Thursday, December 22, 2022 | 28 Kislev, 5783

5th Grade Monthly Newsletter

Welcome to the monthly 5th 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! We hope you have a wonderful Winter Break!

What's in this newsletter?

What did students learn: Content and values from this month's curriculum.
What did students do: Activities, games, and other classroom experiences.
Hebrew corner: An update on Hebrew progress across chevruta sessions as well as what students have worked on in t'filah.
Israel corner: An update from our fabulous ShinShin, Roy.
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 5th grade curriculum.
Coming Attractions: What you can expect from the next month at the JLL.

What did students learn?

Our first snow fall of the year ushered in our conversation introducing Conversion. Some students even shared their family member's personal journeys with conversion.

We also introduced one of the most important events in Israeli history; the UN approval of the Partition Plan and how different countries voted for or against Israel becoming its own nation.

Before the break, we discussed the story of Ruth and her journey from Moab with Naomi.

Check out the weekly emails and Remini updates from Wendy and Roy to read more!

What did students do?

We have the privilege at the JLL to meet students where they are. Our activities included games such as Jeopardy, kahoot, movement, and finding information in the Tanakh.

This month, our 5th Graders participated in a particularly exciting game of Jeopardy reviewing the previous learnings about B'nei Mitzvah and namings! This was a perfect way to build community, measure what we learned, and discover some things we may have missed or forgotten.

The Chanukah Kahoot and the dreidel game were also a huge success!

Hebrew Corner

In Chevruta, students continue to learn the Hebrew letters and vowels from Shalom U'vracha and are reading more sophisticated words. They are also learning about our holiday and ritual traditions in sections of the book called "The Living Tradition."

This month, they also chanted the Chanukah blessings and learned the meaning behind the Hebrew letters on the dreidel.

Nun for Nes
Gimel for Gadol
Hey for Hayah
Shin for Sham

(A Great Miracle Happened There)

Ask your 5th Grader if they saw a dreidel with the Hebrew letter Pey and what that means!

In t'filah with Cantor Rodnizki and Rabbi Baken, students continue to participate in chanting and singing prayers including Barchu, Sh'ma, V'ahavta, and Mi Chamocha. The focus of weekly t'filah is to emphasize the keva, or the fixed structure of our liturgy, so these prayers become familiar to them. Next, students will be spending time chanting the Avot v'Imahot.

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!

The Family Table

The Jewish people take our name from one of Jacob's sons, Yehuda. We are known as Yehudim (in Hebrew). The meaning of Yehuda derives from the word for thankful or grateful. Therefore, the Jewish people take our name from the very concept of gratitude.

Why do you think we are known as "thankful" people?

What about living a Jewish life can reinforce this notion for you and how can you bring it alive in your daily life?

Israel Corner

We learned about one of the greatest achievements of Israel - becoming the “Startup Nation”. We learned about different Israeli inventions that changed the world (Watergen, for example - a water cooler that creates water out of thin air!) and came up with our own inventions to solve problems we, and the world, face.

We also compared how Chanukah is celebrated in Israel and in the United States.

Coming Attractions

In the coming month, we will complete our unit on conversion and move on to our next learning exploration which is about Jewish weddings!

Fifth graders will also be presented with their siddurim (prayer books) during the Family T'filah service on Sunday, January 29th. We look forward to seeing your family there!

We hope you have a happy Chanukah and a wonderful winter break! As a reminder, the JLL Offices will be closed from December 23rd through January 2nd.