March 2015 Volume 12 Issue 7

March 28 at 10:30 am

In the Marcus Chapel

(Newborn - 5 years old)

Adath Israel Presents

Come One, Come All!!! In Costume! (this means you!) Hear the Megillah Read by the Youth of Adath Israel

Wednesday March 4th Mincha 6:15PM Maariv & Megillah reading6:30PM

PRE-GAN {Sherry} Tu B'Shevat, the birthday of the trees, was the theme in January. Levi also celebrated his birthday in January! We learned the Hebrew word "Eytz" (tree). Isaac S. built an eytz, by using all the giant window stickers which show how trees are helpful. Isaac J. matched real aleem (leaves) by their shape. It was challenging because the leaves were different colors and sizes from the same tree. Ari drove the train on the tree shaped Brio tracks. We celebrated with a special snack. There were figs, bananas, oranges, dates, olives, pomegranates, grapes, and pretzels. The Madrichim were surprised how many children loved olives! We discussed how some foods have peels which can't be eaten on the outside, some have seeds or pits on the inside, and some can be eaten whole. As Jews we strive to be like the whole foods (good on the inside and the outside). Finally we planted pineapple tops. Jens was a natural at digging and scooping dirt. Shoshana patted a warm dirt blanket around her pineapple top. In February we learned about choref (winter). I read The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats, but changed the "winter words" to Hebrew. Harper painted almost a life size sheleg (snowman). Everyone played an ice fishing game and caught a fish! There was sheleg (snow) in the sensory table to plow with toy trucks. We even made snowflakes by stamping white paint with an evergreen sprig. My kids are hoping for some real snow this winter, but I'm hoping spring is on its way.

PRE-GAN {Sherryl} We were ready for Tu B'Shevat! What fun we had reading stories, singing songs, and making crafts. Our favorite books were: Tu bi-Sh'vot by Sophia Cedarbaum and Tu Bishvat by Norma Simon, and It's Tu B'Shevat Zolkower. All the children were singing with Mitch “Green Grass Grows All Around All Around" with lots of hand motions. We are ready to plant celery seeds in our class. Aaron, Shayne, Livia, Adrian, and Hannah are proud of the planters they decorated to take home! Snack time was amazing for Tu B'Shevat. We had oranges, dates, bananas, grapes, figs, pretzels, olives, and more! We talked about which fruits could be eaten whole. These fruits were good on the outside and inside. This is the kind of person we strive to be, good on the inside and the outside! This month we also made Tzedakah boxes. Smiles were abundant as the students took home their own Tzedakah boxes! We will decide as a class where we want our Tzedakah money that we collect at school to go. Our children were invited to Toby's classroom to make their Jewish Stars. They are hanging in the lobby window. Thanks, Toby! Now, we get ready for Purim Palooza. We will be making Hamentashen together and sending some home for you to eat! We will talk about the story and meaning of Purim. What costume might we wear to our Purim Party? Happy Purim to you and your families!

KITAH GAN: Kindergarten {Debbie} Although February is the shortest month, there was plenty of learning going on in Kindergarten! The students began the month by learning about Tu B’Shevat, the birthday of the trees! We talked about how farmers in Israel keep track of their trees’ birthdays just like we do in our classroom. We sang Happy Birthday in English and Hebrew to the trees and tasted fruits that trees give us. We also tasted food from most of the seven species from Israel, all except for barley. It was wonderful to see students trying dates, figs and olives and actually ENJOYING them! The students also reviewed the colors of the rainbow in Hebrew singing “What’s Your Favorite Color in the Rainbow” by Rick Recht. We inserted “tzevah” for color and “keshet” for rainbow. Also the students matched the color picture to the Hebrew color word and focused on the beginning sounds of the words to help them match. The Kindergarteners have learned several more letters including tzadi and ayin. They played a game called, “I have (a letter), who has (a letter).” Rachael recognized her letters each game and was ready when her letter was called! The children practiced forming the letters using Popsicle sticks and marking off the ones they formed on a check sheet. Lucy and Hope were experts at forming the letters! This class only has a few more letters to learn until they have completed the Alef Bet! The students are also enjoying center time. Some of the more popular centers are Tikun Olam, Alef Bet wands, growing the Alef Bet garden, Hebrew color word color by number and painting Hebrew names. Walter is quite the artist and colored a beautiful fish while Aaron and created a beautiful sun catcher Earth for Tikun Olam. The rest of February was spent getting ready for Consecration and practicing the “I Am Jewish” song and making our music video.

