Jewish History Class update

Dear Parents,
It's been a while since you've heard from our Thursday Jewish History class.  Here are some things that have been happening in our class:

First, we concluded our study of the period of Judges by learning about Samuel the Prophet - who can be read more about HERE.

We are now in the midst of a fascinating unit on King David.  We had so many questions about his life and really enjoyed learning about the stories of his youth, his rise to kingdom and overall legacy to the Jewish people.  Here are two very interesting essays about King David's life: David Shepherd and Warrior and David The King.

The students have really been enjoying this class, and often use this period as an opportunity to ask questions about Jewish history in general.  We have had some very interesting discussions on various topics as a result.

We have also been working on a Timeline project.  As a class, we are creating our very own timeline of Jewish history.  The students have been illustrating events and personalities from Jewish history, adding more details as we move along in our studies.  Look out for it hanging in the hallway in the coming week.

For parents who are interested in learning more about Jewish History for their own knowledge, I highly recommend this resource: /http://www.jewishhistory.org/.  You will find a variety of fascinating movies, online classes, crash courses, blogs, books, etc. to explore at your leisure.

Grand mock Seder!!!

Dear parents,
Today grades 3-6 had the most amazing mock Seder!!! Every student was able to participate in a "Real Pesach Seder". We went  through all the main parts of the Haggadah. During the course of the Seder every grade had a chance to present something in connection with the Haggadah. Some sang songs, some presented projects that they did on the Pesach theme and some presented skits..
Our class presented our very own "Ten Plagues Shadow Theater". It was very unique and beautiful.
After presenting each plague in a shadow form all the students in the audience had to say which one it is.  Below is a video of all of the students singing a song together during the Seder. I will also try to upload some of the Shadow theatre.  Please let me know if you have trouble viewing it
Enjoy, and have a Happy Pesach!
Morah Yehudis

Purim Party here we come...

Dear parents, 
Happy Adar!
This Friday, February 22nd we will be celebrating a grand Purim Party together with the class.
The students are invited and encouraged to come to school on Friday dressed in costume in honor of Purim!
Looking forward,
Morah Yehudis

Surprise latke party at Morah's

On Tuesday, the 3rd day of Chanukah I surprised the class with a latke party.
I brought them over to my apartment and together we made our very own latkes!!!
They came out just perfect-crunchy on outside and soft on the inside. After we fried the latkes we played the"pass the parcel" game in Chanukah version, where each student had a chance to unwrap a layer of paper, find a picture of an object and connect it to Chanukah. If they were able to get the right answer they got a candy and then we continued on to the next person. It was alot of fun!!!
Oh and by the way we brought over some latkes for the teachers to taste after the party. I am sure they enjoyed them!
Enjoy the pictures!

Morah Yehudis

Curriculum night reminder

Dear parents,

I would like to remind you that we are having curriculum night on Tuesday, the 4th of November, at 6:00 pm.

Cant wait to see all of you! 

Have a great weekend!
Morah Yehudis

Challah baking at Morah's apartment

On Friday I took the 5th Grade girls to my apartment in Crown Heights.
The whole class baked delicious 6 braided Challahs and they did it all on their own!
I hope you enjoyed it with the family on Shabbat. :)
We also learnt about the mitzvah of taking Challah.  I didnt have a chance to take pictures of the girls actually braiding it but here are some pictures of them reciting the morning prayer in my apartment.
For those of you who havent heard about the mitzvah of taking Challah  here is a short explanation:

Taking Challah: A Deeper Look

"…the first of your kneading you shall set aside as challah …(so) shall you give a portion to Hashem for your generations" (Bamidbar 15:20-21)

What is challah? Challah is known to most of us at the two braided Shabbat loaves we delight in after Kiddush on Friday night. In halachicterms, challah is a mitzvah in the Torah to separate a portion of dough from the baker’s batch. Any dough meeting the requirements forhafrashat challah , taking challah, must have this portion removed, or the bread baked from this dough is not considered kosher.

In Temple times, the separated portion, the challah, was given to the Kohain . The Kohanim were deeply involved in their service in the Temple, and were therefore unable to fully provide for their families. Hashem commanded us to give His portion, challah, among other gifts, to the Kohanim. This ensured their sustenance as they performed their holy work on our behalf.

Today, the Temple remains central to our identity as a people. Observing the mitzvah of hafrashat challah, then and now, establishes a bond between the people and the Kohanim. We immortalize this interdependence when we remove this piece of challah dough, burn it and dispose it in an honorable way.

Hurricane Sandy project

The first few days of school we spoke about each students individual experience of Hurricane Sandy and then after that each students worked on her own project in Hebrew that was called "ANi veHuricane Sandy" which means "Me and Hurricane Sandy". They wrote about their expericence  before during and after the Hurricane and then Illustrated it. When the projects were ready each student stood in front of the class and presented it After each presentation the students had a chance to ask questions.

THis project taught us lots of important things. One of them was that even though we all wrote about the same Hurricane each and every one had a whole different story to share and viewed it in a very different way. Some even had a positive experience.