Week 24: Monday, February 26th – Friday, March 2nd

Advisory: 

Dear parents,

This week in advisory we the students acted out various situations that happen in school and then discussed what human needs did the characters in the skit have and if the needs were met.

Hebrew: 

The 8th grade has finalized the review of past tense and started reviewing the future tense. The students enjoyed practicing the past tense by leading conversations about their childhood.

I wish you a relaxing weekend,

Andreea

Heritage: 

הורים יקרים,

השבוע למדנו סיפורים קצרים ברוח חג פורים, התלמידים דנו בשאלות מוסריות שקשורות בחג ובערכים של בית ספר. החל משבוע הבא נעסוק ביחידה חדשה בשם: “זכויות הילד” אשר יפרוס בפני התלמידים את מצבם של ילדים ברחבי העולם וזכויותיהם.

חג פורים שמח

אילנה

 

Humanities:

Literature and Writing: This week, students presented or performed their Othello Parody Projects.  Their comics or performances used various parodic techniques to poke fun at the circumstances that led to Othello’s tragic downfall.  Also, students finished outlining their character analysis essays on either Othello, Desdemona, or Emilia.  Next week, they will complete their essays and start looking at Elie Wisel’s Night.

History: This week, students closely studied the different sections of the Constitution.  Using their knowledge of the document, in groups they took a constitutional law exam.  Next week, they will study the Bill of Rights and write an essay in which they will explain how the Constitution helped America form a more perfect union.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Michael

Judaic Studies:

In the gemara, Rava says “A person is obligated to get drunk on Purim so they can’t tell the difference between cursed is Haman and blessed is Mordechai.” Why on earth would this be a mitzvah of Purim? What would happen to a community if everyone lost their ability to make moral judgments? The gemara seems to answer this question with a story about two rabbis who drink together on Purim, and one ends up killing the other. 8th graders had perceptive and thoughtful comments about this strange story, and enjoyed turning it into a movie using the ipads.

Looking at this section of gemara opened up a conversation for us about drinking and alcohol in Jewish texts, one which we will continue next week. On the one hand, wine is part of kiddush — making moments holy. On the other, we have the story of Noah after the flood, where wine leads to humiliation and a rupture in family relationships. The 8th graders were very engaged by this material — I really encourage you to bring this conversation up at home, because I think they are eager to hear your thoughts about alcohol and drinking.

Shabbat shalom,

Jessica

Science: 

This week in science students started their new unit of physics. Our introduction experiment and activity was the discovery of velocity. Students used tubes at different angles to time a marble running through it. They then calculated the speed of the marble at these different tube angles. Next students went to the gym to conduct a student involved experiment. With the use of lasers and photogates, students timed how long it took them to cross the track on scooters when a partner pushed them. This allowed students to understand the three variables when calculating velocity. Next week we will continue our discoveries of motion.

Mike Noll