The Kindergarten had a blast today celebrating their 100th Day of School!
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February 12, 2021
Volume 17, Issue 11
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Candle Lighting: 5:00 p.m.
Parasha: Mishpatim
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When Adar Arrives, Joy Increases |
by Miriam Kass, Principal
The Talmud tells us, “When the month of Adar arrives, joy increases.” Today is Rosh Chodesh Adar, the first day of the Jewish month of Adar. Has your joy increased yet?
For many of us, it’s not quite as simple as turning a calendar page, especially this year. While we can look ahead to the festive holidays of Purim and Passover, we know that they will likely be quite different this year due to COVID. We may need to work a little harder to notice the joy in our lives and to allow it to increase.
Spending time teaching and learning with our students at Akiba-Schechter makes finding and growing the joy much easier. Positive Psychology Professor Tal Ben Sha-har explains that, “Happiness is the intersection of pleasure and meaning.” Such an intersection was present this past week when our 5th/6th graders performed the classroom play "Anansi the Spider" with a soundtrack of their own creation and dressed in student-made costumes; and when our 7th/8th graders used their blossoming coding skills to make an animated Scratch presentation about the features and importance of human skin; and when the 1st/2nd graders asked thoughtful and engaging questions of their Art and Architecture of Europe tour guide on Zoom; and when our Kindergarteners rose to the challenge of creating cityscapes and more with 100 dots of paint (in preparation for their 100th Day of School celebration, of course). The joys produced by meaningful learning are alive and well both in and out of our classrooms, even during these dark and cold COVID days.
Sometimes, joy is just plain old fun, like playing in the snow. This month we have planned several (surprise) activities to increase that kind of joy, too. And while we won’t be in school on Purim itself, we will still have our annual Spirit Week full of themed dress-up days voted on by our 3rd-8th grade students.
Spirit Week:
Wednesday, February 17: Dress like a FRIEND day (Grade School only)
Thursday, February 18: Dress like a MEME day (Grade School only)
Friday, February 19: Dress in a SINGLE COLOR day (All School)
Monday, February 22: Dress like an ANIMAL day (All School)
Tuesday, February 23: Dress in your SPORTS wear day (All School)
Wednesday, February 24: Dress in your PAJAMAS day (All School)
Thursday, February 25: Dress in your PURIM COSTUME (Half day: Grade School is
remote; PS/KDG in session)
On a personal note, I wish to thank all of you for your words, emails, cards, and gestures of kindness. After spending two weeks at home riding a mild COVID rollercoaster, I felt an even greater appreciation for all we’ve been doing as a community to keep COVID out. And throughout, my family and I felt buoyed by the love we received from all of you.
Thank you, and Shabbat Shalom!
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School under COVID-19 - For Your Reference |
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The Commandment to Help Others
by Rabbi David Bauman, Head of Judaic Studies and Community Engagement
This Shabbat in synagogue we will read Parshat Mishpatim, which expands on last week's giving and receiving of the 10 Commandments, focusing on laws that govern our daily lives. The most often repeated commandment in the Torah is found in this week's Parshah:
"You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall not ill-treat any widow orphan. If you do mistreat them, I will heed their outcry as soon as they cry out to Me, and My anger shall blaze forth and I will put you into the sword and your own wives shall become widows and your children orphans" (Exodus 22:21-22).
The Torah is teaching us that we need to remember our past experience and consider how we felt as a means of thinking how we should treat others. To this point, over the last few weeks, our 3rd/4th grade students have been busy working with Mrs. Brackman on learning about Tzedakah (Charity/Justice) and the various organizations in the Chicago area that help different parts of our community. Students researched a cause of concern to them and found an organization that assists in helping with that cause. They then made posters filled with lots of information regarding the organization.
Caring for others is a major theme of Jewish living. Thank you to Mrs. Brackman and to our 3rd/4th grade students for reminding us of this important lesson!
Shabbat Shalom!
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The 3rd/4th graders in Mrs. Brackman's Jewish Life class learned about Tzedakah (charity/justice). They researched charitable organizations in Chicago and created beautiful posters. |
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The Purple Room has been busy creating beautiful pastries, cookies and cakes for their café. The offerings includes sponge cakes and frosted, fancy cookies designed thoughtfully from loose parts. The idea for a café came out of their discussion of fruit trees over Tu Beshvat and will lead them right into Purim.
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On the very coldest days when the Downstairs Blue Room can’t go outside to play, they try to bring the outside inside. For example, the children play with an animal habitat made from natural loose parts and flashlight sunshine. |
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All week, the ZoomRoom Kindergarten prepared for its 100th Day of School. In Drama with Carla they read "The Wolf's Chicken Stew" and then made their own 100th Day of School stew with 100 ingredients.
