First Grade

May 2008

In language arts we have continued to study phonics and vocabulary using our daily reader, Practice Book pages and our daily read aloud books. We have learned stories like: "The Tattooed Torah", "Mr. Blue Jeans", "The Book of Ruth" and biographies about Jackie Robinson, Walt Disney, Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein. We also had a session where the sixth grade came in and talked about their presentation of the Merchant of Venice.

In math we are continuing our work counting by fives, tens and twenty-fives, learning geometric shapes and patterns, addition and subtraction families, place value and counting money and minutes around the clock. We have also be measuring things in centimeters and inches.

In science we have been looking at inventors and inventions. I was our good fortune to have Mr. Lewis come to the classroom and demonstrate one of Thomas Edison's inventions the Amberola and small version of the Victrola. Mr. Lewis played two wax cylinders for us and it was quite a presentation. We also had the privilege of having Dr. Belz speak to us about our solar system's inner planets and the Mars mission of the Phoenix. She also introduced to the concept of a differentiated learning exercising called "Puzzling" where the children are divided into groups, given and assignment to complete, then assembled into a large group and report what they discovered.

Alef Consecration is almost here! The children have been working very hard. In Hebrew we are finishing Ariot booklet 4. We have learned all of the alphabet letters and we are reinforcing reading skills.

May has been a wondrous month.

Paul Angers and Shula Soffer

April 2008

In language arts we have continued to study consonant blends and digraphs. We have spent more time with our stories and have been writing some of our own thoughts, exercising critical thinking, rather than just keeping notes. The children have been very proud of their work and always eager to share new thoughts they have written. We have also been studying various biographies. Presently we are learning about Levi Strauss. We have supported our learning with writing assignments and artwork.

In math we are still working with dividing the clock into minutes and the dollar into cents. The students have been creating a variety of math sentences, with which they do very well, and they have been working with geometric shapes. We have been creating different shapes on geo-boards and have been graphing those shapes.

In science we have been looking at some very diverse concepts. We have discussed how the microwave oven was invented (from a very powerful radar dish). We also learned and reviewed how yeast (the fungus) works. The children enjoyed feeding the yeast sugar and watching it release carbon dioxide. The whole room smelled like bread for a couple of days.

Aleph Consecration is coming up and will be a beautiful event! We will be spending a portion of every day preparing with the siddur. Our Judaic and social studies continue to run in tandem. We are beginning the story of Rut and will be creating our own booklet. Each day we are counting the Omer in anticipation of Moshe receiving the Torah on Mt. Sinai. In Hebrew the children have been working in Ariot Book Four, working on the computer with Hebrew literacy and preparing for the Aleph Consecration play.

April has been a wonderful month.

Paul Angers and Shula Soffer