פרשת שירה

1-25-13
Dear Parents,
This week we prepared food for the birds. Please read about our parasha to understand why.

Cursive Hebrew letters:

Last week, we started to learn how to write cursive Hebrew letters. In this unit, we are focusing on forming the letters correctly and reading words written in cursive script. This week, we were practicing the letters up to “ז” .
I know the students are very excited about writing their words in cursive,  but it is extremely important not to let them write it yet! The students are allowed to use Hebrew cursive letters only for the letters we have learned in the class. The students may think they know how to form the letters,  but if they are forming it incorrectly,  it will be very hard to fix their mistakes later.

“My library” הַסִפְרִיָה שֶלִי "   
This week’s book is called:"עץ גדול עץ קטן" -“Etz Gadol Etz Katan?” (Big tree, small tree). When we read the book, we clapped our hands each time we read the words “Gadol Gadol” (big). We snapped every time we read the words “Katan Katan” (small).
Please encourage your child to read it aloud to you over the weekend and clap your hands and snap to follow to the story. It is a great way to practice all the vocabulary we have learned.

Ariot:
This week Ariot is going to Li’elle’s home.

Parashat Hashavua:
This Shabbat is Shabbat Shirah, (The Shabbat of Song). The Shabbat on which the parsha of Beshalach is read is called Shabbat Shirah, because it contains the song sung by Israel after the splitting of the Red Sea.


One of the customs associated with this Shabbat is to place crumbs outside for the birds to eat. We read in the Torah on this week about G-d giving the "מן" (“Maan”) to the nation of Israel, for their sustenance. Moshe told the nation of Israel that the Maan would not fall on Shabbat,  and therefore they should collect a double portion on Friday.  Datan
and Aviram, who wanted to embarrass Moshe and weaken his authority, took Maan they had collected on Friday, and after dark placed it out on the ground. When morning came, they hoped that people would think that the Maan did indeed fall on Shabbat, and Moshe was wrong.  However, no Maan was found on Shabbat morning. Why?  Because the birds carried it away before the nation awoke. Therefore, the nation indeed trusted  Moshe and respected the sanctity of the Shabbat. To reward the birds for this noble deed, we feed them the week on which we read of the surrounding incident, the week of Beshalach.
  There is an additional reason why we feed the birds this week. The chirping of birds is not just idle song. It is the way that birds praise G-d for providing them with their needs. Because, this week, we too sing praises of G-d for providing for us in the desert, we recognize the constant song of praise chirped by the birds by providing for their needs.

Tu B’Shvat:
This week we finished learning about the tree parts, and we started learning of “שבעת המינים” – Shivat Haminim (the 7 species). We learned that there are two main things that we do on “Tu Bi’shvat”: 1) we plant a tree, or give money for planting a tree in Israel. 2.we eat the special fruits of the land of Israel.

Seder Tu Bi’shvat:
Today 1A and 1B celebrated together Tu Bi’shvat. We had a “seder” over fruits from “שִׁבְעַת הַמִּינִים” – Shivat Haminim (the 7 species). We practiced the ברכות-Berachot (blessing) over the special fruits and learned which blessing we should say first.

Homework:
Please make sure your child is writing his/her homework with pencil only!
Please make sure the homework notebook in placed  back into your child’s  backpack.
It is extremely important to have it in class on time, otherwise I can’t post their homework.

Vocabulary words:
 This week’s words will be from the story” Hagiga Ba’mishpacha” from “Ariot 2” workbook
The test will be on Thursday, 1-31-13.

Party, Celebration חֲגִיגָה -

Familyמִשְׁפָּחָה -

Brother- אָח

Sister אָחוֹת -

Uncle דּוֹד –

Aunt דּוֹדָה -

Grandfather סַבָּא –

Grandmother סָבְתָא -

You can practice with flash card at:
 http://www.flashcardmachine.com/1145973/v49t
Shabbat Shalom,
Morah Irit

