Dear Families,
We are so impressed with the maturity and focus of our class the past two weeks. We have spent time discussing why Israeli army service is mandatory for ages 18-21 and outlined key historical and current event issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The discussions we have had over the past two weeks have been quite sophisticated and the questions the students asked were downright impressive. We tried to humanize the conflict, showing that it's not just a debate about borders or between governments. The students learned more about the human suffering that accompanies this issue. They learned why it's so difficult to point fingers at either side and why peace is so urgent. We also learned some Hebrew commands that are used in army training. For homework, the students should read pp. 145-149 in "Our Land of Israel", in preparation for the trivia game in our final class next week.
Shalom,
Micah and Ariana
Friday, May 20, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Oy versus Vey in Israel Trivia
Hello Families of the 5th Grade,
We had a really fun class this week reviewing our whole year of learning with friendly competition!
Team "Oy" beat team "Vey" in a classic duel that challenged our students to reach down deep in their Israel knowledge banks.
Topics included:
1. Israeli History
2. Geography
3. Jerusalem
4. Challenges facing Israel
5. The demographics of Israel
6. Israeli army and battles
And much more!
In preparation for Teacher Appreciation Shabbat, the students have a writing assignment:
1. What does Shabbat mean to you?
2. How is Israel connected to your idea of Shabbat?
Shalom,
Micah and Ariana
We had a really fun class this week reviewing our whole year of learning with friendly competition!
Team "Oy" beat team "Vey" in a classic duel that challenged our students to reach down deep in their Israel knowledge banks.
Topics included:
1. Israeli History
2. Geography
3. Jerusalem
4. Challenges facing Israel
5. The demographics of Israel
6. Israeli army and battles
And much more!
In preparation for Teacher Appreciation Shabbat, the students have a writing assignment:
1. What does Shabbat mean to you?
2. How is Israel connected to your idea of Shabbat?
Shalom,
Micah and Ariana
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
This is what Willy Wonka did for me when I left Egypt
Hello 5th Grade Families!
We had a very productive class this past Tuesday. Our class was assigned three sections of the Passover Haggadah and instructed to rewrite those sections with a chocolate theme. Next week is the Chocolate Seder and the 6th Grade will be reading our script, along with all the other grades material. Here's what we came up with:
The Four Children
Willy Wonka teaches us about the four kinds of chocolate: The wise caramel chocolate, the wicked bitter chocolate, the simple milk chocolate, and the mint chocolate who does not know how to ask.
The caramel chocolate asks: What are the laws and rules of Chocolate land, which Willy Wonka our Hershey King has made into a chocolate factory?
Answer: You should teach this chocolate all the laws of Chocolate land, including the rule that nothing should be eaten after the s’mores.
The bitter chocolate asks: What does this Chocolate Seder mean to you?
Answer: Since this chocolate says “to you” and not “to us” this chocolate must believe that it is vanilla. You should tell this chocolate, “we do this because of what Willy Wonka did for me when we sang “mi-ca mocha”
The milk chocolate asks: What is dessert?
Answer: You should tell this chocolate “Willy Wonka took us out of Scrumdiddlyumptious Land, out of the land of Healthy Foods, and into the land of Chocolate Milk and Honey, with hot fudge.
For the mint chocolate who cannot ask a question, you must begin the dessert. Tell this chocolate it is because of that which Willy Wonka did for me when I went free from the land of Healthy Foods.
Elijah
Just before the chocolate-chip matzah, we open the door for the Marshmellow Man and invite him to drink the chocolate milk. Since before the Chocolate Seder began the Marshmellow Man’s chocolate milk has been waiting to be drank. The Marshmellow Man was originally a chocolate soufflé. Stories tell that he will come back to us and give us all a peace of chocolate.
Nirtzah
Nutella is the chocolate word for “shalom.”
Scrumdiddlyumptious is the name of the capitol of the land of Milk Chocolate and Honey.
