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6th Grade News: Happy New Year Edition

MATH: 

Hello everyone, I am Katie, the new 5th and 6th grade math teacher! The first few days back at school have been great; everyone has been so kind and welcoming. I am excited to jump right into learning about percents with the 6th grade! We have already used m & m’s to estimate percents on a circle graph we created, and made predictions based on the patterns we saw. Coming up, we will be creating menus and changing recipes…all while getting a better understanding of percents. 

BAR/BAT MITZVAH CLASS:

The sixth graders have completed the rough drafts of their dvar Torah’s! Phyllis will be editing them this week and then the students will have two weeks to do their revisions. In class, the sixth graders are working on writing midrashim about their dvar Torah parasha! We look forward to seeing you all in tefila later this yes to hear your child deliver his/her dvar Torah.

JUDAICS:

Please follow the 6th grade google photo folder to see amazing pictures from their Judaics Projects. https://photos.app.goo.gl/GKB9up9K6Jh2UVB47

As many of you saw during the Heroes Convention, the 6th graders worked so hard on their Arpiellera style art inspired by the Chilean women under Pinochet dictatorship in Chile. Please enjoy photos of their work in the google photos folder. Bryan Sussman from Facing History and Ourselves came to talk about next steps and connections to non-violent heroism with 6th graders. The students presented their arpillera style art. Their arpilleras showed heroic moments of women in Shemot also acting in non-violent protest. Students explained their detailed artistic decisions that showed their kushiyot (text based questions). We used a Facing History technique that helps students feel connections to important moments in history. They discussed the text-text / text- world/ text-self connections seen in their Shemot Heroine text. I was so proud of how they spoke with Bryan in such a passionate and confident way. They came up with wonderful ideas of how we could take the lessons from these women and their non-violent, wise forms of protest, and act in upstanding ways in our own lives. We also looked at the context of these heroines’ lives and thought about where else in the world people live in these types of situations. We are now looking at how fear can be a motivating factor in people’s actions. On Fridays we will begin our 6th grade vocab challenges. Students have created Quizlet study games to practice for their first challenge. Students need to beat their score by at least two points each week. They can eventually “level up” and get a new list of vocabulary to work on.

I hope everyone has a happy and healthy 2019!

Shabbat Shalom,

Laura

 

HEBREW HERITAGE:

להורים שלום,
תודה רבה לכולכם על התמיכה וההבנה שסייעה לי לעבור תקופה קשה, כרטיסי הברכה שהתלמידים הכינו לי חיממו את ליבי.
השבוע הוא קצר ואנחנו נעשה חזרה על החומר שהתלמידים למדו על מנת להעניק להם את הכלים להמשיך בפרוייקט שחלקם החלו.
שבת שלום,
אילנה
HEBREW
Dear parents,
So nice to see your children relaxed and rested after the vacation! These two weeks in HaKbatza Aleph, we will finish practicing conversations about how we feel when we are not feeling well. We will read and discuss about the Rambam, and then we will start exploring the topic of fashion.
In HaKbatza Bet we will continue to practice various verbs in the present tense by discussing schools and their differences. Next, we will start exploring deserts.
I wish you a restful weekend,
Andreea
HUMANITIES 
Happy new year! I hope that everyone had a relaxing week and was able to spend time with family. I look forward to starting off the new year in Humanities with fresh perspectives and renewed energy.
In ELA, we wrapped up our unit on The Giver by exploring the meaning of “dystopia” and finding connections to the novel. We also watched a relevant movie clip from The Matrix, in which the main character must choose between discovering the dark truth of his world or remaining blissfully ignorant (see the clip here). Though Jonas from The Giver doesn’t exactly have a choice, he, too, is exposed to the underlying evil forces in his own community. Students discussed the question: If you had the opportunity to learn about darkness in your own world, would you choose to do so? Or is the temptation to remain clueless but content too much to turn down? I hope that moving forward, students will learn from Jonas the power that comes with knowledge — even when that knowledge is frightening or discouraging. While they consider the lessons learned from the book, they are also writing their own creative endings– as the author Lois Lowry left us with a bit of a cliffhanger! I look forward to reading everyone’s stories next week.
We are now moving on to a new literature unit on historical fiction. Students will choose one of two books related to ancient Egypt, and we’ll use the texts to delve deeper into our study of ancient Egyptian culture. I’m confident that these stories will help bring the ancient civilization to life.
Have a wonderful weekend and a shabbat shalom,
Naomi