February 2024 | Adar I 5784

3rd-4th Newsletter Adar I Edition

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

As we begin the Hebrew month of Adar I, we share with you this detailed newsletter, supplementing the regular Remini updates.

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.
The Shabbat table: Questions and conversation starters for the family Shabbat or weekday dinner table about the 3-4 grade curriculum.
Letter of the Week: The Hebrew letters introduced this month.
Coming Attractions: What you can expect from the next month at the JLL.

What did students

learn?

This Month, students finished the stories of Jacob, learning about his marriage to Leah and Rachel, the birth of his children, and his return to his homeland. They also were introduced to Joseph, whose stories will lead us through the rest of the book of Genesis.

What did students do?

After learning about Joseph's coat, students created their own version. Working in individual classes, they created various strips that came together in the shape of a coat of many colors.

Many stories in the Torah include parallelism, where two stories mimic each other. To demonstrate this concept, students played a game comparing the stories of stealing the blessing and of Jacob's marriage. Using color coded stickers to signify interchangeable details between the two stories, they were able easily compare the tales.

Torah Corner

Jacob was left alone. And a figure wrestled with him until the break of dawn.

When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he wrenched Jacob’s hip at its socket, so that the socket of his hip was strained as he wrestled with him.

Then he said, “Let me go, for dawn is breaking.” But he answered, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.”

Said the other, “What is your name?” He replied, “Jacob.”

Said he, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you struggled with beings divine and human, and have prevailed.”

(Genesis 32, 25-29)

The Shabbat Table

Here are some conversation starters about what students learned:

Knowledge Questions:

How many wives did Jacob have? How many women did he have children with? How many children did he have?

Comprehension questions:

Why did Laban want Leah to marry first? How did he trick Jacob into marrying her?

Opinion Questions:

The word "Israel" means "struggling with God". Why was this chosen as a name for the Jewish people?

Letter of the Week

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

ט (Tet) - as in Tu b'shvat, Tov, and Tallit
ר (Resh) - as in Refuah shleima, Rosh chodesh, and Rav
ק (Koof) - as in Kodesh, Kehilah (Kedosha), and Kiddush
מ (Mem) - as in Mensch, Mazal tov, Madrich/a

Coming Attractions

In the coming weeks, students will learn of Joseph being sold to slavery and his rise to viceroy of Egypt.

We'll have a Purim celebration on March 24th.

February break starts Saturday, 02/17.

Midweek classes will resume on 02/27-28.

Weekend classes will resume on 03/02-03.

Enjoy your February break!