Morah Anna Volchek

AlephBet Class Update 4-15-18

Morah Anna Volchek

avolchek@amyisrael.org

AlephBet Class Update 4-8-18

Shalom,

This week we continued learning about Israel. The students used the book Israel Sheli My Israel: People and Places and worked in groups of two to learn about the cities of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Beersheva, Modi’in and Eilat and the famous people who lived there.  We look forward to seeing you on Fri, Apr 20 at 6 p.m. in the Sanctuary for the service in which our students will be helping to lead from the bimah.

Morah Anna Volchek

AlephBet Class Updates 3-11-18 & 3-18-18

This Week:

Shalom,

This week the students learned about the holiday of Passover. We talked about story in the Torah and the Haggadah including Moses and his role in Jewish history, the 10 plagues, and what freedom means to us. The students learned about the traditional and symbolic foods that are eaten during the Passover Seder to remember our ancestors and their adversity.

Hag Sameach!

Last week: 

Kitah AlephBet continued our conversation about our ancestors.  So far students learned about Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Esau and Jacob. We talked about how and why Jacob changed his name to Israel and the events that contributed to the resettlement of the Israelites in Egypt.

Morah Anna Volchek

avolchek@amyisrael.org

AlephBet Class Update 3-4-18

Shalom,

Kitah AlephBet had a very busy and productive day. We discussed the blessings of the Amidah and talked about people mentioned in it. The students learned about Abraham, Sarah, Issac and Rebecca and their roles in Jewish history. W joined our friends in Shira (Music), made hamentaschen inOmanut (Art) and practiced prayers during Tefillah.

Morah Anna Volchek

AlephBet Class Update 2-11-18

Shalom,

Purim is the most festive holiday of the Jewish calendar. Purim marks the celebration of an ancient victory—when Queen Esther, an assimilated Jewish woman, found the courage to risk her life to save the Jewish people from an evil adviser who plotted to destroy the Jews of Shushan.

This week the students heard the story of Purim and talked about the characters, discussed what it means to be brave and who can be brave. Ask your child about the characters and their roles!

Morah Anna Volchek

AlephBet Class Update 2-4-18

This week the AlephBet students had a special treat as Rabbi Newman Kamin joined the class for a Brunch and Family Education session.  It was great to see everyone studying together with the Rabbi.  Thank you all for your continued support of our programming.

Morah Anna Volchek

AlephBet Class Update 1-28-18

Shalom,
This week in class we began to learn about Tu B’shevat. The students learned about how important trees are to us and how we can honor and thank them.  They also learned how and why we plant trees in Israel. Ask your children to share something special they learned about the trees planted in Israel.
During the Omanut (Art) lessonm the students started working on the tree art and had a spiritual and uplifting Tefillah with Mr. Sherman and Mr. Marc.

Morah Anna Volchek

AlephBet Class Update 1-21-18

Shalom,
The land of Israel is full of beautiful and amazing sights. From the highest
point of Mt. Hermon to the Negev desert, it is full of spectacular images, plants, sights and sounds! This week, students were introduced to the geography and topography of the land of Israel.  Next week we will continue conversation about Israel and the holiday of Tu B’shevat.  It was wonderful seeing so many families at the AlephBet Havdalah this past Saturday evening.

Morah Anna Volchek

AlephBet Class Update 1-14-18

Shalom,
Kitah AlephBet had a very busy and productive start of the second half of the school year.  We began our most recent session of SJS by practicing Havdalah blessings and putting finishing touches on our Havdalah project.  During Tefillah we focused on “Modeh/Modah Ani” and “La’asok B’Divrei Torah.”  The students continued working with the Hebrew Step-By-Step packets with our amazing Team of Madrichim-In-Training.  Mr. Sherman sent out an email earlier this week with a link to a video that we have been watching in class to help prepare for the Havdalah service that we will be participating in this Saturday evening, Jan 20, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary.  In case you missed it, here is the direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gebsb-po8jY 

Morah Anna Volchek

avolchek@amyisrael.org

AlephBet Class Update 12-10-17

Shalom,

We have been exploring the Jewish value of Ometz Lev , translated as “courage of the heart,” from a variety of perspectives. This week students learned that Ometz Lev speaks to having the strength to put our whole heart into something that we truly believe in and having the courage to show that to the world. The V’ahavta prayer, part of the Sh’ma, speaks of our heart. Sometimes, as in the story of Chanukkah, it takes great courage to show that we love God. The V’ahavta tells us about the ways that we can proudly and courageously make a display of loving God with symbols and ritual items such as the mezuzah and tefillin.

Happy Chanukkah,

Morah Anna

AlephBet Class Update 12-3-17

Shalom,

We began our study of Hanukkah by exploring the hannukiyah (the 9 branched candle holder) and discussing the difference between a hannukiyah and a menorah. We discussed the different names of the spinning top: dreidel, s’vivon, spinning top and explored different driedels. During Shira (Music) we sang Hannukah songs and we continued working on our Havdallah project during Omanut (Art).

