What’s Happening in 5th 11-13-20
Humanities: ELA: During our ELA classes, we have been focused on getting book clubs off and running. The class has been divided into groups of three or four with each group assigned a book to read and discuss together. The goal of these book clubs is to track character traits, actions, and motivations and to use that information to extrapolate themes from the book. So far, the clubs have met twice and have created a reading schedule that will allow them to finish their book by Thanksgiving. During book club meetings, the clubs discuss the reading from the prior week,... Read More
November 6, 2020 — History in the Making
Math with Justin Fourth graders have been working hard on their multiplication and division skills. As students work to master multi-digit multiplication, and long division with remainders, they also have started to learn about factors and multiples. Understanding of factors and multiples will not only deepen our students understanding of multiplication of division but it will also help inform our future work on fractions. Looking forward, our learners will be taking what they have learned and start applying it to real world problems including multiple steps and bar models for visualization. If you’re child is looking for a fun way to practice... Read More
Kindergarten Blog 11/6/20
Dear Families, The votes are in! Twenty- four Kindergartners voted Yes on the question “Should we change the Choice Time Activities in November? Three students voted No, and one student filled in both bubbles because he liked both answers. We will change the activities sometime this month! In writing students are working on stories about things that have happened to them. We talked about the fact that story books and information books are similar in that they both have pictures and words, and we will be adding details and sounding out words. But they are different in that story books have characters that do things... Read More
Kindergarten Blog 10/30/20
Dear Families, Kindergartners had the opportunity to read their information books to people including Nicole, Shelley, and Carolyn this week. They then shared our Rockstar Museums, which include information About the Authors. We are beginning to introduce Snap Words (I, a , the, and like) which are words that appear frequently in reading and writing so it is helpful to know them in a “snap.” We talked about the upcoming election and voting. Kindergartners will have their own opportunity to vote on the question: “Should we change the Choice materials in November?” We talked about the advantages and disadvantages of... Read More
October 23, 2020 — “… From the 13 Original Colonies ….”
General Studies with Hilary Dear 4th Grade Families, I want to start with an important reminder: We will close earlier beginning Friday, Nov. 6 until Friday, Jan 29 Kindergarten-1st grade – school ends at 1:45 pm 2nd-8th grade – school ends at 1:30 pm As well, please remember that Early Voting starts THIS Saturday, October 24! If you are able to vote in this election, talk with your 4th Grade about your voting plan. You can use this site to find your voting location (https://findmypollsite.vote.nyc/) 😊 Okay — to academics: Your kids are just amazing! I cannot believe what we... Read More
Third Grade 10/23
Math In math, we tied up our unit on mental addition and subtraction. This section was about discussing the strategies we use to do math in our heads. The most well-known strategy is the break apart method. In this strategy, you separate each place value and add them independently. For instance, if you are adding 724+275, you would break it apart by doing: 700+200=900 20+ 70= 90 4+ 5= 9 900+90+9=999 Or maybe you would rather add 300 and then subtract 25? A large part of our mental math studies have been focused on discussions on how to... Read More
Kindergarten Blog 10/23/20
Dear Families, This week, kindergarteners began letters in Handwriting. Students are practicing their pencil grips, and remembering to start letters at the top. We are also practicing our “turn and talks,” where students chat in pairs, and practice conversation skills and taking turns (see pictures below). In math, we are working on counting accurately and checking our work. We have learned that good mathematicians always count again! Students are teaching each other counting strategies, for example using their fingers, or circling a picture that has already been counted. Kindergartners are finishing up their information books and will share them next week. They... Read More
Second Grade Autumn Spotlight
Happy Autumn Senesh Community! Please read on to learn about what our second grade scholars have been creating this month in English Language Arts, Social Studies, Hebrew & Judaic Studies, Math, Science and Social Emotional Learning. General Studies – Jacob The second-grade writers have been hard at work crafting their personal narratives, stretching out each moment, and writing with rich descriptive detail. This week we completed our first draft or “sloppy copy,” and each pod feels proud of their accomplishments. Next week, we will begin revising our writing and working to make our good writing great! In coordination with... Read More
Kindergarten Blog 10/16
Dear Families, This week kindergartners planted our pepper seeds! We learned about soil, and how to care for a plant at home. Kids brought home their planted seeds today— please water every day (peppers are thirsty!). Place in a sunny area, and move to a bigger pot after the plants are a few inches tall. Kindergartners are becoming experts at our new math books. They are learning to match pictures and numbers, and how to show their work with unifix cubes and other counting tools. We now know how to write our numbers “the Kindergarten way!” If your child is... Read More
Third Grade 10/9
Break Time on 1st Place! Third graders enjoyed break time on the newly closed first place! We enjoyed reading, snacking, looking at trees, taking up more space, and running and building obstacle courses outside. Ask your third grader what their favorite break activity is! Celebrating Simchat Torah! We celebrated Simchat Torah along with the rest of the school today. Eighth graders brought the torah around the school for students to see and music played from the speaker. Two of the third grade pods had outdoor time during the celebration and got to dance outside! In Yahadut class we took an... Read More