פרשת בא

בס"ד

1.18.2013 Dear Parents,  
We started “Shevat” month with  great new learning:                                              
Cursive Hebrew letters:                                                                                                    
On Monday, we started to learn how to write cursive Hebrew letters. In this unit, we are focusing on forming the letters correctly and reading words written in cursive script. This week, we were practicing the letters: א=א, ב=ב, ג=ג, ד=ד .                                                                  
 I know the students are very excited about writing their words in cursive,  but it is extremely important not to let them write it yet! The students are allowed to use Hebrew cursive letters only for the letters we have learned in the class. The students may think they know how to form the letters,  but if they are forming it incorrectly,  it will be very hard to fix their mistakes later.
Tu Bishvat                                                                                                                       
 We started to learn the Tal-Am unit for Tu-Bishvat.  We used gematria again to find out that “Tu” is 15 and we celebrate Tu Bishvat on the 15^th of Shvat.          
 We also learned that this is a Rosh Hashana for the trees.                                    
 We all knew that tree in Hebrew is “Ets”  but now we all know that another word for tree is “Elan”.
We started “Ariot 2 workbook” and “Ariot 2 CD”:                                                     
We started “Ariot 2” workbook, and Ariot 2 program on the computers.                      
 Even though “Ariot 2” is more challenging,  it is even more fun to figure out the words in the  “Hachtava” (the spelling test at the end of each unit) and we are still able to figure out the words without help.
Parashat Hashavua                                                                                                      
   This Friday you will find a picture page in the folder with a summary of the story of Parashat: “בא” (Bo). We reviewed the 10 makot (the Ten Plagues) names in English and in Hebrew.
We learn that “בא” in gematria is 3 and in our Parasha we have the last 3 Makot (plagues)
Homework: 
 Please make sure your child is writing his/her homework with pencil only!

“My library” הַסִפְרִיָה שֶלִי "   

This week’s book is called:"מה יש בבית הספר" -“Ma Yesh Bevet Hasefer?” (what is in school).

Please encourage your child to read it aloud to you over the weekend .It is a great way to practice all the vocabulary we have learned.

Ariot:

This week Ariot is going to Roni’s home.

Vocabulary words:                                                                                                          

This week’s words will be from the story in “Ariot 2” workbook     

 The test will be on Thursday, 1-24-13.

Goose אַוָז-

Gold זָהָב-

Move (M)זָז -

Move (F) זָזָה-

Mountain הָר -

You can practice with flash card at:
 http://www.flashcardmachine.com/1131922/2mg2
Shabbat Shalom,
Morah Irit

Homework letter

1.11.2013

Dear Parents,

First grade students are doing very well. We are ready to move to a higher level. We will have a small quiz every Thursday on the 5 words we have studied. I will send home a list of words on Friday in our “Friday Hebrew Folder”. Please keep the words in an available place, sign the folder, and send the folder back.

To help your child study the words, each student will have a special notebook that he/she will take home on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with their homework assignment.

Every Monday, each student must write the words in Aleph-Bet order. Every Tuesday, they must write the words 3 times. And every Wednesday, they will have a word search puzzle with our week’s words.

For your convenience, I’ll make flashcards to be practiced on line.

Parents may not know Hebrew, but the students do!

Parents don’t have to study for the test or do the homework!

Your child knows how to do that, we also will go over the words in class.

Please make sure your child is studying and doing his/her homework.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call me:

338-0308

Thanks,

Mora Irit Karavani

Name: ___________________________Date:____________________________

I read the letter and I understand that my child will have homework every Monday ,Tuesday and Wednesday.

The quiz will be on Thursday.

Parent Signature: ____________________

פרשת וארא

1.11.2013

Dear parents,

This week we finished our reading program. This program has strengthened everyone’s reading skills and taught the important skill of sounding out and writing Hebrew words. This means every student can read any Hebrew word with all of the vowels as well as write any Hebrew word with any vowels! Wow!

I’m very proud of everyone’s accomplishments! I am sending home the workbook for you to keep. Please encourage your child to go over the unit with you and read all the words.

We are going to learn writing cursive Hebrew letters:

We are going to start to learn how to write cursive Hebrew letters. In this unit we are going to focus on forming the letters correctly and working on reading text with cursive.

שיעורי בית(shi urey bayit) – Home work.

Yes, we are going to start assigning  Hebrew Homework- Please sign the Homework letter and send it back in the folder.

We are going to start “Ariot 2 workbook” and “Ariot 2 CD”:

This week we will start “Ariot 2” workbook, and Ariot 2 program on the computers.

“Ariot” in the computer lab:

As part of the complex of teaching Hebrew in First grade,

Students will go once a week every Monday to the computers and practice “Ariot” with a special program for the computer.

On their computer the students hear the same story we are learning from the “Ariot” workbook in the class.

Students practice the new vocabulary we are learning in the class in different attractive activities that change every unit.

