We had an incredibly successful carwash, thanks to the hard work and enthusiasm of all the students, and the assistance of some star parents.  A special thanks goes to Adam Niedelman, Bonnie Silverman, and Jack Mayo for helping make the entire event happen.  Also, thank you to all the other parents who sent in towels, buckets, and other supplies!  In only one hour, we raised just about $214 dollars.  We were able to buy the fence posts for the garden, and will be donating the rest to Jewish Family Services in hopes of helping a local Jewish family in need. 

This event was a great example of how we can take our own time, work hard, and give tzedakah to our community.

I look forward to celebrating the end of the year next week with a field day and graduation.  

We had a great day at the Cohen School, celebrating Israeli Independence day with many different activities.  In Grade 2/3 we had 4 different stations, where kids could learn about and explore Israel.  One station was learning how to make Israeli salad (yum!).  One station was learning about and making the Israeli flag.  One station was learning about the Wailing Wall (Kotel).  Students actually wrote prayers that will be delivered to the Kotel by Allie when she goes to Israel.  Finally, the last station was learning about Israeli cities and the Israel map.  Through these activities, students got a taste of some wonderful things Israel has to offer.

We reviewed the Hebrew alphabet through different games, and students took an end of the year check. They will get these back next week so you know how to help them practice the letters they don't quite remember yet.

To help your children practice at home, they can go back to the tiyulim lessons, OR they can work with these online flashcards: http://quizlet.com/19148820/chapter-1-biblical-hebrew-alphabet-flash-cards/

We also got to have tefillah outside today!  It was wonderful to show the students that we can pray in places other than inside a chapel or sanctuary.

What a great few weeks we have had at the Cohen School.  Our learning has been focused on learning about the story of Passover, and practicing some customs that come along with the holiday.  We learned some of the Four Questions, and we even experienced an actual Model Seder with our entire community.  I hope students were prepared for their family sedes at home!

Also in exciting news, we have learned all of the Hebrew letters in the alphabet!  Over the next few weeks, we will be reviewing, and we will end the year with a Hebrew assessment so you can see how much progress your child has made this year.  To help them review, they can work on every lesson in their Tiyulim App.

Calling volunteers for a fun and rewarding tzedakah project.  Our class has chosen to run a car wash at the synagogue to raise money for a local organization.  The date will be June 1st, and I'm thinking we will run it from 11-12.  Anyone interested in helping out?  It will mean bringing buckets, soap, and sponges, and just hanging out with us as we wash cars!  Thanks, in advance, for helpers.

We've had a great couple of weeks at the Cohen school, learning about the story and traditions of Passover, and continuing on learning the Hebrew alphabet.  

We are almost all the way through the entire alphabet.  Students learned the letter "tzadik" today, as in the word "matzah".  They can practice what they learned by completing lesson 23 in the tiyulim app.

We've been becoming familiar with the four questions and learning about the seder plate, in preparation for your family seder and our model seder, next week, April 13th at 11:00.  We hope you will all join us!  Your children spent time and effort crafting their own beautiful seder plates that they will use at your Passover dinner table. 

When learning about the Pesach story, students have been amazed and angered at how difficult life was for the slaves in Egypt.  They were in disbelief that the Jews were treated so horribly, but also surprised at how God dealt with the Egyptians by bringing down the ten plagues. 

What a fabulous couple of weeks we have had at the Cohen School!  We have been learning all about the holiday of Purim.  We began our Purim learning last week with a beautiful read aloud that teaches all about the Purim story and also about the four Purim Mitzvot.  We then worked on a skit to represent a few chapters of the megillah. Those of you who were at the megillah reading today got to enjoy our talents.

We also had a visit from Matan, who taught us about what Purim is like in Israel.  He also taught us a really fun Israeli game, seen below on the right.  It's so wonderful having someone from Israel come in to show the kids what a real Israeli is like.

