Sixth Grade

June 2008

Dear Parents,

Another year has flown by, and we are so proud of everything your children have accomplished! This month has been full of activity, as always, including our school-wide celebrations of Yom Y'rushalayim and Alef Consecration. We were thrilled to see the ingenuity and creativity displayed by the students at the Art Show and Science Fair! And we hope the kids all enjoyed the End-of-Year Party as much as we did. We were deeply moved by their performance at the graduation ceremony, and it was almost impossible to remain merely misty-eyed.

This month in Judaic Studies we studied the Book of Judges in the Tanakh, focusing on the stories of Ehud and Deborah. The students engaged in role play, writing activities, and many discussions of the text. In Hebrew studies, we wrote our introductory passages for graduation. We spent time practicing them, as well as helping to build our model Kotel for the Yom Y'rushalayim observance.

General studies time was largely devoted to preparations for graduation. The students wrote and rehearsed their speeches and spent a good deal of time with Mr. Angers selecting and practicing our musical selections. Along the way, we also found time to study the roots of the creation of the state of Israel through videos and literature. In addition, the kids produced individual pages for an addendum to the school yearbook covering the last two months of school (you will receive this shortly). We read poetry including "Tony Steinberg, Seventh Grade Viking Warrior" by Taylor Mali and the St. Crispin's day speech from Shakespeare's Henry V and discussed their language and meaning, including their emphasis on teamwork and connection. We believe it was a fitting conclusion to this year.

It is always bittersweet to say goodbye to our sixth graders, but we know they will be happy in their new schools and would love to hear all about their latest exploits! We cannot thank you all enough for your kindness, understanding, support, and hard work to ensure your kids' success. As always, please don't hesitate to call or email if you have any questions, concerns, or just want to update us on new developments. And we hope we'll see you at Restaurant Nights and other WDS events next year - Quinn definitely would love to visit with his big buddies!

Sincerely,

Meirav Zadok, Shula Soffer, and Laura Sympson

 

Hebrew and Judaic Studies--Update June 2008

Dear Parents,
I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to work with your children. The last two and a half weeks of Hebrew class we worked on the children's speeches for the graduation ceremony (the introduction that was in Hebrew). Also, the children composed crossword puzzles, with the words taken from Hebrew stories that we read. We had a riddle-contest. The children had to compose as many riddles as they could regarding their two stories. Then the children solved their friends' riddles. In the last class, we played treasure hunt, and all the clues were in Hebrew.

In the Judaic studies class we had been working on the book of "Judges", chapter 3, and had started working on chapter 4. The children experienced creative writing, and every child had a different assignment. Some wrote a newspaper article regarding Ehud's adventures from chapter 3, some wrote a dialog between two servants of Eglon while waiting for him, and some wrote Ehud's plan for how to beat the Moabites.

We also discussed the special Judge, Deborah from chapter 4, and we compared her with Ehud. We talked about the Israelites' problems and the way they overcame them. I asked the children how they would act had they faced an army with 900 iron chariots, while they had only bows, arrows and swords.

Thank you so much for the wonderful present. I'm sure your children will be successful in their new schools. Have a great summer!

Meirav Zadok

May 2008

Dear Parents,

We can't believe the year is almost over! May has probably been our busiest month yet, with services and programs recognizing Yom HaShoah, Yom HaAtzmaut, and Lag BaOmer, as well as the ERB tests and the visit by our WASC committee. And of course, the major focus of the month has been "The Merchant of Venice", in which the students proved what a wonderful team they are. Each of them shone, and we also can't thank you families enough for your help, support, and encouragement. We are going to miss all of you so much!

When we weren't in rehearsals or script reading sessions, we have spent this month finishing our math curriculum and studying the background of the founding of the state of Israel. We have chosen to use different multimedia presentations to give the class a general overview of Europe and the Middle East in the nineteenth century, discussing the rise of Arab nationalism and Zionism against the backdrop of European anti-semitism, the decline of the Ottoman Empire, and the system of real politik as Europe coalesced into a group of nation-states jockeying for power. We will continue with the Balkan wars of the early twentieth century, World War I, and the formation of the League of Nations and the various treaties that reorganized the Middle Eastern territories. Please rest assured that we will be handling this topic with sensitivity, using a dual-perspective curriculum which highlights both Arab and Jewish perspectives. We are also working on our graduation speeches, finishing up our Israeli scientist and artist projects, and preparing for the Science Fair.

With the flurry of activities at the end of the year, we know this is a very busy time for everyone. As always, if there are any questions we can answer or help we can provide, please don't hesitate to call or email us. We appreciate your help and support in working for the success of the kids!

As always, best wishes!

Meirav Zadok, Shula Soffer, Laura Sympson