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For Your Calendar
Prospective Student Visiting Day.
8:45-10:45 am
Taste of Kindergarten
7:30-9:00 pm
The New Lands of Opportunity: Community Conversation in honor of Martin Luther King Day
Thursday, January 21
7:00 pm
Tallit Program for 6th grade families
Wednesday, January 27
7:00 pm
Health Education Meeting for MS parents
Thursday, January 28
Shema Bear program for Kindergarten
Basketball Schedule
Tuesday, January 19
JV Boys at Renbrook
Wednesday, January 20
JV Boys Home vs. Kingswood Oxford
Thursday, January 21
Boys Varsity and Girls Doubleheader at Watkinson
Monday, January 25
Girls at Master's School, Simsbury
Tuesday, January 26
JV & Varsity Boys at JCC New Haven
Thursday, January 28
JV & Varsity Boys at Master's School, Simsbury
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Solomon Schechter Day School extends heartfelt condolences to...
Jed and Michelle Brody and their children, Schechter alumni Jessica (2000), Ben (2004), and Tal, on the loss of their beloved mother, mother-in-law, and grandmother
Sarah Brody.
There will be a graveside funeral service at the Beth Hillel Synagogue Cemetery, Wolcott Road, East Granby, CT,
11:00 am, Friday, January 15.
Sarah was a frequent visitor to Schechter, coming to speak with students on Veteran's Day and sharing her stories of being a nurse during the Second World War. Sarah was a member of the 103rd Field Evacuation Hospital, which was attached to the Third and First Armies, and she served from Omaha Beach to the Elbe.
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A memorial gathering will be held
on
Sunday, January 17
at 74 Lyman Rd, West Hartford
to honor and remember
Lawrence V. McMurrer and Robert P. McMurrer,
father and brother of Eileen McMurrer,
grandfather and uncle of Liah and Aidan Kaminer.
Visiting with the family will begin at
7:30 pm.
Prayers and remembrances are at 8:00 pm, followed by coffee and dessert.
המקום ינחם אתכם בתוך שאר אבלי ציון וירושלים
May God comfort you among the mourners
of Zion and Jerusalem.
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Mazel tov to...
Kate and Rich
Goldman on the birth of their son on
Thursday, January 7! The bouncing baby boy weighed in at 9lbs. 2 oz.
Kate is the Educational Director at The Emanuel Synagogue.
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Mah Jongg Players
To order a new card for 2016, contact Susan Kurtis at
Standard card is $8.00,
Large Print is $9.00.
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Join Our List
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Community Events
Please save the date, January 24, 2016 for the Annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Click here for more information. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Anna Huttner
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Shabbat Shalom
Parashat Bo
Candlelighting 4:27 pm |
January 15, 2016
5 Shevat 5776
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A Message from Andrea
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The Changing Landscape of Math Education
Education has made rapid strides in the last decade and while it is evidenced in every area, it is possibly most evident in math education. The Common Core has moved math education quickly and shifted the emphasis in dramatic ways. What this means is that, more than ever, the math classroom looks different than it did when we were students ourselves.
The primary shift in math education is an emphasis on the "how" and "why". The traditional math class was spent drilling computations and memorizing facts and formulas; there was virtually no emphasis on conceptual understandings. For many, Math was "magic" and only a small percentage of students truly understood the meaning behind what they were memorizing. In today's classrooms, students are still expected to demonstrate mastery of specific skills. They are also expected to communicate about the concepts being learned by talking, modeling, and even writing about the processes taken to solve a problem. With such a big change in the pedagogy of math instruction, math assessments had to shift to reflect these dual goals as well. All of a sudden, a correct answer is not enough to demonstrate mastery; students must also demonstrate their conceptual understanding. A major focus in math classrooms is on real-world application, moving math from the abstract realm and into the concrete. Educators are making a point of showing students how to apply their math skills to life outside of school and giving students opportunities to practice their skills in real life situations.
Finally, one of the most notable shifts in education in general and certainly in math has been in the pedagogy of how we are asking students to learn. Today's students are encouraged to explore ideas and experiment with various methods of inquiry.Their learning is dynamic, it's no longer solely focused on the correct answer. Rather, it is on helping students ask the right sets of questions and understand how they might go about answering them, so that they are able to apply a set of thinking skills to their problem solving.
This is an exciting time to be a student.