Our study of Hebrew is coming along quite nicely.  Today we learned the letters "pay" and "phay".  Students are decoding quite well.  It's important to support the learning in class with learning at home, and as you know, I've been asking you to use tiyulim.  I know some of you have had trouble with the app.  Would you please let me know if you have had trouble with it, and what device you are using.  I will then email the app developer so they can work to fix it. 

At this point your child should have completed up to lesson 20 on tiyulim.

We had a super fun week at the Cohen School.  I introduced a new way of learning Hebrew today.  We'll be learning Hebrew in centers from now on.  The centers I introduced today were the "workbook center" where students practice reading with a teacher or teen helper, the "computers" center, where students play Hebrew games on the computer and the IPAD, the "skit" center, where students act out the letter of the week, and the "game" center where students play a variety of Hebrew games.

In addition to our center time, we came up with out tzedakah project.  In the spring, we'll be running a car wash to raise money for an organization of our choice.  Stay tuned for more details.

Finally, we are about to embark on a study of our Hebrew names and family history.  I asked students to please fill out the form called "Hebrew Name and Family History Project" attached below.  This is meant to be a meaningful project for the whole family.  In order for your child to participate in class next week, they need to bring this sheet with them.  

For homework this week, in addition to the attached form, please complete lesson 15 in the tiyulim app.

Well, another fabulous day at the Cohen School has come and gone.  We continued our conversation this week about taking care of the earth.  We learned about the concept of "Bal tashchit" which means "do not destroy or waste".  We also discussed how God created the earth and expected humans to take care of it.  We came up with many ways that we, as humans, can work to take care of and not destroy the earth.  We then created our own tree to remind us how to be conscientious about the environment in which we live.

We also had a visit from Matan, who talked about how Tu B'Shvat is celebrated in Israel, and about ways that Israelis conserve land and resources.  

In Hebrew, we learned the letter "Ayin".  Students should practice their reading by completing lesson 14 in the tiyulim app.

What a fantastic day we had today.  We celebrated Tu B'Shvat first by reading the book "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein   We had an engaging discussion about what trees provide us, and how in return, we can take care of the earth.  Some ideas students had were "don't litter", "compost", "don't waste your food", and "don't cut down trees unnecessarily".  After our discussion, we celebrated by planting parsley and painting our own pots.  Students will get to observe growth, even though it's winter here.  Finally, the second part of the morning was spent participating in our Tu B'Shvat seder.  We learned about the "seven species" that represent the new and the old.  These seven foods are mentioned in the Torah and they represent the fruits of modern Israel.  Finally, we sang songs, tasted new foods, drank grape juice in a special order, and thought about the importance of all the different seasons in the cycle of a seed.  It is my hope that students walked away with a rejuvenated sense of understanding and appreciation for the plants that provide us nourishment, oxygen and shade.

We had a fabulous discussion about tzedakah this week.  Students learned that there are different "levels of tzedakah".  Each student was assigned a specific tzedakah scenario that they had to act out.  Then, the class tried to identify which type of tzedakah the actors were depicting.  While all types of giving are worthy, there are certain types that are "higher".  For example, the highest form of tzedakah is teaching someone how do do something, and helping them become self-reliant.  According to the talmud, these are the levels of giving with 1 being the "lowest" form and 8 being the "highest form".  This is a great discussion for the dinner table: 

1. Giving begrudgingly
2. Giving less that you should, but giving it cheerfully.
3. Giving after being asked
4. Giving before being asked
5. Giving when you do not know the recipient's identity, but the recipient knows your identity
6. Giving when you know the recipient's identity, but the recipient doesn't know your identity
7. Giving when neither party knows the other's identity
8. Enabling the recipient to become self-reliant

We also began talking about Tu B'Shvat this week, but will continue even more learning next week at our special Tu B'Shvat seder!  Please join us at 10:15 on Sunday.

In Hebrew, we learned the letter "tet".  To practice more, please complete lesson 13 in the tiyulim app.