If you look closely at the letters of Scrumdiddlyumptious, you might get really dizzy, but you also might find some of the letters of the word “Hershey.” Scrumdiddlyumptious is the city of Reeses Pieces. Eating chocolate is the final step (as well as beginning and middle steps) of the Seder. We drink the fourth cup of chocolate milk, and gargle, "L'shana haba b'yerushalayim - Next year may we all live in the city of Reeses Peaces." Blessed are you Willy Wonka, our Candy Man, ruler of the chocolate lands, who creates the Hershey kisses on the candy cane.
We had a very productive class this past Tuesday. Our class was assigned three sections of the Passover Haggadah and instructed to rewrite those sections with a chocolate theme. Next week is the Chocolate Seder and the 6th Grade will be reading our script, along with all the other grades material. Here's what we came up with:
The Four Children
Willy Wonka teaches us about the four kinds of chocolate: The wise caramel chocolate, the wicked bitter chocolate, the simple milk chocolate, and the mint chocolate who does not know how to ask.
The caramel chocolate asks: What are the laws and rules of Chocolate land, which Willy Wonka our Hershey King has made into a chocolate factory?
Answer: You should teach this chocolate all the laws of Chocolate land, including the rule that nothing should be eaten after the s’mores.
The bitter chocolate asks: What does this Chocolate Seder mean to you?
Answer: Since this chocolate says “to you” and not “to us” this chocolate must believe that it is vanilla. You should tell this chocolate, “we do this because of what Willy Wonka did for me when we sang “mi-ca mocha”
The milk chocolate asks: What is dessert?
Answer: You should tell this chocolate “Willy Wonka took us out of Scrumdiddlyumptious Land, out of the land of Healthy Foods, and into the land of Chocolate Milk and Honey, with hot fudge.
For the mint chocolate who cannot ask a question, you must begin the dessert. Tell this chocolate it is because of that which Willy Wonka did for me when I went free from the land of Healthy Foods.
Elijah
Just before the chocolate-chip matzah, we open the door for the Marshmellow Man and invite him to drink the chocolate milk. Since before the Chocolate Seder began the Marshmellow Man’s chocolate milk has been waiting to be drank. The Marshmellow Man was originally a chocolate soufflé. Stories tell that he will come back to us and give us all a peace of chocolate.
Nirtzah
Nutella is the chocolate word for “shalom.”
Scrumdiddlyumptious is the name of the capitol of the land of Milk Chocolate and Honey.
If you look closely at the letters of Scrumdiddlyumptious, you might get really dizzy, but you also might find some of the letters of the word “Hershey.” Scrumdiddlyumptious is the city of Reeses Pieces. Eating chocolate is the final step (as well as beginning and middle steps) of the Seder. We drink the fourth cup of chocolate milk, and gargle, "L'shana haba b'yerushalayim - Next year may we all live in the city of Reeses Peaces." Blessed are you Willy Wonka, our Candy Man, ruler of the chocolate lands, who creates the Hershey kisses on the candy cane.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Chocolate Seder here we come!
Dear Families,
BOSTY Shabbat was a great success! Thanks for all your support in the process. The students made the Kabbalat Shabbat service really special and learned a lot in the process.
This past Tuesday we began preparation for the bi-annual Chocolate Seder. The 5th Grade has been assigned to re-write The Four Children portion, the Elijah story, and the conclusion of the seder. Our version will be a chocolate one!
We read through the story of Passover and a chocolate version of the story as well. The students enjoyed brainstorming ideas for how to make our portions chocolaty (i.e. The Four Chocolates instead of The Four Children). The process actually made the students think critically about the meanings and interpretations of various elements of the Seder.
For homework, we gave each student a short article to read about how Passover is celebrated in Israel. They were asked to write how their celebration is different and similar from an Israeli celebration. Students have also been encouraged to do any additional research that they feel is necessary to gain a fuller understanding of the way Passover is celebrated in Israel.
Shalom,
Micah and Ariana
BOSTY Shabbat was a great success! Thanks for all your support in the process. The students made the Kabbalat Shabbat service really special and learned a lot in the process.
This past Tuesday we began preparation for the bi-annual Chocolate Seder. The 5th Grade has been assigned to re-write The Four Children portion, the Elijah story, and the conclusion of the seder. Our version will be a chocolate one!
