[1.7] 10/31/06

Gan - Morah Chana
Today in Hebrew School we sang the morning prayers of Modeh Ani, Al Netilat Yadayim, Shema and more. We even gave tzedakah and kissed the mezuzah! The children in Gan then learned all about the 4th and 5th days of creation on which Hashem made the sun, the moon, the stars, the fish and the birds. We reviewed the Hebrew letter Aleph that we learned last week and this week we learned the letter Bet and the vowel Kamatz which sounds like “ah.”

Kita Aleph (1) - Morah Chava
Today in Hebrew School we played a review game on last week’s lesson about Yaacov and Eisav and learned all about Rachel our foremother. Rachel was buried along the roadside and her grave is a very special place to pray. The children all saw a picture of Kever Rachel – Rachel’s grave. We then continued through the Aleph-Bet learning letters Dalet, Hey, Vav, Zayin and Chet. The children suggested words that began with the various letter sounds and we played “step on it.” We reviewed our words Rosh & Beten – “Head & Stomach,” and introduced the words Yadayim & Raglayim – “Hands and Legs.” We learned these words in a really fun way by playing Simon Says and learned a song all about them. We then continued on in our Brachot – Blessings lesson and reviewed the various categories of blessings and the children guessed which food gets what Bracha. We heard a Bracha story and had a Bracha party!! For homework the kids got an Aleph-Bet sheet on which they should fill in which letter matches picture.

Kita Bet (2) - Morah Devorah Leah
We began Kita Bet today learning all about Davening=prayer from the Siddur. We sang Modeh Ani, Al Netilat Yadayim, Torah Tziva, and gave tzedakah. The children completed a fill-in sheet all about ways to help people who need help such as people who are hungry, sick or sad. We then began learning all about the book of Shemot – Exodus with the story of Moshe – Moses. We heard stories, did an outdoor activity and saw pictures to illustrate the various things that happened to Moshe as a child. The kids then answered review questions and got Torah Dollars for giving the right answer. For our Hebrew language component the children got pictures of Kisay, Ritzpah, and Shulchan (chair, floor, and table) from magazines and they put them into the right boxes. Today we began our Hebrew writing curriculum by practicing straight lines and writing the Hebrew letter Vav which looks like a straight line. Lastly, we continued our Jewish Home project by learning about Tzedakah – charity and every child put Tzedakah boxes in their Jewish Home folder and made their very own Tzedakah box. For homework the children should complete the Torah review sheet by matching the correct sentence with its picture and fill in the Tzedakah note with an act of Tzedakah (charity / kindness) that they did over the course of the week.

Kita Gimmel (3) - Morah Rivkah
Today in Kita Gimmel we began our learning of the second half of the book of Shemot – Exodus with the Mitzvah-packed Parsha (Torah Portion) of Mishpatim (Judgments). The first Mitzvah we learned about was Kibbud Av V’Em (Honoring ones Father and Mother). We heard a story about a little boy who honored his parents by not waking his father up even for something that seemed important to the boy. The children made “Do Not Disturb” signs for their parents’ room so that they will be considerate when their parents need privacy. In Hebrew writing we used worksheets to review the letter Aleph and then moved on to the letters Bet and Gimmel. The class then reviewed our Shabbat lesson. For homework each student should bring in a note from their parents that he / she kept the Mitzvah of Honoring Parents one time during the week. In addition the kids are to complete Hebrew writing worksheets.

Kita Dalet (4) - Morah Ellana
Today in Kita Dalet we learned all about how the Jewish people camped in the desert. We learned that the 12 tribes each had their own flag with different pictures and colors. Each student made their own unique flag learning that we all have our own unique qualities and that we must use our unique personalities to be good people and make Hashem proud. We also made origami tents like the Jewish people’s tents in the desert. Our Mitzvah-pedia curriculum took us to the Mitzvah of Mezuzah this week and we learned all about how Hashem protects us. The students worked on their Hebrew writing as well. For homework students should complete the homework sheet they received.

Kita Dalet is announcing the start of our Mitzvah incentive program! Each Mitzvah we do is like putting our own brick in the building of the holy Temple. Every week students should come to school with a note about a Mitzvah they did during the week. These paper “bricks” will be used to cover our model of the Bait HaMikdash – holy Temple and kids will really see their Mitzvahs in action.

Kita Hay (5) - Morah Mushky
Today we began in Kita Hay with Davening – prayer, giving tzedakah, and making the blessing of Tzitzit. We then learned that the Mitzvot of the Torah fall into 3 categories: Eidut – Testimonies, Chukim – Decrees, and Mishpatim – Judgments. We then focused on the Mitzvah of Para Adumah – the red heifer, and did a worksheet about the lessons we learn from it in our own life. Kita Hay really enjoyed our Middos (character traits) curriculum today learning that we express ourselves through feelings, thoughts, and actions, but that actions are the main ones that other people see and relate to. For homework each student should complete the worksheets about Mitzvah categories and the Para Adumah.

Kita Vav (6) - Morah Chaya
Today in Kita Vav we continued our historical overview of the Jewish nation by speaking about leaders. Our first national leader was Moshe – Moses and he passed on the reign of leadership to Yehoshua – Joshua. In our Cycle of Life curriculum we learned that each of us had a Neshoma – a Soul that impacts and is impacted by everything we do. We played the game, “Bells” and connected it to our lives. Everybody found the connection of the game to the struggles we go through during the course of our lives, some bigger and some smaller. For homework each student should list five people who they consider to be role models and why, bring in a baby picture of themselves and any notes they received when they were born for the Cycle of Life workbook, and write 5-6 lines about how their Neshoma (soul) is special and how to keep it special throughout life.

Kita Zayin (7) - Morah Bracha
Today in Kita Zayin we did a short quiz reviewing last week’s material. We then dove right into our Hebrew writing curriculum. The class engaged in a discussion of Jewish pride in which each student shared something Jewish they had done over the weekend. In Jewish history we learned about the destruction of the second Bait HaMikdash (holy Temple in Jerusalem). The destruction was caused by baseless hatred between Jews and therefore the lesson moved into the Ahavat Yisroel (love of fellow people) that each of us must practice. We worked on a Jewish nation puzzle to illustrate that the picture is not complete without every Jew present and we played a question & answer Tic Tac Toe game to test our knowledge. For homework the students should complete the 2 writing worksheets and the 1 Jewish history review worksheet.