October 7 and October 11, 2020
Families,
UPDATE: We would like to let you know that we will be starting in-person learning, on Sunday, October 18, with our kindergarteners only, for the month of October. We will look at bringing our 1st/2nd graders in-person in November. We will be making these decisions a few weeks at a time as we look at HSRS’s holiday schedule, Larimer County’s COVID numbers, and PSD’s current phases. Other grades will remain in remote learning. As a result, some Zoom numbers and classtimes are changing, specifically for our 3rd and 6th graders.
Next Sunday is our first Storytime with Judy as we go to Tunisia. Plan accordingly that your child will be on their “virtual field trip” after class:
K/1st/2nd from 10:15-10:45am
3rd/4th from 11:00-11:30am
5th/6th/7th from 11:30-12:00pm
Amazing work is taking place in our computer classrooms. Keep up the great work and read below to discover the learning that’s been taking place.
Kitah Gan (Kindergarten)
From Morah Leah: Shalom Kita Gan! This week we watched a video of Israeli’s dancing in the streets of Tel Aviv with Torah! It was so cool seeing people of all ages dance and sing along to this all night party; (video was from 2019 and before COVID). Simchat Torah is the celebration of an ending that rolls right into a beginning; we party hard as we finish the end of the torah and joyfully begin reading again. Next week, Sunday will look very different. I will meet your student in the classroom at 10 AM for one hour of in person instruction. Please, eat before coming to CHS and wear a mask. ALSO - please bring the 3-ring binder that has the ALEPH-BET letters in it to school - we will be starting on these pages. Finally, bring a filled waterbottle as we won’t be able to use a drinking fountain.
Kitah Alef/Kitah Bet (1st and 2nd grade)
From Morah Jodi: Kitah Alef and Bet learned a lot about the Torah including the prayers said when reading the Torah and how we read from the end of the Torah, plus reroll and read from the beginning on this holiday.
In class today, we talked about how G-d chose us as the chosen people and gave Moshe and the Jewish people the Torah. The Torah is a special part of our Jewish heritage. It presents countless stories that one can learn a lot from. There are five books of the Torah: Beresheet (Genesis), Sh'mot (Exodus), Vayikra (Leviticus), Bamidbam (Numbers), & Devarim (Deuteronomy). Each book provides chronological stories of our past which are both interesting and meaningful. The Torah is a constant reminder of the promise G-d gave us, that while in the desert, we accepted. On Simchat Torah, we celebrate the Torah and begin reading it from the beginning.
In our book, How a Torah is Made, we learned that a sofer fixes and writes the Torah on parchment and the pieces are sewn together. We also learned how we use a pointer (yad) as we do not touch the Torah with our hands as the oils can ruin the delicate, old parchment. Additionally, the children enjoyed listening to The Patchwork Torah, a story of how special a Torah is. HOMEWORK: The children will make their degels (flags from the sheet and straw provided), and edible Torahs with the plain paper and smartie candies. We will show all our friends our crafts next week. If you need clarification on the crafts, please let us know.
Kitah Gimel (3rd grade)
From Morah JoJo: Hello All! We started class with some light Hebrew reading, everyone remembered the trick word of the day (very good job!). For our Chai lesson, we went back to the Avodah section. We continued to look into what Avodah is and how we can connect with God and community. The kids learned the lesson of Jacob and Esau, how even when tricked, Esau kept faith and even when feeling scared and maybe a little guilty, Jacob stayed true. Reinforcing the idea that no matter what happens in life, keep searching for God and you will succeed. Homework: Hebrew - complete page 29 and read page 27, CHAI - complete page 24, EXTRA - find a container to decorate for the Tzedakah boxes next week!
Kitah Dalet (4th grade)
From Morah Batyah (Wednesday): We are moving quickly through Book 1. This is an amazing group of students. They are present in class and participate at a high level. The Aleph group (4:30) completed Lesson 5. We will start Lesson 6 next week. The Bet group (6 p.m) started Lesson 6 tonight. We learned about the letter Kuf (K sound)and the vowel which is a vav with a dot in the center - ooh). The new words are Kiddush (blessing over wine) and Yayin - wine.
- Homework:
- Group Aleph (4:30): Review reading exercises on page 27-28
- Group Bet (6:00): Review reading on page 37-38. Complete coloring exercise on page 41.
From Morah Naomi (Sunday): Today we talked about Simcha Torah, how it is celebrated and what we do for reading the Torah. We worked on our edible Torahs and talked about the different parts of the Torah, the symbols on Torah covers as well as the blessing we can say anytime we want to study Torah. Finally, we talked about the symbols and colors of the Israeli flag and learned that the Magen David has been around for a really long time and that the blue and white is to remind us of the tallit (prayer shawl). Don't forget to share your beautiful edible Torah's in a picture in Seesaw... before you eat them :) Also, the recording from our group learning today is posted in the Seesaw blog:
https://blog.seesaw.me/harshalomschool password: shalom
Kitah Hay (5th grade)
From Morah Addie (Wednesday): This last Wednesday we finished Ch. 3 in our Hebrew books! This chapter focused on the tallit blessing (a tricky one!) and everyone did a great job reading it. Homework: Spend 15 minutes reading the lines on page 22. Read (& reread) lines that feel challenging but not frustrating.
From Morah Nicki (Sunday): I absolutely LOVED subbing for Addie today. Thanks Kitah Hay for having such great participation and creativity. We celebrated Simchat Torah by talking about how the part of a torah and how they are made. Our special guest, Anne Wera, showed the kids some pictures of a Rabbi, from her trip to Israel, writing and creating a new torah scroll. HOMEWORK: Work on the three crafts we sent home. For each craft completed, send Nicki a picture of your completed project. Two shekels for each project!
Kitah Vav (6th grade)
From Rabbi Finestone (Wednesday): We reviewed the Hebrew of the Gevurot prayer, the second prayer of the Amidah, and the students‘ reading ability is greatly improved. For homework, they will receive a recording of how to sing this prayer, and they are to practice singing it at home (separate email). We also discussed some of the important messages of the holiday of Sukkot, and we read two Hasidic tales which helped illustrate those messages.
From Morah Michelle (Sunday): Starting next week, our class will meet from 10-11am instead. Michelle will be teaching remotely from Har Shalom, because her daughter will be in-person with Morah Leah. Today, we celebrated Simchat Torah and then talked about other celebrations (like our Bar and Bat Mitzvahs!) HOMEWORK: Come ready to class with one question to ask our interview panel about their Bar and Bat Mitzvah.
Kitah Zayin (7th grade)
From Morah Jennifer (Wednesday): The students participated in their first Torah study! Over the next two weeks we will look at the story of our matriarch Rebekah and her influence on the Jewish people. We went paragraph by paragraph and discussed what the Torah was saying to us through each 'character' that was introduced. My goal over this Torah study segment of the curriculum is to help the students enter into Torah stories and wisdom on a personal level and understand how to mine the text for wisdom that is relevant in their own lives.
From Rabbi Finestone (Sunday): We looked at the English translation of the first six days of creation and discussed several questions that each day raises. For example: if the sun was created on day four, then how long is a day for G-d? Who is G-d talking to when G-d speaks of creating humanity in the divine image? What does this mean? We had a lot of fun delving deep into the words of Genesis. HOMEWORK: We are commanded in the Torah to be happy on Simchat Torah, so find one thing that makes you happy and DO IT!
