First garde 2.25.2011

2-25-11
Dear Parents,
Our first grade “Siddur Party” is not this week! It has been rescheduled for on May 20th B”H.

Purim:
We have started learning about Purim and the Megillah story!
Please send to school an empty “Pringels” can. ( If you can send more then one that will be great!)

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 by next week 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!

Hebrew Sentence of the week:
הפה אומר..." ”Ha’peh Omer (The mouth says….).
We learned that it is very important that our “Peh” will say “Todah” to everyone and this is very important to Hashem.

Cursive Hebrew letters:
We are almost finishing learning how to write all the cursive Hebrew letters. The students have been focusing on forming the letters correctly and reading words written in cursive script. This week, we reviewed the letters up to “ש”. Please make sure your child is writing his/her letters correctly.

Homework:
The students are ready to write their homework in cursive. I know that for some students this transition will be hard so please courage your child to form the cursive Hebrew letters correctly. Please use the example of the script Hebrew letters that are posting on the inside of the homework notebook cover.

Parashat Hashavua:
This Friday you will find in your child’s folder a picture page with a summary of the story of Parashat :ויקהל"”. We reviewed all the various vessels that are in the Mishkan and we learned that Bezalel was the one appointed by Hashem to build the Mishkan. We also learned that Moshe first warned them to keep the Shabbat before giving them the commandment to build the Mishkan. This told the Jewish People that even though the building of the Mishkan was important the still must rest on Shabbat are recognize that Hashem created the world.

Shalom Babayit Uavchutz (Shalom at Home and Outdoors)
We started our new Tal AM workbook called “Shalom at Home”. The “Shalom at Home” Workbook focuses on the daily life of a Jewish child at home from waking up in the morning until going to bed at sunset. This week we focused on body parts and how we thank Hashem for giving us a healthy body every day. Next week we will learn Hebrew words for the different clothing we wear.

Ariot 2:
This week we finished our workbook. We read and studied the following stories:
“Adon Balon” (Mr. Balloon) We learned the names of all the colors in Hebrew as well as the words: Dag (fish), Dov (bear), Gag (roof) and Vav (hook).
“ Zozo Ha avazon” (Zozo the goose) In this story we learned the words Zaz (moving), Bayit (a house) Har (a mountain) the goose family and Dag (fish).
In the process we learned to differentiate between animate and inanimate objects.
“Ach Bamishpacha” (“A Brother in the family”).
Our Hebrew vocabulary included words like: “Chagiga” (party), Mishpacha (family), Aba (dad), ima (mom) dod (uncle) doda (aunt) Saba (grandpa) Savta (Grandma) Ach Chadash (a new brother), Achot chadasha (a new sister), Buba (doll), B’dicha (joke).

We really liked reading the story “Oh Oh Hatoast”! (Yes, that’s how you also say toast in Hebrew!)
We learned the following Hebrew words: Tabach (chef), Oto (a car) Televiziya (T.V), Tov and Tova (good)
The chef likes (ohev) good toast, a yellow one and not black one.

-For the letter “Yud” we read the story:
“Yesh Chagiga” (“There is a Party”) We learned the Hebrew words: “Yoshev” and “Yoshvet”(“sitting” for boy and “sitting” for girls). We practiced these words by saying sentences in Hebrew about ourselves such as: “ Ani yoshev/yoshevet al ha keese”- “I’m sitting on the chair”).
We also learned that the word “yoyo” is the same word in Hebrew and in English.