Classroom News

KITAH ALEF: First Grade {Deena & Gail} We come together each week with different classes to daven during Tefillah. Our very own students lead all the other students. This week Katie, Ella and Ethan led Barchu. Shema leaders were Levi, Jonah, Noah and Casey. We went to visit Toby to work on a new project where we took 12 different triangles of cloth that were taken from kippot used in the past for other congregant’s smachot. The students each created their very own Jewish star, because as Toby says, “We are all stars here at Adath Israel Religious School!” You can view and enjoy your student’s art work as you enter the school building. The stars are on the glass windows. See if you can find your student’s Jewish star creation. Your students are learning the beginning Hebrew letters for the following words: Shabbat, Matzah, Bat or Bar Mitzvah, Torah, Mezzuzah, and Haggadah. To help with letter recognition, we scatter different letters from the alphabet all around the room and ask the students

to find these letters. We read and discuss books that pertain to our various holidays. Tu B'Shevat being the most recent. Next we will talk about Purim and Pesach, our wonderful holidays in the spring time. Chana comes in weekly and we have circle time. The students learned Eretz Zavat Halav, that Israel is the Land of Milk and Honey. Chana also taught us all a sweet dance that Israeli children dance to during this season. We learned that Israel is not so far away, and how as Jews we are all connected to the land and it's people. We travel to the library and Barbara reads stories to us and then the students talk about the story and how it relates to them and their lives. Each student also worked on a family tree project. They worked on their own Jewish star and colored different pictures from the Torah. Please come and see what we have been up to. All these beautiful creative pieces are right outside our room, on our bulletin board. The students will be happy to show you what they have done. Until next time, L'hitraot from Kitah Alef.

KITAH BET: Second Grade {Scott} Mi sheh nichnas Adar marbim B'simcha! So it is said…. He who enters the month of Adar enters with glee! Likewise, he who enters Kitah Bet at Adath Israel's Jarson Education centers also enters with simchah! We have been having fun and working hard over the last few weeks in Hebrew with our word wheels, learning our Hebrew pronouns. We have also been learning about the holiday of Purim. We have read the story of Purim and learned a few interesting facts about the holiday as well. For example, the Book of Esther is unique in the Hebrew bible, for it is the only book in the Hebrew bible in which God is not mentioned. Also, we have learned that it's no accident that the name of the main character in the Purim story is "Esther". It's no secret to these kids anymore. Go ahead…. ask them what her name means… they won't hide from you the fact that her name comes from the Hebrew root word meaning "hide or keep secret"…..as that is in fact what Esther does during the story….she keeps secret her Jewish identity and doesn’t reveal it until the time is right, thereby saving herself and the Persian Jews from certain destruction. This only adds another insightful dimension to the story of this wonderful holiday. We have also begun to make our own working megilot….not your common grade-school paper towel roll and construction paper megilot… but a working, durable, long lasting, sturdy thick dowels, with real wooden handles, attached to which are images on faux parchment paper which have been beautifully colored by the students, telling the story of Purim. I think you will quite impressed by their work when they bring home these wonderful pieces of art later this month- it will make a wonderful keepsake for years to come.

Classroom News

KITAH GIMEL: 3rd Grade {Gail for Zahava} The month of Shevat went by very quickly. We began this month by learning about the holiday of Tu B'Shevat. We learned the date, which is 15,"Tu" in Hebrew, we learned about the importance of planting trees, and names of trees in Hebrew. We also related how people are like trees. Trees and people both need water and love to survive. We also discussed other reasons people and trees are alike. We learned about the seven species of fruit the land of Israel is blessed with, and learned songs for this holiday. Our reading skills are getting much better, and we read much faster. Our vocabulary list is growing. We are also making good progress with our prayers. We are preparing for Ceremony Sunday, and look forward to seeing you there. We hope you enjoy our program.

KITAH DALET: 4th Grade {Ariel} Kitah Daled has been busy planting trees, preparing for Ceremony Sunday, continuing to expand our Hebrew vocabulary and participating in fun Judaic activities. Each student planted a small tree we will watch grow in the classroom for Tu‘BShevat. Spencer and Tate were excited to plant trees and celebrate the birthday for the trees! We have continued to learn Hebrew verbs and conjugations. Isabel and Jada enjoy playing games such as “around the world” to practice the new vocabulary. Students learned about the Yizkor Books Jews made after the Holocaust to remember the villages and culture that was lost. We also learned about the importance of traditions and books in Judaism. We made our own books of the traditions within in our families. Baylee and Maya made beautiful Yizkor books of holiday traditions they love.