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Check out the Kindergarteners cool T-Shirts from today's celebration: "I survived 100 masked school days." This will be a unique keepsake of a rather unique school year! |
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With the frigid temperatures outside, the 3rd/4th graders have had recess inside. They have enjoyed making art pieces, creating their own games and playing board games. Pictured here are Ron Lev and Nataniella playing Azul. In class, the 3rd and 4th graders have been working hard on their first five paragraph essay. Using the book There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar, they have learned to annotate and take notes on the main character, Bradley Chalkers. Now they are writing an essay explaining how Bradley changes over the course of the book. Mr. Esse has been impressed by their efforts and is excited to see the final products. |
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What is a Polyhedron?
In their geometry unit, 5th/6th graders in Mrs. Friesen's Math class began by exploring shapes that could be composed with triangles. They used fractions to study the degrees of a circle, for example, 360 ÷ 6 = 60º. Hexagons have 60º angles. They used what they learned to create polyhedra, such as the dodecahedron and octahedron. (In geometry, a polyhedron is a three-dimensional shape with flat polygonal faces, straight edges and sharp corners or vertices.) Students also created Scratch programs using polygons. Meanwhile they were learning about the areas of triangles, how to calculate missing angles in polygons, and how to use the Pythagorean theorem. Next they will use fractions to explore and manipulate percentages: A hexagon is what percent of a whole? They will use representations of statistics using circles, and that will lead them to explore proportions in equations.
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In a combined Art/Humanities project, 7th/8th grade students created a three-layer map of a particular place to demonstrate how the use of the land has changed over time. The back layer shows the original landscape of the location, the middle layer represents Native American tribal use of the land before European contact, and the top layer shows the land's use today. In the image above, Aviya chose to map the area along the Colorado River. This is a part of the students' ongoing Native American history unit.
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7th/8th graders playing Hebrew Bananagrams in Morah Dorit's class.
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8 Questions for an 8th Grader |
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In each issue of the Kibitzer, we feature one of our 8th graders. In this edition, it is Ike Borowsky:
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Since when have you been at Akiba? I have been at Akiba since Kindergarten.
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What neighborhood do you live in? I live in Lakeview.
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What do you hope to accomplish in 8th grade? How is being an 8th grader different from your previous grades at Akiba? Well, I've had to deal with the pandemic, and the guidelines set forth to avoid it. I have noticed something not part of this, however, that being that 8th grade is relatively peaceful compared to the other years I've been here.
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What is your favorite subject at Akiba? I like both history and literature, and Humanities' nature as a combination of the two lends itself to being my favorite.
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What do you think is special about Akiba? What do you particularly like and why? Akiba gives more attention to the student than a lot of other institutions, and I appreciate it.
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If you have had your bar mitzvah or are preparing for it, what did you learn from it? I haven't had a bar mitzvah.
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When you’re not at school or doing homework, what do you like to do (hobbies, special interests)? I like biking quite a lot.
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What do you want to be when you grow up? I'm still not sure, to be honest, but I think something relating to humanities.
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For the PTO Virtual Cheese & Chat event this Saturday evening, cheeses are arriving in impressive foam boxes to keep them fresh. A note from Block & Wedge advises that the box can be reused for all kinds of purposes: a planter, a compost bin, a tackle box, and, of course, a tiny cooler... |
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The Mandolin in Jewish Life
Sunday, March 7
3:00 - 4:30 p.m.
Online Event with mandolinist Eric Stein
The mandolin has a rich history in Jewish musical life. Mandolin clubs and orchestras were at one time ubiquitous in Jewish Eastern Europe and in North American immigrant communities. The instrument was central in early musical education at Jewish schools and provided one of the only means of musical expression for women in pre-war Jewish communities. And though rarely associated with the professional musical traditions of pre-war Jewish life (klezmer, Yiddish theatre), over the last century, Jewish mandolinists in a variety of musical styles have been among the most virtuosic and influential practitioners of the instrument.
In this presentation, Toronto-based mandolinist Eric Stein explores this history, sharing rare photos and recordings as well as live demos of all the instruments of the mandolin family, including the mandola, mandocello and mandobass.
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Our Tuesday, February 9 Day of Learning was dedicated in honor of the wonderful preschool staff who taught our grandchildren: Elder, Etta, and Edia Chipman; and who always made us feel welcome to visit! From F and G
Today's February 12 Rosh Chodesh Adar programming is dedicated in loving memory of Bud Pickett z"l, grandfather of Ari Lowenthal.
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The Challah Fundraiser Is Going Strong!
Last week the 8th graders sold 55 challahs/dough packs! Bring home the sumptuous flavor of a handmade challah or order challah dough to bake yourself and help our 8th graders raise money for a class trip and/or class gift. Orders must be placed by Wednesdays here.
Thank You
...to Jill Kohl and Heather Waitzman for helping teachers and staff members get their vaccination appointments!
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Monday, February 15
Presidents Day
No School
Thursday, February 25
Fast of Esther
Half day: Preschool/Kindergarten in person, Grades 1-8 Online
Friday, February 26
Purim
No School
Thursday & Friday March 11 & 12
Parent-Teacher Conferences/Professional Development
No School
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Affiliated with the Associated Talmud Torahs and supported by the Kehillah Jewish Education Fund |
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