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 Rosh haShana texts — we’re sheep and God is our shepherd; we’re children and God is our parent; we’re servants and God is our master. Why are there so many possibilities for what the holiday is about? Why are there so many possibilities for how to think about God? Your children had fascinating and powerful ideas about these questions!

Seventh graders made gorgeous Rosh haShana cards that reflected the themes and content of the texts we’ve been studying. I look forward to showing them to you at Back to School Night!

Shabbat shalom,

Jessica

HUMANITIES 

In Humanities, we had our first vocabulary quiz! It was exciting for me to hear students studying, using new words, and noticing the words in their real-life contexts. We are finishing up our analysis of The Outsiders, and we’ll be starting Julius Caesar soon! For history, we’ve been working on the skill of outlining, and each student will begin to research their own topics of study in ancient Rome.

Allison

MATH

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at Back-to-School Night this Monday and introducing you all to Kelly Cho who will be teaching fifth and seventh grade math during my maternity leave starting September 25.

Seventh graders have almost completed the first unit of the year and will be taking a test on Tuesday, September 19.  Students will review the unit on Friday and Monday before the test.  They can also use their homework and corrections to study for the test.

Geneva

HEBREW HERITAGE

,הורים יקרים

השבוע התחלנו לעבוד על יחידת חזרה בנושא טיול משפחתי. המטרה של היחידה היא לאפשר לתלמידים חדשים וותקים לעסוק בנושא מוכר. היחידה עוסקת בטיולים שמשפחות ערכו עם ילדיהם בהם מסופר על 

.מסלולים מעניינים והחוויות מיוחדות. מלבד קריאה טקסטים רלוונטים התלמידים חולקים מהחוויות האישיות שלהם מטיולים שהם ערכו איתכם בקיץ

,סוף שבוע טוב

אילנה  

HEBREW

Wow what a week!
This week seventh grade started their fist unit of the year on the topic “Summer Vacation”.
Students watched a short video that listed suggestions and ideas of activities that can be done during summer break.
After watching the video students used verbs they heard in the video to write down their own suggestions for summer activities and filmed a similar video.

Shabbat Shalom,
Yehuda

SCIENCE

During our second week of science, we are continuing to be excited and having enjoyment creating within the design process. This week students worked on creating a unique machine using little bits. This challenge had students constrained to only one tissue box, one piece of construction paper, an a meter length of tape. The collaboration within the groups allowed them to create their machine within only 20 minutes! Cannot wait for next week as we build on these developing design skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike Noll

ART

Seventh grade students have kicked of the year activities geared towards preparing them for their upcoming STEAM project in collaboration with science. The first week began with creating boxes from paper without a template. This week they worked on counter-balance drawings that required careful calculations and meticulous attention to detail.