Vocabulary words:

Our Hebrew vocabulary words for this week come from our unit on different clothing in “Shalom 2” workbook:

Shirt חוּלְצָה-

Pants מִכְנָסַיִם-

Socks גַרְבַיִם-

Shoes נַעֲלַיִם-

Skirt חֲצָאִית-

Pajamas פִּיגָ'מָה- 
Dress שִׂמְלָה-

You can practice with flash card at:http://www.flashcardmachine.com/1203980/7ua5

Shabbat Shalom,

Morah Irit

 

First garde 2.18.2011

2-18-11

Dear Parents,
Hebrew Sentence of the week:
בבקשה לקום..." ”Be’vakasha La’koom (Please get up….).
We learned that Abba or Ima may wake us up and say: “בבקשה לקום”

 

Cursive Hebrew letters:

We are continuing to learn how to write cursive Hebrew letters. The students focused on forming the letters correctly and reading words written in cursive script. This week, we reviewed the letters up to “ע”. Please make sure your child is perfuming “מ” and “ג” right.

Homework:
Next week, since we do not have school on Monday for President’s Day, we will do our Monday homework on Tuesday during class time.

Purim:

We are going to start learning about Purim and the Megillah story!

Please send to school an empty “Pringels” can.

Parashat Hashavua:

This Friday you will find in your child’s folder a picture page with a summary of the story of Parashat :כי תשא"” we learned about the Mitzvah of giving a “Machtzet Hashekel” (1/2 shekel coin) to the Bait HaMikdash so they can count how many people there are in Bnei Yisrael . Ask your child to tell you why ½ and not whole Shekel? We learned that the Kohanim used this money to buy animals for the daily Korban (sacrifice) that was brought every morning and afternoon. We also reviewed the story of the “Aigel Hazahav” or the sin of the golden calf. Have your child tell you the story!

Shalom Babayit Uavchutz (Shalom at Home and Outdoors)

We started our new Tal AM workbook called “Shalom at Home”. The “Shalom at Home” Workbook focuses on the daily life of a Jewish child at home from waking up in the morning until going to bed at sunset. This week we focused on our morning routines. Next week we will learn about the body parts and how we thank Hashem for giving us a healthy body every day.


Vocabulary words:
The Hebrew vocabulary words for this week come from our unit on body parts in “Shalom 2” workbook.

Eye עֵינַיִם -

Ears  אוֹזְנַיִם  -

Hands יָדַיִם-

Legs רַגְלַיִם-

Belly בֶּטֶן-

Nose אַף-

Mothפֶּה -

Shabbat Shalom,
Morah Irit

First grade 2.11.11

2-11-11
Dear Parents,

This Wednesday was “100 day” in school! We made a big picture with 100 numbers- all written in Hebrew. We then practiced counting up to 100 in Hebrew while we jumped up and down. We were so tired that we rested for 100 seconds.

Hebrew Sentence of the week:

יש לי מאה..." ”Yesh Li Me’ah... (I have one hundred….).

Cursive Hebrew letters:

We are continuing to learn how to write cursive Hebrew letters. The students focused on forming the letters correctly and reading words written in cursive script. This week, we reviewed the letters up to “מ”. We learned that there are 5 letters that do not start from the top and we now know that two of them are “ט”and “"ל.

Parashat Hashavua:

This Friday you will find in their folder a picture page with a summary of the story of Parashat :תצווה"” we learn about the Cohen and Cohen Gadol (the Priest and the high priest) clothes. We did a project making two kohanim with all their special clothes out of paper and then we dressed them up. We learned that the regular Kohen wore 4 different kinds of clothes and the Kohen Gadol wore 8 different kinds of clothes.

Homework:
The children are still having trouble getting their homework notebook back to school on time. Please make sure the homework notebook is 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 are taken from the story” Hagigah Ba’kitah” (a party in the classroom) from the “Ariot 2” workbook. We learned the word “Hagigah”(party) a few weeks ago. Please make sure your child knows the translation of this word.
The test will be on Thursday, 2-17-11.
Sitting (M) יוֹשַב -
Sitting (F)יוֹשֶבֶת-
Riddle.- חִידָה
Letters אוֹתִיוֹת-
Saying (M) אוֹמַר -
Saying (F) אוֹמֶרֶת –
Shabbat Shalom,
Morah Irit

First garde 2.03.2011

2-03-11

Dear Parents,

Even though it was an unexpectedly short week, we still got a lot done! Yesterday we had a birthday surprise for Ms. Tanenbaum and today we celebrated the new month of “Adar I” with a special treat of fruits. Thank you Moreh Dror for providing a special treat every Rosh Chodesh!

