9/23/22

We had a wonderful first full week of school! The students are settling in and learning routines! It was also wonderful seeing all of you at back to school night. We hope that you found it informative and helpful! 

 

Scroll to the bottom for information about Tashlich on September 29.

 

General Studies

 

Reading: Our readers have started the year off strong! We have been discussing how to take a sneak peek before selecting a book. The kids brainstormed different ways to do this. The ideas they came up with include: reading the title, looking at the cover, reading the synopsis, looking at the first few pages and asking – is it interesting? Are there just a few hard words on a page? Are the pictures appealing? When your child reads at home be sure to tap into these sneak peeks!

 

Writing: Our writers have written about their summer breaks. We also spoke about where writer’s get ideas from to write.  The kids started a personal list of “seed ideas” so that they will have events from their lives to write about throughout the upcoming weeks.

 

Math: In math, we started our unit on counting to 1,000! The second grade mathematicians have also been exploring place value! They learned important math vocabulary  including value and what standard, expanded and word forms are. They have been busy practicing writing in all of these forms and identifying the value of hundreds, tens and ones in their workbooks. 

 

Science: Science class has been dedicated to exploring the questions: “What is science?” and “What do scientists do?” We spent our first session talking about students’ preconceptions about science and scientists, and the children brought up everything from “making potions” to “microbiology” to the C.D.C. and vaccines. Most recently, we read the exciting and accessible book What is the World Made of? by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfield to launch our unit on Matter Changes and assess students’ prior knowledge about matter. 

 

Hebrew / Judaics

 

We were excited to see each one of you in Back to school night and your children told us how much fun we had in their classroom. We started learning about Rosh Hashana and the customs. We were talking about the Differences of the shofarot , based on where they were made. For example the yam-an shofar is made from certain kosher Antelope and look different from the Morrocan and Ashkenazi shofarot that are made from a Ram. We were watching Rabbii Fried who visited our classroom and showed us how to make a shofar and We were learning how to blow the shofar with Era’s grandpa.

 

We started learning about one of our school values Elu ve Elu – learning the value of Openness. How the Jewish poeple who lived in different places around the globe has different cultures. We are all different and at the same time we are the same because we were all created in the image of God.

In Hebrew we started writing sentences using verbs and noun and learning the difference between verbs/nouns related to boy and girl.

 

Specials

 

Art with Iviva: We are continuing our review of collage skills, while also exploring identity through self-portraits. This time, instead of looking in a mirror, we tried representing our faces from memory using collage. We spent time picking papers to match our skin, hair and eye colors. We also tried to match some of our clothing. 

 

P.E. with Anne: 2nd graders have been exercising and creating routines by using spot markers. In our circle we have played call and response movement games like “Where’s Maria,” “Kitty wants a Corner” and inventing handshakes with partners. We’ve played some of our favorite tag games to get our energy out and to get oxygenated. In addition, we have discussed the sport of Pickle Ball and what we know about it as we prepare to explore the sport in our first unit.

 

Music with Heidi: Our Second Graders have been reviewing the concept of steady beat through the Hicklety Picklety Bumble Bee game, where they learn about different voices (talking, whispering and magic) and share their names as they tapped a steady beat. They have also been reviewing Music Class expectations through the words and movement of our Music Rules Rap. We practice focus and mindfulness at the beginning and end of every class with our Tibetan Bell listening game. It has been such a treat to see your children again and to meet our new students!

 

STEAM with Sammi: For the first two weeks of STEAM, I am just getting to know your amazing students! While I was in lunch and recess with them at times last year, I didn’t get a chance to learn about them as humans or learners. So, these first two classes involved spinning a wheel to select a random question. The kids then answered the question by building the answer with play dough and popsicle sticks. Through these classes, I have been able to see people’s favorite weekend activities, favorite animals, favorite books, and goals they have for the year. It has been awesome getting to know them better!

 

Second Grade Students and Parents Tashlich

 

Tashlich is a Jewish ceremony where we symbolically cast off the sins of the previous year by tossing pebbles or bread crumbs into flowing water. Please join us at Senesh for a morning of socializing and reflecting as we approach the New Year. Get to know your fellow parents and enjoy activities with your children. Please find the date and time for your child’s grade below.

 

• Thursday, September 29
  • 2A: 8:45-9:30am
  • 2B: 9:30-10:15am
• Please check your child’s grouping here.