First Grade News

Hello Families,

In Hebrew, we learned how to use the question words mah? (what) and mi? (who) in our writing and speaking. We practiced how to ask questions and answer them using those words. We also learned how to write the letters hey and kuf in script.

In Tefila this week, we learned two new prayers from the Amidah. The first prayer is matzmiach keren yeshuah. We listened to Louis Armstrong’s song – “What a wonderful world” and made a list of all the wonderful things in the world (In Hebrew). We discuss what we can do to make the world a better place.The second prayer does not have words. We spoke about how the Amidah is a time when we can have a private conversation with God and make our own wishes or prayers. During tefila we leave a minute for each first grader to say their own prayer.

In Parasha, we read the story of Parashat Yitro where the Israelites go to Mount Sinai and receive the Ten Commandments. We discussed the significance of each commandment.

In reading we have been working more on how we retell someone about a book we have read.  This can be challenging as we read longer and more complex books. In fiction we are working on telling someone about the character, setting, what happened, the problem, and solution (without giving everything away!) in a conversational tone. After reading a nonfiction book we retell by mentioning the topic and sharing two or more details and why or how they are important. Try it at home!

In writing we have started our chapter books! We have practicing chopping our topics into parts and create a table of contents. First graders are creating short and interesting names for their titles. We are also rereading each other’s work to make sure that the details we write fit under a chapter. Next week we will learn how to make comparisons and give examples to make our writing longer and stronger.

Check out our Pics!

Shabbat Shalom,

Liz and Ilana