Students are equipped with special noise canceling headphones which helps the students to hear and concentrate on the talking from the computer.

Tu Bishvat

We are going to start to learn the Tal-Am unit for Tu-Bishvat. 

 “My library” הַסִפְרִיָה שֶלִי "   

This week’s book is called:"שַרונה אוֹהבת אדום" -“Sharona Ohevet Adom” (Sharona likes red).

We read this book as a continuation of our unit of “"מָה בַּיַלְקוּט? (What is in the backpack?). Each student got to color his own book. (If your child didn’t finish coloring the book, please let him/her to finish it at home).

Please encourage your child to read it aloud to you over the weekend .It is a great way to practice all the vocabulary we have learned in this unit.

Ariot:

This week Ariot is going to Rachel’s home.

SHALOM BAKITA (Shalom in the Classroom):

This week we finished our Tal –Am workbook “Shalom 1- Shalom Bakita”. The workbook deals with everyday life in the classroom at the beginning of the school year, and focuses on familiarization with the characters of a "virtual" classroom, the articles and the learning habits in the classroom. 
Shalom Bakita is further organized into 3 subtopics: 
(a) Who is in the class? 
(b) What is in the class? 
(C) How to study. 
These topics will accompany the students throughout the year, since they deal with the everyday life of the students.

”My family” and “My house” Pictures:

Unfortunately, I didn’t get pictures from half of the class!

 If you haven’t sent your pictures yet or you have sent only one of the pictures, please send your pictures this week!

For your convenience you can Email me the pictures and I will print them for you! (My Email is: iritkaravani@hotmail.com)

Parashat Hashavua

This Friday we learned the summary of the story of Parashat: ” וארא“. We learned the 10 makot (the Ten Plagues) names in English and in Hebrew.

This is our first word list.

The test will be on Thursday  1/17/13.

מילים למבחן

    

                          Pink  וָרוֹד

Bear-     דֹב

Come-   בֹּא

  Roof     גַג-

Mr. -  אֲדוֹן

You can practice with flash card at:

http://www.flashcardmachine.com/1109491/w57b

בהצלחה ושבת שלום

פרשת שמות

1.04.2013

Dear Parents,

Welcome back! I hope you had a nice winter vacation.

We are finishing the reading program:

This week we almost finished our workbook with the sound Eh. Next week B”H we will start the last sound “OO”. This means that soon we will finish our reading program. This program has strengthened everyone’s reading skills and taught the important skill of sounding out and writing Hebrew words. This means every student can read any Hebrew word with all of the vowels as well as write any Hebrew word with any vowels! Wow!  

“My library” הַסִפְרִיָה שֶלִי "   

This week’s book is called:"שַחַר אוֹהֵב כָּחוֹל" -“Shachar Ohev Kachol” (Shachar like blue).

We read this book as part of our unit of “"מָה בַּיַלְקוּט? (What is in the backpack?). Each student got to color his own book. (If your child didn’t finish coloring the book, please let him/her to finish it at home).

Please encourage your child to read it aloud to you over the weekend .It is a great way to practice all the vocabulary we have learned in this unit.

Ariot:

This week Ariot is going to Areah’s home.

”My family” and “My house” unit:

We are supposed to start learning about our family and about our house in Hebrew. I asked a few weeks ago that you should send two pictures about your family.

1. A picture of the outside of your child’s house.

     2. A picture of your child’s family (a group picture of as many members of the family as possible).

Unfortunately, I’ve received pictures only from a few of the class and therefore I will have to push off teaching this unit for another two weeks. If you haven’t sent your pictures yet or you have sent only one of the pictures, please send your pictures this week!

At the end of this unit, the pictures will be posted in your child’s album. For your convenience you can send to school the SD card with your child (I promise to send it back the same day) or Email me the pictures and I will print it for you! (My Email is: iritkaravani@hotmail.com)

Parashat Hashavua-Parashat Shmot

The 1st grade began learning Sefer Shemot by studying the story of how the Jews became slaves in Egypt. They also learned about how Moshe was saved by the daughter of Paro and was raised in the house of Paro himself!

Shabbat Shalom from Morah Irit.

חופשה נעימה

12.21.2012

Dear Parents,

Today were very excited to change our weather board:

“איך היום בחוץ?” ( How it is today outside?) to winter pictures.