We read through the story of Passover and a chocolate version of the story as well. The students enjoyed brainstorming ideas for how to make our portions chocolaty (i.e. The Four Chocolates instead of The Four Children). The process actually made the students think critically about the meanings and interpretations of various elements of the Seder.
For homework, we gave each student a short article to read about how Passover is celebrated in Israel. They were asked to write how their celebration is different and similar from an Israeli celebration. Students have also been encouraged to do any additional research that they feel is necessary to gain a fuller understanding of the way Passover is celebrated in Israel.
Shalom,
Micah and Ariana
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
BOSTY Shabbat Prep
Grade 5 Students and Parents,
Please check out the new section of our blog (to the right) that contains everything you'll need to practice at home for our upcoming BOSTY Shabbat Service (Friday, March 25).
Find your name in the list of Service Assignment links and you'll be able to view all the prayers that you'll be leading. All of the students in grades 5 & 6 will be on the bimah for Hinei Ma Tov, Hashkiveinu, Oseh Shalom, the song grade 6 is writing and our closing song (which we'll be choosing as a group next week). There are also recordings of the tunes of each prayer in the BOSTY Shabbat section of our blog (more audio files coming soon!).
Please don't hesitate to contact Shari (schurwin@ohabei.org) with any questions!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Making Tzedakah Boxes for Yemin Orde
Today's class focused on Tzedakah for the organization Yemin Orde. This is an organization for youth that our 5th Grade feels passionate about. They decided to have each class decorate a Tzedakah box and then have a contest for who could raise the most money. The learning component of this lesson will be to understand what seperates Tzedakah from charity. The homework is attached.
Shalom, Micah and Ariana
Shalom, Micah and Ariana
Star Bangled Banner/Hatikva Comparison
This past week we looked at the words of the United States and Israeli national anthems. Students were challenged to think about the differences in the two. We then sang both anthems.
Students were asked to go towards whichever statement they agreed most with. The options were:
The Hatikva is the anthem for Israelis
The Hatikva is the anthem for the Jewish Israelis
The Hatikva is the anthem for the Jews
This lead to a very interesting discussion about statehood and peoplehood.
Students were asked to go towards whichever statement they agreed most with. The options were:
The Hatikva is the anthem for Israelis
The Hatikva is the anthem for the Jewish Israelis
The Hatikva is the anthem for the Jews
This lead to a very interesting discussion about statehood and peoplehood.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Comparing news from various sources/Gearing up for Israeli army training!
Hello 5th Grade Families,
Yesterday's class was a spectacular one. We built upon the previous homework assignment and had a discussion about bias in the news. What was different about the tone of the articles you read from both the Israeli and Palestinian news sources?
I found the students' responses to be mature and thoughtful. I was very impressed.
This week's homework on the Israeli army will culminate in class with some Israeli army training! This will help students begin to understand what 18 year old Israelis go through when they graduate high school.
Our class is gearing up to raise money for Yemin Orde, a school for orphans and immigrants in Israel close to Haifa. More on this to come...
Shalom,
Micah and Ariana
Yesterday's class was a spectacular one. We built upon the previous homework assignment and had a discussion about bias in the news. What was different about the tone of the articles you read from both the Israeli and Palestinian news sources?
I found the students' responses to be mature and thoughtful. I was very impressed.
This week's homework on the Israeli army will culminate in class with some Israeli army training! This will help students begin to understand what 18 year old Israelis go through when they graduate high school.
Our class is gearing up to raise money for Yemin Orde, a school for orphans and immigrants in Israel close to Haifa. More on this to come...
Shalom,
Micah and Ariana
Monday, January 24, 2011
Handball Trivia for Chapter 11 - Arabs in Israel
On Tuesday, January 11, we split the class in two and did a second day of review on chapter 11, "Arabs in Israel". After the review we went into the carpeted room and played Trivia Handball, covering material from that chapter. The homework assignment is to read one article from haaretz.com and one from an Arab news source (i.e. english.aljazeera.net). We discussed "tone" in class. What is different about the "tones" of the two articles? Would this article sound different if it were coming from the other side's news source?
-Micah and Ariana
-Micah and Ariana
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