KITAH HEI: 5th Grade {Phyllis & Rob} Rob: Winter has come rather late this season with the recent severe cold and increased

frequency of snow. While it may be cold and snowy outside right now, there is much warmth to be found in Room 218 at the Jarson Education Center. We have transitioned into taking an in-depth look at our daily and Shabbat prayers and the meanings behind the Hebrew words we say so often. This has been very interesting for the students to learn as many of them are gaining an increased understanding of the Hebrew liturgy. An example of such words would be the word melech, which translated directly to English means king. However, we have gone below the surface of this and other words to learn about their roots and how these roots are used in other words of similar meaning throughout our Conservative liturgy and in the weekly Torah readings. We have also been working with the students to present Hebrew translations in English that are gender neutral, rather than strictly masculine or feminine. This comes as a challenge to some, but with time, students will be able to think critically in this regard to put the Hebrew in words that are meaningful to themselves. Stay tuned for more information on this and our other subjects.

Parents are always welcome to join us in class and see all of the exciting Jewish learning that our students are undertaking.

Classroom News

Phyllis: In honor of Tu B'Shevat students in Kitah Hei were introduced to some strange and at least one unknown fruits in celebration of the holiday. Everyone was encouraged to try everything, but they did not have to eat anything they did not want to try. We tasted some pretty strange fruits that would have made good candidates for the reality show, Fear Factor. Our most exotic looking fruit was a rambutan - which is red round and hairy. Each student was given a list of all the fruits on the table with their Hebrew name. They could have a taste or more of anything they wanted as long as they asked for it in Hebrew. Ani rotzeh/rotzah (I want). Ani Ohev (or) lo Ohev - I like or do not like. Ode b'vakasha - more please. This was certainly not a typical Hebrew School class. We always have fun, but Tu B'Shevat in Kitah vav was more than fun. It was an EXPERIENCE.

KITAH VAV: 6th Grade {Rachel} The sixth grade has had an exciting month! We capped off our Jewish Food Values unit with a trip to Jungle Jim's where the students did a number of activities: a scavenger hunt for various kosher food items, purchasing a number of items to donate to the Kosher Food Pantry, and shopping for our Tu'Beshevat Seder. Shoshi, Gabrielle, and Nora noticed that none of the items under the sign saying 'Jewish Bakery' were actually kosher, while Seth was surprised to find a ton of Kosher products in the Indian Food aisle! The students had a great day putting their knowledge into practice. Back in the classroom, we are working on building our Hebrew vocabulary so that we can write our own short story books. We are continuing our Shalom Bayit curriculum with an exploration of sibling rivalry in the Torah. In response to many student questions about G-d, we've continued our deep dive into how G-d is represented in the Torah. Nora noticed that G-d has a lot of contradicting personality traits (compassionate and angry?) and we discussed how we humans do too! This coming month, we look forward to wrapping up our discussion of G-d, celebrating Purim and continuing to do independent projects while exploring friendship through the Etgar curriculum.

KITAH ZAYIN: 7th Grade {Brett} Over the past month we dug deeper into our unit on Obligations. We asked the question. ‘What does it mean to be Jewish? We learned more about ourselves through dreams, studied the concept of greed, and had an amazing

Tu’BShevat Seder. In the continuation on our unit on Obligations we read and discussed an article written by Rabbi Stephen C. Lerner, titled We are all “Jews by Choice.” We continued the unit by discussing the conservative approach to Halacha (Jewish Law) and the idea that your observance and spirituality can be a journey. In addition to our unit on Obligations, the question “What does it mean to be Jewish?” was posed to the students. After watching a couple of short clips and a brief article, the students were given the task to interview several adults around the synagogue to ask several questions around this topic. After the interviews we came back together, debriefed their experiences and then the students explored what being Jewish means to them. In conjunction with our Obligations unit we participated in an exercise where the students came up with 100 dreams for

the next year. Our students were able to envision what the next year could look like and what they could accomplish if they deliberately choose what they are doing on a daily basis. We included topics like education, social action, involvement in Jewish life, and health and wellness. On Super Bowl Sunday we used an op-ed piece on the NFL to look at the concept of greed and how it affects us on an everyday basis. We had a group discussion focusing on the elements of greed and how greed has affected our lives. By the end of our lesson we were able to walk away with an idea on how we can recognize greed within ourselves and determine how to either prevent it, or use it for good. Every year each grade has a Tu’BShevat Seder, but as a B’nai Mitzvah class, our Seder did not simply go over all the different types of fruits. We focused on four concepts that we have been covering all year: spirituality, community, appreciation and repairing the world. As our year progresses we will continue to learn and discuss values that guide our student’s actions on a daily basis.