Hebrew Sentence of the week:

במשפחה שלי יֵשׁ..." ”

Bamishpach sheli yesh (In my family, there is….) Ask your child to sing our song.

Cursive Hebrew letters:
We are continuing to learn how to write cursive Hebrew letters. The students focused on forming the letters correctly and reading words written in cursive script. This week, we reviewed the letters up to “כ”. We learned that there are 5 letters that do not start from the top and one of them is “ט”.

Parashat Hashavua:

This Friday you will find in their folder a picture page with a summary of the story of Parashat: “תרומה” we learn that the Hebrew word "תרומה" -(Terumah) means to give a present (contribute). We went over all the different things that were in the Mishkan including: the Mizbayach, the kiyor, the menorah, the shulchan, the mizbayach haZahav. We learned about the different miracles that Hashem did in the Mishkan as well.

Homework:

This week we completed the homework for Tuesday and Wednesday during our class time. After we finished practicing, the students took their test. Everyone did very well!

Vocabulary words:

This week’s words are taken from the story” Oh, Oh Hatost” from “Ariot 2” workbook. The test will be on Thursday, 2-10-11.

Chef טַבָּח -

Carאוֹטוֹ -

T.V.- טֶלֶוִיזְיָה

Toast טוֹסְט

Good (M) טוֹב -

Good (F) טוֹבָה –

Shabbat Shalom,

Morah Irit

First garde 1.28.2011

1-28-11

Dear Parents,

This week at recess time, the students got to build a nice איש שלג  –Snow man (Eish Sheleg) and a גדול כדור שלג- a huge snow ball (Kadur Shelg Gadol).

Hebrew Sentence of the week:

בילקוט שלי  יֵשׁ..." ”

–Bayalkot sheli yesh (In my backpack, there is….) Ask your child to tell you what was in שחר(Shachar) and שרונה  )Sharonah( "-ילקוט yalkot"  (backpack) in the books we read.

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.

SHALOM BABAYIT UVACHUTZ (Shalom at Home and Outdoors)

Next week B”H we will start learning “Shalom at Home and Outdoors”. This unit deals with the everyday life of the students outside of school. “Shalom at Home” focuses on the Jewish daily life at home from wakeup until sunset. It contains  such subtopics as: morning and evening routines, the body, clothing and nutrition, and combining the respective prayers and blessings.
“Shalom Outdoors” focuses on the world outside of the classroom and home. It is linked to the creation of the world and is organized according to the seasons of the year.

Cursive Hebrew letters:

We are continuing to learn how to write cursive Hebrew letters. The students focus on forming the letters correctly and reading words written in cursive script. This week, we reviewed the letters: ז=ז, ח=ח, ט=ט

Some students are writing their homework 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 them incorrectly, it will be very hard to fix their mistakes later.

Enrichment program .

The students are all excited about having a special enrichment workbook! This workbook gives the student an opportunity to learn and practice more Hebrew whenever he/she finishes their classroom assignment. This workbook can go home for the weekend if your child would like to get advance at home.

Please send me a note in the Hebrew folder to let me know if you are interested in having your child take this workbook home for the weekend. This is an optional assignment.

Parashat Hashavua:

This Friday you will find in their folder a picture page with a summary of the story of Parashat: “משפטים” We learned that Moses gave many of G-d's laws to the B’nai Yisrael such as “be careful not to lie” as well as the laws of paying for any damages you do to another’s property. We learned about the four ways a person can damage another’s property and have to pay: If he/she damages, if their animal damages, if they spill or leave out something where you can trip, and if your fire damages.

