This Week at Yavneh Academy

January 7, 2021 | 24 Tevet 5781 | שמות

Early Childhood Department

Gan Aleph Learns Parshat Shmot

The children in Gan Aleph used a tactile and visual approach to Parshat Shmot this week. They became slaves to King Pharaoh as they built pyramids, met Yocheved and Miriam and watched as they put Baby Moshe in his basket and even took off their shoes and felt the heat of the sneh (bush) as Hashem was speaking to Moshe. It was experiential learning as its best!

Gan Bet Learns about Hibernation and Migration

Gan Bet has been learning all about hibernation and migration. Not all animals hibernate, some migrate to warmer weather for the winter. We also learned there are different ways that animals hibernate. Some animals eat a lot so they have extra fat and they can sleep all winter long. Others gather a lot of food so they can wake and eat then go back to sleep.

Lower School

Kitah Aleph Learns Letter Tet

While learning the letter Tet, the children of Kitah Aleph ate some toast tzahov (yellow). It was a good thing they didn't burn it and turn it into toast shachor (black) like in the story we read in our Ariot workbooks. The tabach in the story was so distracted by his televizyah (TV) that he kept messing up! Each child became a tabach (m) or tabachit (f) and enjoyed some perfect toast, either plain or with a schmear of butter or jelly. What a delicious way to learn our Aleph Bet!

3B is Learning about Overcoming Challenges

Class 3B has been learning about people overcoming challenges to achieve greatness. The students were fascinated as we watched a basketball game involving incredible athletes playing in wheelchairs. We have been reading all about the beautiful connection between Helen Keller and her teacher Annie Sullivan, and how much Helen accomplished despite being blind and deaf. This week, each child wrote his or her name using the Braille alphabet.

Art Update

First graders drew Snow Angels from a birds eye view.

Second grade is drawing cityscapes inspired by James Rizzi.

Fourth and fifth graders created a composition with different kinds of lines and colors.

Middle School

Collaborative Mural in 400 Wing

The 400 wing hallway is getting a colorful transformation thanks to a collaborative mural currently in progress. The 6th grade students are painting the hallway walls with "dancing figures" inspired by the artwork of Keith Haring. The goal of the mural is to evoke a sense of joy, energy and community. Stay tuned for images of the finished work!

Making Magic through Technology

In today’s world, being able to discern fact from fiction has become a crucial skill. This is true even when looking at images. The best way for students to learn how to recognize “doctored” photos is by learning how to manipulate images themselves.

At Yavneh Academy last week, Mrs. Hirschhorn’s sixth graders worked with a program called Photopea to create self-portraits in which they fulfilled fantasies of themselves. The students were able to “travel” throughout the world (and in some cases, the solar system) while remaining "covid safe," and become anything they wished, from ballerinas, to astronauts. The excitement was off the charts as the students used technology to stretch their imaginations while learning this timely and important skill.