Shalom Kitah Gimel Students and Families #12

Welcome back from winter vacation and welcome to second semester. We started off 2011 with every Kitah Gimel student present! After students led the Blessings for Torah Study and cookies, we launched into a review of the Hebrew vocabulary which students had practiced during their vacation. Students demonstrated good recall of word meanings and everyone had an opportunity to create and translate sentences.
Students are asking very perceptive questions regarding Hebrew grammar and word usage as they form known words into original sentences.

Following these review activities, we read a new story in Chapter 4 of Shalom Ivrit. Additional verbs, adjectives, and nouns were introduced including everyone’s favorite Hebrew word, “uga” which means “cake.” Students prepared 12 vocabulary cards for daily review at home. Daily vocabulary review really helps students to develop fluency and confidence in modern spoken Hebrew.

While we were on vacation, Torah Portions continued to unfold. We have entered the Book of Shemot (Exodus) which begins with the action-packed story of Moses and the flight of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Table groups read information packets about the last two Portions, Shemot and Va-Era, and this week’s Portion, Bo. Each group described the details of their Portion – the tyrannical Pharaoh; baby Moses’ rescue from the Nile by an Egyptian princess; Moses killing an Egyptian who was beating a Jewish slave; Moses fleeing to Midian and marrying; Moses’ encounters with God; Moses and Aaron imploring Pharaoh to free the Israelites, and the PLAGUES! We even had a “replica” of Moses’ snaky staff.
Students commented that God was very “creative.”
One student asked the thought-provoking question, “What if when Moses and Aaron asked Pharaoh to free the Hebrew slaves, Pharaoh had just said, ‘OK, Go!’ ” That is a super question and one which we’ll discuss more extensively next week.

In T’fila, each class was responsible for leading a portion of the evening service. Students were eager to demonstrate their emerging synagogue skills and families were proud to watch.

We’re off to a great second half of the school year.

See you soon – L’hitraot,
Morah Ronni

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Ronni Sims

Ronni has been a Jewish educator since Moses was in preschool (almost!). She has had the pleasure of teaching all age groups in a variety of formal and informal settings, as well as directing a Jewish Teacher Resource Center. While teaching in a Jewish Day School, Ronni coached an award-winning Odyssey of the Mind creative problem solving team.Ronni was an active participant in the former Conference on Alternatives in Jewish Education (CAJE), where she held leadership positions including Network Chair and Conference Co-Chair of CAJE 29 at Hofstra University. She currently teaches Hebrew at the Congregation Albert Religious School in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Talmud teaches: “The Torah cannot be learned unless it is learned among friends.” Ronni views blogging on JCast as such a learning opportunity.

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