Math with Justin

Our Fourth Graders are wrapping up their unit on fractions. Students have learned how about mixed numbers and improper fractions and how to convert between the two. They have learned how to add, subtract and multiply fractions with like-denominators. They have also been working on simplifying fractions and solving fraction word problems. Try some fraction fun yourself with these virtual cuisenaire rods. Students have also been solving ‘fraction splats’ like this one:

If there are 7 wholes total, can you figure out what is covered by the splat?

All of this fraction expertise will come in handy as we start our next unit on decimals and focus on tenths and hundredths.

Hebrew with Rimma

We almost finished our unit “Food”. Being at home last week was helpful and a great way to get students to have some fun in the kitchen where they can even learn how to better channel their inner chef! It was easy to put together all Hebrew vocabulary that we studied and apply it. Click on this link to enjoy some of the videos of our aspiring little chefs that created from scratch their delicious dishes.

Hebrew Heritage with Tomer

The 4th grade heritage group is immersed with fundamentals of the Hebrew grammar. The group is introduced to בניינים״”, how to congregate present to past, and put their vocabulary in useful ways.

Humanities with Hilary

Dear Fourth Grade Families,

In writing, we are working on how to write an opinion essay. How perfect that on day two of this unit, we had the opportunity to listen to BOTH former President Trump’s speech (on the morning of January 20) AND our current president, President Biden’s, speech later that day! With each pod, we discussed what techniques the president used to persuade the audience, talking about elaboration, stating their points clearly, using real life examples, and using juicy language to hook the audience. This week, we worked on coming up with entries using fast and furious writing. This will be continued — while more skills such as elaboration, when to use “because,” having a thesis statement, keeping on topic for each paragraph, and finding examples for our reasons.

In Social Studies, we are adventuring into the “Road to the Revolution,” exploring the different steps that led to the Colonies rebelling against Great Britain.

We are currently working on boycott posters, protesting the Townshed Act of 1767 — which taxed the colonist on all imported goods into the colony. Due to this peaceful protest (which was a similar peaceful protest to those enacted by members of the Civil Rights Movement in the middle of the 20th Century), Britain lifted the Townshed Act on every imported good except for tea.

Judaics Studies with Phyllis

The fourth grade took a huge leap forward this week in their Chumash studies. We completed translating the story of Jacob and Esau’s birth. The students learned that before translating each verse they should think about what comes next in the story, look for words that they know and refer back to the vocabulary list. Since our students were in different places in their translating after returning from Zoom, we translated this section as a group. By translating slowly and carefully, students were able to pick up on nuances in the text and ask great kushiyot – such as “The Torah tells us why Isaac loves Esau, but not why Rivka loves Jacob – why?” or “Why does the text indicate that many people named Esau but just one person named Jacob?”

On Tuesday we introduced Senesh’s food insecurity awareness initiative – #communityfridge. Hopefully you heard about this already as Tuesday night’s homework was to tell parents about the initiative! The read aloud “Lulu and the Hunger Monster” helped students to imagine what it is like to be food insecure, or not know where your next meal is coming from. We then watched a short newsclip about food insecurity during Covid and discussed why the pandemic has exacerbated the hunger crisis in our city. Did you know that 70% of NYC public school students depend on free or reduced price lunches? Finally, we looked at statistics that show the discrepancies between how food insecurity impacts black, brown and white communities.

Senesh families are encouraged to put our school value of Areivut (communal responsibility) into action by donating to community fridges. More information can be found on school news. Please take a picture of yourself donating and share with Communications Manager Carley Balazs and Phyllis. We will be collecting and posting photos in our pod classrooms. Shabbat Shalom!

Music with Heidi

In honor of MLK day, Fourth graders learned the song “Oh Freedom” and recorded it into Bandlab. This week, we discussed the reasons our voices sound different in our heads than they do to other people or on recordings. We talked about the processing of vocals in pop music and listened to the difference between the sound of Katy Perry’s vocals with and without effects. Then, students played with the “Oh Freedom” vocal they had recorded in Bandlab, having fun with a variety of pitch, speed and sound altering effects.