Shabbat Shalom,
Andrea
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Middle School Performs in Third Annual
Fiesta Musical Latina |
Middle school Spanish language students took us on a musical journey  with Señora Castro and Mr. Durlester in the Third Annual Fiesta Musical Latina
on Thursday
. The program began with four students performing solos which delighted the audience in a showcase of individual talents: Daniella Medvedovsky danced to "El Perdón;" Zachary Sobel-Pressman played "El Matador" on the piano; and Harry and Leo Gold tap danced to "Mambo #5."
Afterwards, students in grades
six, seven, and eight sang
traditional
Latin  American children's songs, as well as songs  with lyrics designed to teach grammar, vocabulary, and geography. They also sang Hanukkah songs including a parody and a song in Ladino. Traditional folk songs in different Latin musical styles and rhythms included Spanish dance pop, Argentine tango, Cuban rumba, and Mexican ranchera,
son jarocho
and mariachi rounded out the program.
¡Olé!
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EC 4 and 6th Grade Science Buddies
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On Tuesday, students in Early Childhood 4 joined their sixth grade buddies for some Scientific Exploration. The sixth graders have been exploring the properties of water, while the EC 4 students have been learning about temperature.
These two topics were combined through a scientific experiment in the middle school science lab. "It is so heartwarming to watch the older students applying their knowledge and inspiring younger students in the area of science," said Early Childhood 4 teacher Michelle Fontaine.
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3rd Graders: Science and Consumerism - Which Light Bulb Wastes Less Energy?
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This past week, third grade science students investigated wasted energy, the amount of energy given off by light bulbs. Students compared an incandescent light bulb and a compact fluorescent (cfl) bulb. The experiment required the students to review some tools that scientists use and to practice reading a thermometer. As Eli Gold stated, "If you pronounce it thermo meter, you can understand the word better, a way of measuring heat." Every minute for seven minutes, each group measured the reading for either a fluorescent bulb or an incandescent bulb. Then, for the next seven minutes, they measured how quickly it cooled. By comparing their readings, they quickly determined that the incandescent bulb produced more heat and heated up to a higher temperature. The compact fluorescent was cooler, cooled down faster, and according to the package, will last much longer than the old fashioned type of bulb.
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Book Illustrator Visits Schechter |
This week illustrator Janice Hechter visited Schechter and presented her
book The Great Elephant Escape to students in grades Kindergarten through four.
Ms. Hechter shared her book and its illustrations, describing the 
process for the students to help them understand what an illustrator actually
does. She shared the process of submitting her artwork to
the book publisher explaining how it is chosen to create a story
with images to correspond with the author's text. She also demonstrated
a tutorial in Corel Painter for the students, and showed a
video of her art studio.
Students enjoyed Ms. Hechter's visit. Many asked for
her autograph at the end, which left a very big smile on Janice's
face.
Books signed by the author can be purchased with an order form from Schechter art teacher
Rhiannon Van Bindsbergen.
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Students Accept Rosenberg Orthodontics Reading Challenge with Excitement |
For more than a decade,
Rosenberg
Orthodontics has teamed up with
Solomon Schechter Day School to encourage reading by challenging each class (3rd, 4th and 5th)
to read a specified number of independent books during the second half of
the year. In June, the Rosenbergs will reward the students with a pizza party to celebrate all of the reading that has taken place.
The students are very excited and motivated, and they have already begun keeping track of their independent reading books. At this point, each class has a goal of 200 books. However, with the incredible readers that we have, we are already planning to raise the goal as the term progresses.
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Schechter Girls Basketball off to a Winning Start |
The Schechter girls' basketball team earned their first win of the season
Monday
against Two Rivers Magnet School with a score of 32-28. It was an offensive battle led by leading scorer eighth grader
June Laub,
with 16 points. Eighth graders
Maia Chameides
and
Ruth Nawy,
along with seventh grader
Eden Raviv,
also scored crucial baskets. The defense was led by fifth grader
Alyssa Temkin
. Fourth graders
Pauline Golder
and
Halaylah Schectman
forced many turnovers. The girls' next game is a part of a girls and boys Varsity
double header at Watkinson School next
Thursday, January
21. Tipoff is
3:45 pm
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In Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King |
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Be Our Guest at Solomon Schechter |
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Health Education Meeting for Middle School Parents |
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Global Community Purim Costume Donation |
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Susan Kurtis, Editor
Lara Lakenbach and Audrey Sobel, Asst. Editors
Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Hartford |
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