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.