Jan 18
There’s a morning ברכה (berakhah – blessing) that says פוקח עורים (pokeach ivrim – open the eyes of the blind). We’re not blind. But as we learned in Yetzirah this week, there’s a lot we don’t see. How do we “open our own eyes” and those of our friends? Here, children… LISTEN LOOK CAREFULLY …
Jan 17
We begin our new unit, Boker Tov, and learn about the morning blessings the Rabbis used to recite (the Birchot HaShachar). One of them gives thanks for opening the eyes of the blind: “Pokeach Ivrim”. To explore this idea of seeing the unseen, in Yetzirah the Nitzanimers chose a small object (one that they had …
Dec 17
Rabbi Rebecca gave us four cards. She said our birthday circles would fit into these four categories. What?! We don’t know these words! Finally, someone figured out that the four cards must be four seasons. Then someone remembered that we have a book about the Jewish calendar. And we figured out what season our Hebrew …
Dec 13
Nitzanim is playing out the three endings to the Chanukah story. (click to read the original texts, in translation!) Here are some of the fabulous details they imagined as they played: And here’s a video of children explaining their scene for the second ending of the Chanukah story!
Dec 07
What if you found out that there are THREE different endings* to what we know as the Chanukah story? And what if you were in FIRST or SECOND grade when you found out? You’d have to play to figure out what it all means. So we got started. “They’re singing! There are so many …
Nov 30
Some children in Shteelim were itching for an Ivrit (Hebrew) challenge this week. We decided to see if we could make the letters א and ב with our bodies! The children had to try it out a few times and help each other position their גופים (gufim – bodies) until it was just right. Do …
Nov 20
Yesterday in Shteelim, the מורות (morot – educators) overheard children talk about how it gets dark much earlier in the day. We took this opportunity to listen and create an unscheduled activity – shadow puppets. The Shteelimers worked in pairs to be/create חיות (chayot – animals) with their bodies, animals that made it onto the …
Nov 20
Using Hebrew words from our play, Achbar Mitzayer (Mouse Paint), children have been imagining silly scenes and dialogues. We put the Hebrew words together to make sentences, and then laugh at the silly things our characters say to one another!
Nov 16
Shteelim and Nitzanim have both been working with the story Achbar Mitzayer (Mouse Paint), and this week Nitzanim came in to perform a story drama for Shteelim. The Shteelimers practiced story drama all together after the performance of the key parts of the story. From this experience, the Shteelimers began their exploration of story drama, …
Nov 15
We’re learning what the ancient rabbis say about the flood story. One of the rabbis says that there was a miracle to fit all of the animals and food onto the ark. Rabbi Rebecca: What’s a miracle? Boy 1: Well, I can’t explain that! Rabbi Rebecca: Let’s see if we can find some words… …
