The Caribbean
Social Studies To kick off our new unit, we participated in Caribbean station exploration! In one station the second graders tasted fruits that are native to the Caribbean, like ugli fruit, fried plantains, mango, and coconut! In this station we also explored a big map, where we matched the flags to the Caribbean countries we could find. We discussed the symbolism for the colors and patterns of some of the Caribbean flags, and began asking questions about the climate and location. We added some science in, discussing the kind of soil that might be needed to grow these specific fruits... Read More
Soil and Garden of Eden
Chumash: The Second Creation Story Did you know many scholars believe there are actually two creation stories in the Torah? Your second grader does! Before break we finished the first creation story, with the culmination of The Seventh Day, Shabbat. We began to learn the Friday night kiddush which comes from the second chapter of the Torah. This week we started to learn the second creation story. We identified similarities and differences between the two texts. One detail we noticed is that God is called by a different name in this story. Another difference is that Adam is created before... Read More
Celebrating Purim
Celebrating Purim This week has been filled with so much Purim learning and celebrations! Yadut: Making Class Megillah In Yahadut class we read the Purim story in Hebrew. After, each student picked one scene to explore more deeply. They did five things with the scene: Gave it a title, copied the words from the megillah that describe it highlighting key words, recorded the source, illustrated it, and composed speech or thought bubbles for the characters in the scene in Hebrew. We compiled all the scenes together to create a class megillah, and on Purim we had a class telling of... Read More
Chinese New Year
Social Studies This week we celebrated the Chinese New Year! We compared the Chinese New Year with Rosh Hashanah, seeing some similarities and differences in food, clothing, music, and symbolism. We ate oranges because for the Chinese New Year they symbolize wealth and good luck. We also made “good fortune” mobiles with Chinese characters that mean happiness, and good luck coins. See if there are any Chinese New Year celebrations in your neighborhood, you might be able to see some fireworks! Reading What is more relaxing than hot peppermint tea and a good book on a chilly day? The second... Read More
Kindness and Finishing First Chapter in Chumash!
Community Building This week we focused on our school value of chesed, or kindness, and read the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes to see examples of kind and unkind behavior. Each child received a cut out of a heart and every time they heard a character tease another in the story, they had to fold the heart. At the end of the story, second graders were told to unfold their hearts and make them as smooth as they were at the beginning of the story. Sure enough, we found the task impossible! We noticed that the hearts were all wrinkled.... Read More
Celebrating Tu B’Shvat and Learning Measurement
Yahadut: Celebrating Tu B’Shvat We celebrated the holiday of Tu B’shvat with the school. Our sixth grade buddies took us to the school fair. Jed from third grade visited our class to read a Tu B’shvat book written by his grandma. Israel: Working together on Kibbutz Yaheli and Yuval taught us about what a kibbutz is. They showed us images from google maps of the kibbutz that Hannah Senesh lived on, kibbutz Nahalal. They challenged us to group cooperation activities, as people have to live and work together on kibbutz. Lastly, students had a chance to use their dramatic skills... Read More
The Chinese Community, Friendship, and More!
Community: Kindness Puppet Show with Karen Karen and her puppets visited class on Monday to talk about the power of words. We saw an example of how teasing words, even when meant in a joking way, can be hurtful and powerful in a harmful way. Ask your child how Sir Quail’s words were powerful for bad, and then good. Social Studies In social studies we are beginning to focus on a new aspect of Brooklyn – Brooklyn’s immigrant communities. We began this study by learning about the Chinese community of Brooklyn. First, students brainstormed the many different cultures and immigrants... Read More
Experiments, Reading Groups and More!
Sixth Grade Buddy Time We had the chance to enjoy some time with our sixth grade buddies on Thursday. They designed creative and challenging games for us, such as scavenger hunts, word games, crosswords, and trivia. Ask your child what game they played and see if they would like to make a game to play at home! Community Building In honor of Jorge’s last day before he takes a leave for his upcoming surgery and re-cooperation, the second graders made cards for Jorge wishing him a speedy recovery, making sure to tell him that we appreciate all that he does,... Read More
MLK Tekes and Tzitzit
Community: Switching Groups and A Visit from Two Friends: Old and New Today at Kabbalat Shabbat we reflected on this past week which was our first full week in a long time, and our first week with new groups. Students were asked to say something nice from this week, or a challenge or a compliment. Sam said he was happy to be in a new group where he could work with new kids, like Zelig. Matan complimented the teachers that they made good groups. Rohan and Allie both said that they enjoyed math this week. All students participated in the... Read More
Welcome 2018!
Community Building In Morning Meeting we began “share”, where a second grader gets chosen to bring in an item from home and share it with the group. We discussed using the 5 W question words “who, what, where, when, and why” to help guide our share and give us ideas about what information to share about the item. Second graders are practicing being respectful audience members and asking the sharer thoughtful questions. We are excited to learn more about each other and practice speaking and listening! Social Studies In preparation for the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. day, we... Read More