Homework:

Please make sure the homework notebook is 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, 2-3-11.

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

First grade 1.21.2011

1-21-11

Dear Parents,

Tu Bi’shvat is here!

Hebrew Sentence of the week:

אֲנִי אוהב/אוהבת עֵצִים כִּי לָעֵץ יֵשׁ..." ”

–Ani O’hev E’tsim ki  La’etz yesh (I like the trees because a tree has….) Ask your child to tell you all the reason we came with and we read about.

Seder Tu Bi’shvat:

Yesterday 1A and 1B celebrated together Tu Bi’shvat. We went outside around our tree in the back yard (the tree with the bird feeder) and sang to the tree “יום הולדת שמח"   Happy birthday. Then, we went back to the class and 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.

Cursive Hebrew letters:

We are continuing 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 reviewed the letters: א=א, ב=ב, ג=ג, ד=ד , and we learned the letters ה=ה  and ו=ו

Some students are writing their homework 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 them incorrectly, it will be very hard to fix their mistakes later.

Enrichment program .

Last week we started working in a special enrichment workbook. This workbook gives the student an opportunity to learn and practice more Hebrew whenever he/she finishes their classroom assignment. This workbook can go home for the weekend if your child would like to get advance at home.

Please send me a note in the Hebrew folder to let me know if you are interested in having your child take this workbook home for the weekend. This is an optional assignment.

Parashat Hashavua:

This Friday you will find in their folder a picture page with a summary of the story of Parashat: “יתרו” (Yitro). We learned that the whole Parasha is named after Yitro because he was the father-in-law of Moshe and he accepted that Hashem was G-d after hearing about all the miracles that Hashem did in Egypt saving the Jewish People..  We also learned about how the Jewish People received the Torah at Har Sinai. We learned about the 10 commandments which include honoring our Parents. We learned using 2^nd step how to properly interrupt our parents when they are doing something else.  This is an important way to show respect to our parents! I’m encourage you to bring you child to “בית כנסת” (synagogue) so they can hear all the 10 commandments in the Torah reading.

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.

Homework:

B”H the homework system is going well. Parents need to remember that the quiz on Thursday is only a vocabulary quiz. If there is a student that has a hard time writing the answer in Hebrew or in English, it’s O.K.  I’ll ask him\her for the answer and if he/she knows it they will get a check for their answer. The test is posting every week in your child homework notebook at the end of the unit. Please make sure your child is writing his/her homework in pencil only!  Please make sure the homework notebook in placed back into your child’s backpack. Please make sure your child is not writing the words in cursive.

Vocabulary words:

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

The test will be on Thursday, 1-27-11.

Goose אַוָז-

Goldזָהָב-

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

First grade 1.14.2011

1-14-11

Dear Parents,

This week we went outside and fed the birds. Please read about our parasha to understand why.

Hebrew Sentence of the week: לעץ יש..."” – La’etz yesh (the tree has….) Ask your child to sing and tell you all about the tree parts.

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.

We finished our reading program .

This week, we finished our workbook with the last sound “OO”. This program has strengthened everyone’s reading skills and taught the important skill of sounding out and writing Hebrew words. Every student can now read any Hebrew word with all of the vowels as well as write any Hebrew word with any vowel! Wow!

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 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:

We are learning the Tal-Am unit for Tu-B’Shvat. We are singing songs and reading Hebrew stories. We started to learn the tree’s parts.

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.

Please make sure your child is not writing the words in cursive.

Vocabulary words:

 This week’s  words will be on the tree parts.

The test will be on Thursday, 1-20-11.

Trunk  גֶזַע-      

    Fruits –  פֵּרוֹת  

   Fruit -  פְּרִי

Flower   פֶּרַח-  

Roots-   שוֹרָשִים   

Branches-    עֲנָפִים

You can practice with flash card at:

 http://www.flashcardmachine.com/1121822/z2b8

Shabbat Shalom,

Morah Irit