

Thanks,

Stacy

Vocab,Vocab, Vocab

Hi Parents!

First off, just like last week buried somewhere in this email is a secret word that relates to what the students have been learning class. If your student comes back to class with the correct word, they will earn an extra sticker for their chart!

Secondly, this week we are working hard on vocabulary!

We did not have time to work on our flashcards in class, so we have completed them today. Students should be bringing them home and should spend some time reviewing them in addition to doing their regular reading homework. While being able to translate prayers is not our main goal, helping students to put a few Hebrew words in their minds to help them understand the meaning behind the blessings and prayers is incredibly important! Command. We will spend next week playing vocab games and reviewing our blessings before moving on to our next lesson.

I also wanted to take a moment to let you know of some exciting things coming up at TOS. THIS Saturday is Shabbat B’yachad. We have tons of great programming on for both youth and adults. I would love to see you all there! Additionally, the following weekend, Sunday March 20, we have our annual Purim carnival and shpiel. Come out in costume with the whole family! And finally, coming up on April 3^rd, we have one of our last youth group events of the year, a MOSTY/BOSTY (3^rd-6^th grade) trip to Metrorock in Everett for some indoor rock climbing! Your students should have brought home a flyer and registration form for the event. Please be sure to return the registration form to me in the ARS office by March 22.

As always, please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns. If you're looking for this week's homework checklist, it's on the side of this page!

Thanks,

Stacy

Blessings and Vocab

Hi Parents!

First off, just like last week (although this week it’s a little harder to find!) buried somewhere in this email is a secret word that relates to what the students have been learning class. If your student comes back to class with the correct word, they will earn an extra sticker for their chart!

Secondly, this week we are continuing our study of the different brachot. We are mastering the “pattern.”

Each student has become an expert in one blessing. It was their job in class today, to master this blessing, and then teach the blessing to the rest of the class. We are going to be focusing a lot on the vocabulary of the blessings and making sure that the students have a firm understanding of not just the patterns evident in the beginning of each blessing, but also knowing what it is they are blessing.

This week’s homework is focused on the vocabulary. Hamotzi. Please have your students review their vocabulary words and create flashcards at home! There will be game next week that quizzes them on these words.

As always, please be in touch with any questions or concerns.

Thanks,

Stacy

Challenge Accepted!

Hi Parents!

First off, buried somewhere in this email is a secret word that relates to what the students have been learning class. If your student comes back to class with the correct word, they will earn an extra sticker for their chart!

Secondly, what have we been up to? Today we finished our study of the Kiddush with a “Challenge.” Students were given the option of reading the Kiddush aloud by themselves in front of the class, or privately with me. We have dedicated a lot of time to studying this blessing. We are going to continue to work on the chanting as we move on to other blessings and prayers.  

Next week, we will begin our study of the different brachot, blessings. (The secret word this week is grape juice). We will discuss the importance of patterns in blessings and study what words are common to all blessings. We will work hard on mastering a translation of these introductory words as a means to have a basis of understanding of blessings as a whole.  

This week for homework, students have been assigned two pages (42 and 43) in their books to practice reading. If page 42 is too easy, page 43 should offer some additional challenges. Also, if students did not complete their in class writing work, they are also expected to do that at home.

As usual, please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions!

Thanks,

Stacy

Kiddush... Kiddush... Kiddush

The Kachol class has been hard at work this week perfecting the Kiddush for Friday evening.

We worked in teams in class this week, helping each other to learn to read the blessing. We moved on afterwards to learning the tune for chanting. The students who were confident in the melody worked to teach the other students how to chant.

Some students already have a strong understanding of the prayer and how to chant it. This led us to a conversation about the importance of learning to both read AND chant the blessings.

I want to stress how important it is for students to keep up their reading at home. They should be practicing everyday so they can be prepared for class! The more the practice at home now, the easier it will be later!
Next week we are going to have a "Hebrew Challenge!" to see how well the students have grasped the blessing so far. Students will be asked to read the blessing from start to finish on their own.

As always, please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns that you might have!

Hebrew Root Charades And More

Hello Everyone!


Well, after our MOSTY Shabbat Mishpacha, we have finally returned to regular Hebrew. Although I'm sure the kids are enjoying it, I'm sorry to say that we had another snow day!

The students of the kachol Hebrew class have been hard at work learning roots. We played another round of Hebrew root charades (our favorite class game). In this game, one student is given a 3 letter root -- for example, bet, resh, chaf, and must act out what it means. The letters are written up on the board, and the rest of the class must name all three letters, and then define the root. Students are given "bonus points" if they can name any words they ALREADY know that have the root in them.

This week we focused on roots you might find in the Kiddush for Friday evening. We have just started learning this blessing, and students are picking it up fairly quickly. Their homework this week was to practice reading the first 10 lines of this blessing in their books, and I hope they will keep it up even though we did not have class this week!

We will spend the next 2 weeks taking a look at this blessing before moving on to our next Friday evening prayer.

As always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me!

Thanks,

Stacy