Here's what our sub, Debbie, had to say

First, the kids worked on the Hebrew page in pairs. Then we did an opening exercise about our names, which I linked to the idea of our names being blessed when we were born (“I will give you blessing and will make your name great.” Gen 12:1). I asked them to be reporters and to interview a partner about his/her name: Do you have a Hebrew name? What does your Hebrew name mean? Were you named for someone? Do you have a nickname? Etc. They took turns interviewing each other, and had to report what they learned about the other person to the large group. After the “Our Names are Blessings” exercise, we started brainstorming for the photography work. We generated a big list on the board of all the things we say brachot for: seeing a rainbow, eating food, drinking wine/juice on Shabbat, seeing beauty in nature, putting on a tallit, etc. We reviewed the list together and talked about how we might capture these things in pictures. They couldn’t wait to get their hands on the cameras. I explained how the Polaroids work, and that they’d be working in 3 groups of 3. Then we broke for recess. They went all over the shul — took pictures of apples in the refrigerator, kippot and tallit outside the sanctuary, the chairs on the bima, a mezuzah in the doorway, trees in the backyard, a Peace book in the classroom. They each got to take 3 pictures. Then back in the classroom, we laid them all out on the windowsill and talked about what they meant. I gave out Sharpie markers and everyone wrote a title for their pictures. They took some home, but there were some left over which I put on the top shelf of the supply cabinet.

Thanks, Debbie! It sounds like they had a wonderful day.

One of my favorite brachot of all time

Three cheers for Liana, who said a bracha this week about Obama being elected president! No matter what your politics are, I'm sure you agree that this was a creative and inspired way to integrate what we are learning with the "real world."

I sent home duplicate copies of the bracha assigment for those children who were in school today but did not return their homework. Even if you can only come up with one bracha, doing the assignment helps bridge the gap between what we learn about Judaism in school and what children actually do at home.

Morah Amy

Hundreds of Brachot

The rabbis taught that we are obligated to say one hundred blessings a day. Has anyone come close? Even if you've only said one or two, I hope the homework assignment has introduced at least one new bracha to your family.

Please remember that, as always, homework is due on Thursday. Also, many students have outstanding hebrew homework and missing folders. I'll send personal emails to check in if they aren't returned this week.

We began a new set of blessings this week, knows as the morning blessings, or birkot hashachar. The rabbis designed these brachot to roughly correspond to the first things people do every morning, such as opening the eyes, getting dressed and standing on solid ground. Here's a link to some more info about the source of these blessings.

On Sunday, rather than give students the entirety of the text above, I separated the blessings from the actions, and asked them to try to guess which blessing goes with which action. This proved to be understandably challenging, and I hope the activity will provoke some good discussion on Thursday.

We're moving ahead in Hebrew reading. As you might guess, students are seeing that frequent attendance and completing homework leads to success in mastering this new phonetic system.

Morah Amy

Homework

More than half of the kids in the class have not returned their last homework assignment. Please help me make this a routine - homework goes home Thursday and comes back the following Thursday. If a student is absent on Thursday, please send in the homework at the next class. If you are not sure whether your child has work due, feel free to email me privately - no public shout-outs here.

This week we have a new kind of assignment. I've sent home the bracha books, which contain all of the blessings we have learned in school this year. I've sent home a pink sheet for your family to fill out. It asks you to look through the book and see how many brachot (blessings) you can say over the course of a week. I hope this will be an enjoyable and meaningful assignment.

You do not need to send back the bracha books, just the pink sheet. If your child's is lost, email me and I will send you a new one as an attachment.

Morah Amy

The Bracha Bee

Today we finished up our unit on the blessings that are traditionally recited over foods. We had two culminating activities. One, students made watercolor paintings of various foods and labeled them according to the correct bracha. We made a bulletin board of all of these paintings, which will educate the rest of the school about the topic. The pictures will be up for about a month - make sure to come take a look! Two, we had a tasty feast of foods of every category. In order to eat an item, someone in the class had to recite the correct bracha from memory, and the rest of the class had to repeat it. We had melons, almonds, cantelope, cookies, m&m's, pita and grape juice. Later this month, students will come home with the bracha books they created in class.

There was no Hebrew homework this past Thursday, as I gave a few students a chance to catch up. We will be back on track with a new assignment this week.

I had a chance to see Sulha perform at Beit Ahavah today. They are a musical multi-racial/multi-cultural peace initiative out of Israel and they are amazing. They will be performing at the Academy of Music this Tuesday night. I can't recommend the show highly enough.

Morah Amy

What's in a name?

Sunday was naming day in Kitah Gimel. I gave everyone a craft stick with his/her Hebrew name written on it, and we took turns introducing ourselves to one another in Hebrew, using our Hebrew names. I then asked students to copy their names onto several adhesive name tags, and to label their classroom property with the stickers. If you haven't yet told your child the origin of his/her Hebrew name, or whom they were named for, this is the perfect opportunity!

We learned the second letter of the alef-bet, the letter "Bet", and practiced reading and writing the letter with the vowels the children already studied. We'll be learning one or two letters a week throughout the year, and I expect a class of confident readers by May.

We also added to our "bracha books" with the blessings that are recited over grains (mzonot) and the blessing over miscellaneous foods that don't fit into any specific category. If you are interested in learning more about traditional blessings recited over foods, here's a good multimedia presentation, including audio.

Several holidays will pass before I see the class again. May you have an easy fast and a joyful sukkot-

Morah Amy

First homework assignment!

Today we started a unit on berachot (blessings). Over the next month we'll be learning a variety of blessings in both Hebrew and English - blessings over food, drink, smells and wonders of nature. Today we looked closely at two blessings - the one recited over foods that grown on trees, such as apples and oranges, and the one recited over food that grows on the ground, such as tomatoes and peanuts. We'll be assembling a "beracha book" with a page for each blessing that we learn. At the end of our unit we'll enjoy a feast of foods and practice trying out all of our new knowledge.

I sent home our first homework assignment. Those of you who attended the parent meeting had a chance to learn more about the workbook and the home assignments. If you did not attend, or still have questions, please feel free to email me. I sent home two pages for students to complete at home. These are in a blue homework folder and should be returned in the same folder. Typically, homework assignments are given on Thursday and due on the following Thursday. Because of school vacation and Yom Kippur, students will have two weeks to complete this first assignment. I apologize that I didn't have a chance to review the instructions this week with students. We simply ran out of time, and in the future I will make sure to allot time to going over assignments before sending them home.