Morah Anna Volchek

AlephBet Class Update 11-19-17

Shalom,

This week in class the students explored the theme of ‘thanks’ as it relates to being grateful for our families, friends, food we eat etc. We compared the holiday of Sukkot and the holiday of Thanksgiving, talked about similarities between them. We talked about the meaning behind and purpose of some of the blessings we recite for Shabbat, Havdalah and blessings before meals.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Morah Anna

Morah Anna Volchek

AlephBet Class Update 11-12-17

Dear Kitah AlephBet Families,

In this week’s lesson, the students learned about the mitzvah of Bikkur Cholim translated as “Visiting the Sick”.  We practiced performing this Mitzvah by role-playing and brainstorming some things that children can do to help people feel better when they are sick.

Mr. Sherman will be sending out an email with login information so that your children can begin practicing their Hebrew at home.  Once you receive this email, please help your AlephBet student(s) login to the Shalomlearning website to practice Lesson 1: Tav+AH vowels: TavTap and Hear, and play Tav matching practice.  The talmidim (students) are very proud of their ability to read in Hebrew and I’m sure that they would love to show off their reading skills to you.

B’Shalom,

Morah Anna

Morah Anna Volchek

AlephBet Class Update 11-5-17

Shalom,

This week Kitah AlephBet continued our conversation about Abraham and Sarah, G-d and the creation of the world. We read “In God’s Name” by Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso and had great discussion about God’s religion and name.

In preparation for the Havdalah service, that will be lead by our classroom in January, we are learning about Havdalah, it’s blessings and we worked on a Havdalah project during Omanut (Art) class with Ms. Preis and Ms. Serota.  Please ask your child about the special Havdalah light that we discovered today.

Shavua Tov,

Morah Anna Volchek

AlephBet Class Update 10-29-17

Shalom,

This week we have been learning about Abraham and Sarah. We talked how and why Abraham and Sarah had their names changed, discussed courage to believe in one G-d and the Shema prayer.

We continued learning about Havdallah and Shabbat rituals, similarities and differences. We used our Hebrew Through Movement (HTM) curriculum to learn new Hebrew words: Ner/Nerot (candle/candles), Nerot shel Shabbat ( Shabbat candles), Ner shel Havdallah (Havdallah candle).

Shavua Tov,

Morah Anna Volchek

avolchek@amyisrael.org

AlephBet Class Update 10-22-17

Shalom,

This week we continued our conversation about the Torah. The students learned about the seven days of Creation and Adam and Eve. We discussed the difference between rituals of Shabbat and Havdallah.  During Art class we began working on our Havdallah project.

During Ivrit (Hebrew) class, the students worked with the letters Shin, Bet and Tav, and the vowel “ah.”  The talmidim (students) used play-dough to help them get more familiar with the shapes of the letters and practiced sounding out different syllables and words.

AlephBet Class Update 10-15-17

Shalom,

This week Kitah AlephBet learned about the holiday of Simchat Torah.  We discussed rituals of the holiday and met with the Sofer, Rabbi Salazar, a captivating speaker!  He shared with us how the Torah is written, what special materials are used when writing a Torah and how long it takes to write a Torah. We continued conversations about the Torah in the Sanctuary and experimented writing Hebrew letters with the quills.

AlephBet Class Update 10-8-17

Shalom,

Today in class Kitah AlephBet students were introduced to the Jewish value of hachnasat orchim, welcoming guests, as we focused on the holiday of Sukkot.  The children learned that the first mention of welcoming guests comes from the story in the Torah of Abraham and Sarah welcoming three strangers who came to visit them in the desert. The students also learned that many people today put up sukkot (temporary huts) in their yards or on their patios or decks and invite guests to eat and rejoice with them in the beautifully decorated sukkot. We visited the sukkah in the congregation’s courtyard, learned/reviewed the holiday blessings and practiced to bless and shake the lulav and etrog.

AlephBet Class Update 9-24-17

Shalom,

This week in class we explored the Jewish Value of Slicha/Saying “I’m Sorry”. We learned that saying Slicha/I’m Sorry is not easy and requires a lot of thought about how the other person feels and how we could have done things differently. We learned about this concept through the story of Jonah and the Whale.

We learned that the upcoming Holiday of Yom Kippur is an opportunity to say Slicha/”I’m Sorry” and to think about the ways that we want to treat other people in the upcoming year.

G’mar Chatimah Tovah! May we all be sealed for a good year!

AlephBet Class Update 9-17-17

Shalom,

AlephBet Class Update 9-10-17

Shalom and welcome to Kitah AlephBet!!!

We started our day by getting to know each other, and we played a “Name train” game for our icebreaker.  We made “All about me” hand art during Omanut (Art) class with Ms. Preis Brin and Ms. Serota.   In addition, we explored what it means to be happy and the Jewish Value of Hakarat Hatov/Gratitude through watching the Shaboom! Video: Everything is Amazing. We learned that looking for the good in situations is often challenging. The more time we take to practice it, the easier it will be to find the good and the happier we will be!  The talmidim (students) had their first Hebrew through Movement lesson and learned the simple commands in Hebrew: Lakoom (to stand), Lashevet (to sit), and Lalechet (to walk).  Next week we will continue exploring the Jewish Value of Hakarat Hatov/Gratitude as it relates to the upcoming holiday celebrating the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah.

It was a great first day at SJS and I’m looking forward to an awesome year together.

Morah Anna Volchek

avolchek@amyisrael.org