Teachers: Mrs. Shira Sender ssender@amyisrael.org and Morah Sarah Burnstein sburnstein712@gmail.com

Please note that the latest class update is always at the top of the page

May 16, 2025 18 Iyar 5785 Written by Mrs. Shira Sender

May 8, 2025 10 Iyar 5785 Written by Mrs. Shira Sender

April 24, 2025 26 Nisan 5785 Written by Mrs. Shira Sender

March 21, 2025 21 Adar 5785 Written by Mrs. Shira Sender

March 6, 2025 6 Adar 5785 Written by Mrs. Shira Sender

February 20, 2025 22 Sh’vat 5785 Written by Mrs. Shira Sender

February 6, 2025 8 Sh’vat 5785 Written by Mrs. Shira Sender

January 23, 2025 24 Tevet 5785 Written by Mrs. Shira Sender

January 8, 2025 9 Tevet 5785 Written by Mrs. Shira Sender

December 19, 2024 19 Kislev 5785 Written by Morah Sarah Burnstein

Hebrew language: This week we focused on lesson 15 which included 3 letters Kaf, chaf, and final chaf. The students enjoyed practicing the different sounds and differentiating the letters by the dot in the middle. The chah sound can be a little tricky but they worked hard. We also reviewed the flashcards from the previous 4 weeks in a racing game.

Limudei Yahadut (Jewish Studies): We have completed our Chanukah play. We practiced our parts and created costumes.   We also recorded the play for Mrs. Sender to enjoy over Chanukah. The class hopes to perform it for her live on her return to school after Winter Break.  Please have the class practice their parts and bring any additional costumes for the first day back, which is Sunday, January 5th. 

December 13, 2024 12 Kislev 5785 Written by Morah Sarah Burnstein

Hebrew Language: This week we focused on the lesson 14 which was the letter ayin. Since it doesn’t make a sound of it’s own, we again focused on vowel blends. We also did a major review of the letters learned previously along with choral reading and board games. 

Limudei Yahadut (Jewish Studies): It was so great meeting the students families at the brunch last Sunday with Rabbi Newman Kamin. She talked about Chanukah and everyone went around sharing their favorite parts and Chanukah traditions. On Wednesday we continued Gevurah 3.3 part 3 and our discussion focused on traditions within our community and family and how they make us strong together. We watched tradition from Fiddler on the Roof and talked about how everyone doing their part gets everything accomplished and makes us stronger.  We then applied that to the students homes and gave examples like doing chores, cooking dinner, doing the shopping etc. that help to make our families stronger together. Lastly we watched a video about the Chanukah traditions in Israel and compared them to ours. They definately sang more songs but other than that the students saw how many of our traditions are the same. 

The Chanukah play will be completed by me by this Sunday and my hope is to assign roles and start filming. Please have the students bring anything they would like to use as props or costumes this upcoming Sunday and Wednesday so we can complete it before winter break. 

December 6, 2024 5 Kislev 5785 Written by Morah Sarah Burnstein

In Hebrew language we did lesson 13 “tet”. Our 3 game centers led by myself and the kochavim teachers focused on vowels and letter blends. The students had tons of reading practice while also enjoying  Battleship, Labyrinth and Connect 4. 

In our study of Gevurah 3.3 part 3 we focused on how we have Gevurah (strength) as a community giving examples from our lives like our SJS classroom community and how we help one another. We also connected back to Chanukah and discussed how the Maccabees came together as a community to fight against the Greeks. We also made great progress on our Chanukah play on Wednesday by writing the script. We split into 3 groups with partners writing sections before, during and after the war. Thank you to our 2 madrichim who came in at exactly the right time to help our groups with the typing. 

November 21, 2024 21 Cheshvan 5785 Written by Morah Sarah Burnstein

In Hebrew we have done lessons 11 and 12, which added Vet and Vav to the student’s knowledge base. Based on Morah Devorah’s observation, we have done a huge vowels push. We reviewed the sound each vowel makes and played games with the sounds and the choral reading. We brought out Mrs. Senders’ letters with vowel wheels beneath and we practiced making the sound each of the learned letters makes when combined with their vowels. We then played the game Around the World with the cards. Congrats to the students who moved away from their regular seats. 

This upcoming Sunday we will be doing lesson 13 tet. We will also be having 3 game centers led by myself and the Kochavim teachers that focuses on vowels and letter blends, such as vowel dominions and board games they already know with the added difficulty of saying the sound in order to move in the game. 

Gevurah 3.3 parts 1 and 2

2 Sundays ago we focused on connecting Gevurah (strength) to their previous lesson on Betzelem Elokim (Being Created in the Image of G-d) by asking the students how superheroes are strong and what is strength. I then read the students the Chanukah story and we discussed how the characters were strong in what they believed, in addition to their armies. We then focused on the new vocabulary from the story by listening to the Maccabeats Chanukah song standing up and sitting down when the vocab words were mentioned. 

This past Sunday and Wednesday we connected Gevurah to our current lives and our history. We reviewed the Chanukah story and spoke about other biblical figures who were strong in standing up for their religion. We talked about what standing up for themselves might look like in their classrooms or as the holiday season approaches. We also discussed some social situations that may be uncomfortable such as excluding others from a game and how they could stand up for the excluded person and confront others who want to do the excluding because they think it isn’t right. 

The Kitah Gimel students also expressed that they wanted to put on a Chanukah play for Mrs. Sender. We began preparations for that on Wednesday by watching a Chanukah play and recording the needed characters, story events to include and the props we would need. After Thanksgiving we will begin writing the play together as a class. 

Shabbat Shalom,

Morah Sarah Burnstein

October 10, 2024 8 Tishrei 5785

September 26, 2024 23 Elul 5784

September 10, 2024 7 Elul 5784