Thursday, December 22, 2022 | 28 Kislev, 5783

3-4 Grade Monthly Newsletter

Welcome to the monthly 3rd/4th grade newsletter!

For every Rosh Chodesh (Jewish new month), we will send a more detailed newsletter that supplements the weekly Remini updates.

Rosh Chodesh Tevet is December 24-25.

What's in this newsletter?

What did students learn: Content and values from this month's curriculum.
What did students do: Crafts, games, songs and other classroom experiences.
Torah corner: A selected text students learned this month.
Music corner: A taste of the great music experience students get every session.
The family table: Questions and conversation starters for the family Shabbat, holiday or weekday dinner table about the 3-4 grade curriculum.
Student's Corner: Thoughts from one of our students.
Letter of the Week: The Hebrew letters introduced to students this month.
Coming Attractions: What you can expect from the next month at the JLL.

What did students learn?

Our main topic for the year is the story of the Exodus, the escape of the Israelites from Egypt. This month, students learned the part of the story where Moses fled from Egypt, got married and had a son, and heard God's voice through the burning bush.

At the end of the month, students reviewed and re-enacted the story so far. They received a booklet with all the texts they learned so far. You can read it here.

What did students do?

Students made "burning bushes" using paper bags and tea lights. Just like Moses received his calling through the original burning bush, students wrote what their calling might be - one way in which they can help repair the world.

Torah Corner

One of the most powerful scenes in the Torah features Moses encountering God through the burning bush. God gives Moses the task of becoming God's messenger. Moses, overwhelmed by the responsibility, tries to refuse his mission and lists different reasons for his refusal. On the right you can read the text as students learned it. By redacting God's answers, students were invited to come up with their own responses before reading the Torah's responses.

You can read the full dialogue here.

God called to him out of the bush: “Moses! Moses!” He answered, “Here I am.” […] God said: “I have seen the suffering of My people in Egypt and have heard their outcry because of their masters; for I am mindful of their sufferings.

Come, therefore, I will send you to Pharaoh, and you shall free My people, the Israelites, from Egypt.”

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and free the Israelites from Egypt?” And God Said […] Moses said to God, “When I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors sent me to you,’ and they ask, ‘What is [God’s] name?’ what shall I say to them?”And God said […] Moses spoke up and said, “What if they do not believe me and do not listen to me, but say: God did not appear to you?” God answered […] But Moses said to God: “Please, O my lord, I have never been a man of words, either in times past or now that You have spoken to Your servant; I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” God said […]

(Exodus 3:4-4:18)

Music Corner

Maoz Tzur

In music, Emma taught the children Maoz Tzur, Rock of Ages, as well as several other songs we love to sing during Chanukah! Here is a video of Maoz Tzur to sing along with!

Mattathias Bold

Enjoy students singing this Chanukah song, led by Emma, Ben, Abby and Rabbi Citrin!

Lots of Latkes

Enjoy students singing this Chanukah song with Emma!

The Shabbat Table

Here are some conversation starters about what students learned:

Knowledge Questions:

What did Moses see when he left the palace? Where did he go when he fled from Egypt?

Comprehension questions:

Why did Moses have to flee from Egypt?

Analysis questions:

Why did Moses kill the Egyptian?

Opinion Questions:

How can we hear God's voice in our time? What are we being called to do to repair the world?

Student's Corner

Phoebe Chesler, 4th Grade

I like being in music with Emma, and my favorite part of the Exodus story is the Burning Bush!

Josh Birns, 4th Grade

I liked making bricks because I got to be messy and have fun!

Letter of the Week

Every week, we explore one letter of the Alef-Bet, the Hebrew Alphabet. This is the first introduction for many of our students to the Hebrew letters. Over the last few weeks, our letters have been:

Gimel (ג) - as in G'milut Chasadim, Gadol, G'lilah
Nun (נ) - as in Ner, Nes, Nevi'im
Hey (ה) - as in Hakol B'seder Havdalah, Halacha
Chet (ח) - as in CHag, CHanukah, CHanukiyah

Coming Attractions

No classes next week - winter break will be from 12.24-01.02 . The JLL Offices will also be closed completely during this time.
In the coming weeks, we will tell the story of Moses reuniting with his brother and first confronting Pharaoh.
Next family T'filah is 1.29- see you then!

Happy Chanukah!