Dear Kitah Hey 1 and Hey 2 (5th grade) Parents,
It is our pleasure to share with you what we have been learning.
Ivrit
In Hebrew we have been working on a complete review of the unit we recently completed. One of the things we have worked on is the Torah Service. We read and chanted selections from the Torah Service. Our most recent discussion was about the “Etz Chayim” paragraph. We spoke about why the Torah is referred to as “Tree of Life.” I loved hearing the answers that my students gave to this question.
We have begun a new story which speaks about the Kiddush. Each student should know the two main themes of the Kiddush: The Exodus from Egypt and Creation.
In grammar we are beginning past tense as well as learning about suffixes and how they change the meaning of a word.
History
Our topic has been The Roman Empire. Ask your children about King Herod, Rabbis Hillel and Shammai, The destruction of the 2nd Temple and Masada. I am so impressed by how interested my students are in Jewish history.
Torah
We have been studying about Abram and what midrashim say are the reasons that he was chosen by God to be the first Jew. We have also been reading the events of his life and have discussed how his actions show us what his character is. It is an interesting exercise to do with our students because at their age, not all of them have made the connection that their actions speak to their character and that their deeds lead to consequences.
Israel
Now that we have reached the life of Abram, we have started our unit on Israel, showing the direct connection between the land of Israel and the Jewish people. We are starting with map work and will be covering the important cities and areas of Israel. We try to keep politics out of the lesson as much as possible, but we do try to present a bit of the complexity of minorities, secular and religious tensions as well as security issues that Israel must contend with. We will be covering the city of Tel Aviv and discussing the declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel this coming week.
We have seen many amazing artifacts that were brought in by some of our students. All artifacts must be brought in asap. Kindly fill out the Artifact Label form here!
We are so excited about our Living Museum Project! Thank you all for your participation.
L’hitraot,
Mary and Susie