We have been practicing saying the Hebrew word for different clothes by saying a Hebrew sentence: “שחר לובש מעיל" (Shachar is wearing a coat)

“שרונה נועלת מגפיים” (Sharonah is wearin boots) etc.

Hebrew Sentence of the week:

חופשה נעימה"" – Chofsha Ne’ima (Have a nice vacation).

I wish you all חופשה נעימה.

Hebrew workbook:

We are half way in our workbook with the sound Eh.

After winter break we will start learning how to write Hebrew cursive letters! Everyone is looking forward to begin!

We have finished “Ariot 1 workbook”:

That’s right! We started and finished the “Ariot 1” workbook.

It was very easy because we had already learned so many of the vocabulary words and writing skills while doing our reading program. “ Ariot 1” was so fun when we challenged ourselves to figure out the words in the  “Hactava” (the spelling test at the end of each unit) and we were able to figure out the words without help. We can read all the Hebrew in it!  We were practicing Ariot I CD-ROM on the smart board in the classroom which includes the same stories and activities as in the workbook.

After winter break we will go B”H to the computer lab and each student will have the opportunity to practice the program

“My library” הַסִפְרִיָה שֶלִי "    ( Home work for the vecation).

6 short stories from the Ariot workbook:  “shalom  ani Ariot”- p.11,  “Shabbat shalom”- p.21,   “Aba babayit”-P. 37,   “Gimmel bagan?”- P.54-56    “Dag?”- P.72-74 and “Efo HavHav? “-P.87-89.

Please encourage your child to read it aloud to you over the winter break.It is a great way to practice all the vocabulary we have learned in this unit.

Ariot:

This week Ariot is going to Morah Irit’s home.

First Grade Album:

We are working on a special album that reviews all the material we are learning in “Tal-Am” curriculum. Please send to school two of the following pictures (4”x6”):

1. A picture of the outside of your child’s house.

2. A picture of your child’s family (a group picture of as many members of the family as possible).

These pictures are very important for our learning in the class! You can e-mail me the picture and I will print it.

The due date is right after the winter break!

Coming after winter break:

I will be teaching a new unit on Hebrew script letters.

I will be adding a new weekly Hebrew homework and vocabulary test.

I will be starting a new unit on home & family (this is why the students need pictures of their home and family!)

Shabbat Shalom and have a great winter break!

Morah Irit

Chanukah week

Dear Parents,

First Grade Chanukah show was fabulous. I’m very proud of them. Thank you for coming.

Hebrew Sentence of the week:

 כַּמָה נֵרוֹת אֲנַחְנוּ מַדְלִיקִים בַּלַיְלָה הַ...... 

(How many candles do we light on the _____ night).

We sang this song every day of Chanukah.

Hebrew workbook:

This week we finished our workbook which teaches about the vowel “Holam” (the long O sound). We learned to spell words with all three of the vowels we have learned (“Ah”, “Ei” and “O”). Next week we will start the next workbook with the sound Eh.

Parashat Hashavua:
This Friday you will find in your child’s folder a picture page with a summary of the story of Parashat: “מקץ” – Mikeitz . We learned how much Yosef was faithful in Hashem. When Paro asked him if he could interpret his dream, Yosef’s answer was that it’s not him, it is Hashem’s interpretation.

Hagim (Holidays)

This week we had an exciting time celebrating Chanukah! We lit the Chanukiah every day in our classroom. We said the B’racha and sang “Hanerot Halaloo” and “Ma oz tsoor” every day. 

We finished two workbooks.  I’m sending home our Tal-Am workbook for Chanukah for you to keep. We also learned new songs and read Hebrew stories for Chanukah. (The books are shown on the back of the festival workbook). We also finished a review workbook in English for Chanukah as well. Please go over the two workbooks and encourage your child to tell you what we have learned!

 “My library” הַסִפְרִיָה שֶלִי "
This week’s story is called: "בִּינָה וְהַסֻפְגָנִיָה"- Bina and the jelly donuts.
 Please encourage your child to read it aloud to you over the weekend.
Ariot:
This week Ariot went to   Esti‘s home.
First Grade Album:
We are working on a special album that includes all the subjects we are learning in “Tal-Am”. Please send to school (soon is better  - the latest time is after winter break).
two of the following pictures (4”x6”)
1. A picture of the outside of your child’s house.
2. A picture of your child’s family (a group picture of as many members of the family as possible).
These pictures are very important for our learning in the class!
You can Email me the picture and I will print it.

 Shabbat Shalom from Morah Irit.