Rosh Hashanah excitement was definitely in the air in Kindergarten today! We enjoyed a pre-Rosh Hashanah assembly upstairs with a performance by 2nd grade. Our kochavim did a great job sitting quietly like all the "big kids"!

 Tzeirei Kochavim reading strips

Today we spoke in Hebrew using the verb omer/omeret (says). We put together sentences for our new Hebrew "Words with Friends" wall. Throughout the year we will write more sentences using the Hebrew vocabulary we learn in class. I am so proud of all these Hebrew speakers!

Today we worked on a beautiful Rosh Hashanah project. This mirrored plate can be used with tea lights or can serve as a base for a honey jar or vase. The children are so proud of their work. It was nice seeing some of them write Shana Tova or Shana Metukah.

Dear Parents

What a busy day we had! We learned the verb Omer/Omeret (says m/f) and began coming up with sentences using this new verb. For example: Morah Shaina Omeret Shalom (Morah Shaina says hello).

We worked on rhyming with tzeirei sounds. We completed an apple themed worksheet to reinforce this skill.

Playdough words

 Reading books and a reading links activity.

 letters and vowels on bottle caps to complete Hebrew vocabulary words

Alef Bet matching and a new Hebrew hang-man game.

While Morah Eileen has been going over syllables in English, we are doing the same in Hebrew while strengthening our reading and phonemic awareness. We read words and wrote down how many syllables in each word. We continue to read with Kamatz, Patach and Tzeirei words.

Today we practiced more with tzeirei. Some of us got to pop a tzeirei sound on bubble wrap. If you have any extra around the house, it is a great way to have your children practice reading. Simply write a word or sound on a bubble and once they read it, they can pop it!

Bentzi joined us and taught us the words Hu (he) and Hee (She). We categorized the children in our class under he/she columns. We also rolled a big dice with images of family members and kept a tally under the he/she columns.

 

Now that we've all had a turn playing the Alef-Bet matching game on the computer, we can move on to more advanced reading games. Your children can access these games at home by clicking here 

or by following this link

http://www.gamba1.cet.ac.il/Student/StudentSubjectsMenu.aspx

 

Today we played a "tzeirei tzedaka" game as a group that gave each of us a chance to practice reading this new vowel. We also had a secret tzeirei message to reveal. You can send these secret messages to your children by writing with white crayon on white paper, then have them cover the entire area with a dark marker. Ta-Da- the secret message will appear!

 More Rosh Hashana themed play dough 

Rosh Hashanah vocabulary word match

Today Bentzi introduced Rosh Hashanah Hebrew vocabulary to use with the conversational skills we already know. We also learned the word "L'Chvod" (In honor of) to enhance the special meaning connected to these objects. For example: "Tapuach L'Chvod Rosh Hashanah". Bentzi also taught us that "Hu" means' he'...but more on that later in the week.

No matter how I put it on the board, the Tapuach (incredibly!) continued to dip itself in the D'vash.

 In order to strengthen the Rosh Hashanah vocabulary words, Morah Shaina brought in apple and cinnamon scented play-dough. This multi-sensory activity is a wonderful way to reinforce new concepts for all of our students . If a student learns something using more than one sense, the information is more likely to stay with him or her.

But multi-sensory learning can be particularly helpful for kids with learning and attention issues. For example, these kids may have trouble with visual or auditory processing. That can make it hard for them to learn information through only reading or listening.

Round Challah

Using multiple senses gives these (and other) kids more ways to connect with what they’re learning. This type of hands-on learning can make it easier for students to collect information and make connections between new information and what they already know.

Hebrew spelling with Alef Bet cookie cutters

We are learning that the foods we eat on Rosh Hashanah represent something meaningful about the upcoming year. 

 Letter and number Rosh Hashanah activity.