Purim and Kindness Week

Community Building

This week we have been focusing on kindness- how we can spread kindness at home, in school, and the greater community. Second graders heard the story Each Kindness, by Jacqueline Woodson, a story about a girl named Maya who moves to a new school and the main character Chloe chooses to be unkind to her. Maya attempts many times throughout the story to befriend Chloe, but Chloe continues to choose to be unkind. As we discussed how we thought the story would end most students predicted “They will make up and become friends”. However, the story closes with Maya moving away, Chloe realizing her unkind behavior, and never having the chance to be kind to Maya. We were all surprised that this book had an unconventional ending, and learned that this can truly happen- we can lose the opportunity to be kind and must think before we act.

In the end of the story the teacher has each student choose a rock, say a kind act they did, and drop it into a bowl of water to see the ripples. Second graders shared that the water ripple signifies how one kind act can lead to others. We each chose a stone and shared kind things we have done and watched our own ripples as we dropped the stone into the bowl. Then, we added links to our kindness chain to show how all of our kind acts are connected in that they make others feel good. We look forward to continuing learning about kindness beyond this week!

Try this activity at home: find a rock outside, share a kind act you have done, and drop it in to see the ripples. This can give your child ideas for kind deeds they can do, and highlights celebrating kindness!

Math

In math this week we ended our information booklet on addition and subtraction strategies by presenting them to the first graders. We discussed how important it is that we read slowly and clearly, and show our examples. We practiced reading to each other, and teaching the strategies. The first graders responded by saying “Can we do that in second grade?” and “That was a really good book!” Second graders were excellent role models, and then displayed great sportsmanship as they played math games with their first grade buddies. We value creating leadership opportunities for our students and allowing them to share their growth with the community. We hope to continue partnering with other grades for different subjects as well!

Celebrating Purim

This week has been filled with so much Purim learning and celebrations!

Yahadut: 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:

1. Wrote a title in hebrew
2. Copied the verse from the megillah that describe it highlighting key words
3. Recorded the source, the chapter and verse number
4.  Illustrated the scene
5. Composed speech or thought bubbles for the characters in the scene in Hebrew based on their own personal interpretation of the character’s motives.

We compiled all the scenes together to create a class megillah, and each child presented their work to the class. Our beautiful megillah is on display in the hallway.

Ask your child which scene they drew and what speech/thought bubbles they composed.

Art with Iviva

Students have been preparing for Purim for several weeks, studying masks from cultures around the world, and making their own unique masks and graggers for the school Purim celebration.