Classroom News

MUSIC AND TROPE WITH MITCH COHEN Trope: Grades 5 and 6 This month in 5th grade Trope we continued building our skills. 5th graders are working on the last page of the long "Blessings After the Haftorah" as well as focusing on our davening skills, including leading the Torah service. The 6th graders have been reviewing all of the fundamental skills as they get closer to their Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. 6th graders have advanced to mastering Torah Trope as well as reviewing the Haftorah tropes they learned in 5th grade. 6th graders are also working on davening skills, including leading both the Torah and Musaf services. Many of the 6th graders have now started one-on-one Bar/Bat Mitzvah lessons with me, and it's great to see them use their trope skills in our lessons.

Music: grades K-2 and 3-5 This past month we continued singing a number of fun songs about trees and planting as we celebrated Tu B'Sehvat. The students really enjoyed singing, "The Planting Song" written by Jeff Klepper. They also enjoyed trying to remember all the various hand motions to the old favorite, "The Green Grass Grows All Around and Around". 3rd through 5th graders practiced leading Shabbat Musaf songs, including Yimsmichu, V'techizenna, Ashrei, and more, as we prepared for the Youth Service Shabbat. I participated in a 3 day immersive music educator conference during President's Day weekend, called "Song Leader Bootcamp." The conference took place at the JCC in St. Louis. Over 200 Jewish music educators attended. I came back with some great ideas and new songs that I plan on sharing in the coming months. Thank you to Adath Israel and the Jarson Education Center for making it possible for me to go on this amazing conference, which will help enrich our music program at our school.

RESOURCE CENTER {Chana & Toby} Toby: Hannah Lempert, our talented and hard-working Madricha has created two posters for aiding reading proficiency: "Toby's Tricks" for remembering letters and a guide for remembering vowels, with illustrations. Hannah has truly been a joy to mentor, and her energy and creativity are appreciated and enjoyed by the students, whose skills are ever increasing. She has organized areas of the room, making it even more inviting. With these materials, as well as new games we've introduced lately, we see the students eagerly interacting with all we present. When the kindergarten class makes their stars for the school project, all of the classes will have participated!! Please enjoy the wonderful patterns of the stars in the school lobby on the Galbraith side windows. We still have enough materials for teachers and staff to create theirs, for we ALL are stars at Adath Israel!

Chana: Kindergarten and first grade learned the letters tet and vav for Tu B'shvat, the 15th of Shevat, holiday of the trees. (Hebrew letters each have a numerical value: tet = 9 and vav = 6). They also learned a song and dance for the holiday: Erets zavat halav u'devash. I look forward to teaching more Hebrew through song for upcoming holidays. Primary grades practiced reading and comprehension skills with texts on the weekly Torah portion and Tu B'Shevat. They identified the plagues and the ten commandments using the Hebrew and English texts. All grades, second through sixth, struggled to identify how to divide the section into ten commandments. This led to discussion about how Judaism is about interpretation and rabbinic tradition, not just individual readings of the Bible. In addition to text study, primary grades played a new memory game, matching pictures of produce with their Hebrew names. All grades enjoyed reviewing the Passover story with ten plagues charades. Sixth grade

students rose to the challenge of identifying Hebrew texts (Bible text and picture books) without introduction and reading them to each other. They read to each other "story time" style the Hebrew translation of "Where the Wild Things Are." Using the illustrations, familiarity with the story, and key word recognition, the class worked together to explain each page. For Tu B'Shevat, sixth grade watched an English podcast of the story of Honi and the Carob Tree. Then read it in Hebrew. Fifth grade completed a similar reading project with "The Giving Tree" in Hebrew.

Classroom News

Special Activities

Casey Bernstein Shoshana Cohen Ethan Erlich Samuel Fry Jack Garfunkel Asa Guigui Dylan Hunt Leah Jacobson Maya Jaffee Joey Monk Alexander Montello

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3/7/05 3/29/03 3/30/03

3/5/06 3/15/09 3/15/06 3/18/07 3/29/07

3/7/07

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Brandon Oliff Sarina Oliff Sam Pressman Ethan Rickert Sophie Stone Tate Vernon Aaron Willis Andrew Wittenbaum Tessa Wittenbaum Shoshana Zaretsky

3/25/07 3/25/07 3/15/07 3/12/04 3/10/04

3/3/05 3/7/07

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PURIM Megillah Reading 6:15PM

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8 PURIMPALOOZA 10-12:30pm

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15 Mazel Tots 9-10:30 am

16 17 18 19 20 21 Family Service 10:15am

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23 24 25 26 27 Kiddush Club 6-8pm

28 Tot Shabbat in Marcus Chapel 10:30am

29 NO SCHOOL Spring & Pesach Break School resumes April 12

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March 2015