Nov 27 – Dec 1
Hebrew This week as part of our unit on Music the 7th graders read articles and research on how Music has a direct impact on our brains and how it influences our life since the time of the Bible and till today. Shabbat shalom, Yehuda Science The 7th Grade STEAM projects are complete and students are excited to demonstrate their function next Tuesday during STEAM Fest. The culmination of weeks of work has produced a sense of accomplishment and pride for each created Rube Goldberg device. The imaginations of the students have produced an array of unique devices! We await our 7th grade parent guests... Read More
November 20th – 22nd
Advisory For the past two weeks, 7th grade girls and boys have had separate advisories. With Yehuda, the 7th grade girls read and discussed an interesting op-ed from the New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/31/opinion/im-10-and-i-want-girls-to-raise-their-hands.html With Allison and Jessica, the boys looked at a different article from the Times https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/04/opinion/sunday/kids-would-you-please-start-fighting.html which they really disagreed with. We will bring the whole group back together after Thanksgiving so students can share their thoughts and suggestions for how to improve our classroom conversations. Judaic Studies This week, students worked on projects to mark the completion of our first Bmidbar unit. The 7th graders made power point presentations, choosing... Read More
Nov 13 – Nov 17
Hebrew This week in class we picked up where the students left off last year in their Neta books. We started by reviewing the unit on music. Students listened to conversations about different opinions on music genres and shared their own opinions. We also discussed the topic of reality shows and what they think about children participating in them. Shabbat Shalom, Yehuda Judaic Studies We have completed our study of the first ten chapters of bmidbar, which are all about the formation of an organized community in preparation for entering the land of Israel. Full of excitement, Moshe invites his father-in-law to... Read More
Nov 6th – Nov 10th
Judaic Studies It was wonderful meeting with many of you during conferences. This week Bnai Yisrael began their journey to Eretz Yisrael! Through creative writing, 7th graders explored what Bnai Yisrael’s emotions and reactions must have been to learning they were finally on their way to the promised land. Students imagined Bnai Yisrael’s high hopes and excitement as they packed up their tents and began their journey. We then thought about what it’s like in our own families when preparing to go on a big trip – the yelling, the forgetting things, the stressing out over being late, etc. Why... Read More
Oct 30th – Nov 3rd
Hebrew This week the middle school continued the proficiency-based online assessment they started last week. We use this assessment twice a year (beginning & end) and look into all four skills: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. As this is a proficiency-based test, there is no need to prepare for it. There are two main goals for this test. The first is for the school to assess a student’s progress through the year as well as across the grades. The second is to see patterns of progress which will help adapt our curriculum and instruction as needed. The results of this assessment are... Read More
October 23rd – 27th
Judaic Studies 7th graders used the Tanach to figure out how the Israelite camp was set up in the wilderness. Students came up with theories: why is the camp organized in this way? What does the architecture of the space communicate to this nation of former slaves? 7th graders shared many wonderful, thoughtful theories about the placement of the tribes and why the mishkan (tabernacle) is at the center of the camp. Science The 7th Grade STEAM project continues with the design process that continually improves, imagines, plans, and creates. This has allowed the projects to evolve within every class.... Read More
October 16th – 20th
Judaic Studies This week the 7th grade completed our study of our unit on Mishna Yoma. To prepare for our end of unit quiz, students created amazing review activities for each other online — from Kahoots to Who Wants to Be A Millionaire to Pacman! We also began our study of the book of Bmidbar/Numbers. Students looked at the first 3 verses: God commands Moshe and Aharon to count all the men who are over 20 and capable of fighting. But surely God is capable of saying how many of those men there are — this seems like unnecessary labor!... Read More
September 25 – 28
Judaic Studies This week the 7th graders explored the holiday of Yom Kippur. We began by looking at what is said about Yom Kippur in the Torah, and were surprised to discover that the Torah mentions nothing about fasting or about asking for forgiveness. Where did those ideas come from? We turned to the Mishna to find out. Students translated and discussed their ideas in chevruta (pairs) and then shared questions about the Mishna with the whole group. If you chew on your fingernails, does that count as eating? If you put something in your mouth and then spit it out... Read More
September 11 – 15
JUDAIC STUDIES Seventh graders were on a hunt for the origins of Rosh haShana this week, tracing its development through the Torah, the Mishna and the Machzor (the Rosh haShana prayerbook). We discovered that there are multiple ideas of what Rosh haShana is about: it’s a day of judgement and a birthday party for the world; it’s one of the holiest days of the year and it’s barely mentioned in the Torah, and just one of 4 new years described in the Mishna. Seventh graders also explored the different ideas of the relationship between human beings and God described in... Read More
September 5-8
Humanities The 7th grade classes spent time speaking, listening, reading, and writing about our school’s values and the necessity of an academically-productive classroom environment. I’m extremely excited about our upcoming vocabulary units, as well as the 7th grade social action project. I LOVE new words and seeing students learn them. The 7th grade social action project centers around literacy. We wrote about why literacy is a social justice issue. Throughout the year, we’ll be continuing to investigate the importance of early childhood literacy. Allison Hebrew Heritage ,הורים יקרים .השבוע הראשון הוקדש לפעילויות שונות הקשורות במשחקי היכרות משבוע הבא נתחיל ביחידת... Read More