Our Purim Shpiel was TODAY!!!

Hi Parents!

First off, as always buried somewhere in this email is a secret word that relates to what the students have been learning class. If your student comes back to class with the correct word, they will earn an extra sticker for their chart!

Secondly, this week the students did an amazing “dress rehearsal” for our Purim Shpiel! We spent class getting ready to present to everyone, and discussed why we thought a silly play might be a great way to tell the story!

We also began to talk about our next unit on Passover. Students were asked what prior knowledge they had of the holiday, and asked questions about what they wanted to learn. This week, students have brought home their books. Shpiel. Please look at page 97, and come up with a list of things that might be possible to do as a family. Students are also being asked to think about one seder tradition that is unique to their family to share with the class.

As a reminder, this Friday is Shabbat Mishpacha! Our 5^th and 6^th graders will be leading a Friday evening service geared towards family. Dinner will be served afterwards. I hope to see you all there! If you do plan on coming, please RSVP to office@ohabei.org, or by calling 617-277-6610. Additionally, coming up on April 9 is Shabbat B’yachad. We are going to be doing some fantastic Passover related activities in a special program just for our 3^rd-6^th graders.  

As always, please be in touch with any questions or concerns.

Thanks,

Stacy

3rd Grade Purim Shpiel Next Week!

Hi Parents!

First off, just like last week buried somewhere in this email is a secret word that relates to what the students have been learning class. If your student comes back to class with the correct word, they will earn an extra sticker for their chart!

Secondly, this week students were hard at work rehearsing for their Purim Shpiel. The students have done such a wonderful job putting this together. Esther. Their creativity and ability to work together has been incredibly impressive. They have no other homework other than to practice and get ready to present our shpiel at Tefilah next week!

As a reminder, this Sunday March 20, we have our annual Purim carnival and shpiel. Come out in costume with the whole family! Additionally, please remember that coming up on April 3^rd, we have one of our last youth group events of the year, a MOSTY/BOSTY (3^rd-6^th grade) trip to Metrorock in Everett for some indoor rock climbing! Registration forms for this event went home last week! Please be sure to return them to me in the ARS office by March 22.

As always, please be in touch with any questions or concerns.

Thanks,

Stacy

Third Grade Playwrights -- Or Shpielwrights...

Hi Parents!

First off, just like last week (although this week it’s a little harder to find!) buried somewhere in this email is a secret word that relates to what the students have been learning class. If your student comes back to class with the correct word, they will earn an extra sticker for their chart!

Secondly, this week we have continued working hard on Purim shpiel. We have begun to put together all the materials to make this shpiel great! The plan is to complete it next week and be ready to present it at Tefilah soon! Esther I will keep you updated on the final date of our presentation.

We also took some time to review our homework and discuss the characters from the Purim story. This discussion really helped us create good characters for our Purim play.

For homework, students are going to be reading about giving mishlach manot on Purim and the reasons why we do it. I encourage you to discuss this with your child and share your answers to their homework questions!

As always, please be in touch with any questions or concerns.

Thanks,

Stacy

A Purim Shpiel is On It's Way!

Hi Parents!

First off, buried somewhere in this email is a secret word that relates to what the students have been learning class. If your student comes back to class with the correct word, they will earn an extra sticker for their chart!

Secondly, what have we been up to? Last week we learned the Purim story, and acted out the “real” story for the pre-k students. The students took on the roles of all of the players in the story quite well. We talked about how not just hearing the Purim story, but also acting out the story is part of how we celebrate the holiday!

After vacation we will begin writing our own “Purim Shpiel” that we will perform for the rest of ARS, (secret word this week is Shushan). The students have already decided that the shpiel will have an Ansin Religious School theme. I’m really looking forward to working with them on this, and I know they are looking forward to taking this on!

This week, students are working on creating Tzedakah boxes for the 5^th Grade Mitzvah Project on Yemen Orde. There has been a lot about Yemen Orde written in the ARS emails these last few weeks. Now, the students will be attempting to raise money for this school, a home for children in Israel that was devasted by the fires outside of Haifa. We will be brainstorming ways to raise money for this great cause with a class. I encourage you to ask your students about what they came up!

This week for homework, students have been assigned a character to do some research on. They will bring in this research after vacation week and use it to help us write our shpiel!

As usual, please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions!

Thanks,

Stacy

What Have We Been Up To?

Well, it's been awhile since this blog has been update, and for that I apologize.

I'm sorry to say that we missed another day of 3rd grade because of the snow yesterday, but here is what we have been up to so far...

After spending 3 long weeks learning all about Tu B'Shevat and preparing for our service, we took a break to review all that we have learned about the holidays so far. The students individually prepared a song, rap, or poem about a holiday of their choice. These were a great opportunity to refresh our memory about what each holiday is, why it's important to celebrate it, and the different things we do to celebrate.

Videos of a sampling of these presentations can be seen here:

Coming up in class, we will begin studying Purim. Last week, your students brought home a homework sheet that asked them to think about what they wanted to learn about Purim. Over the next 3-4 weeks, we will be focusing our study on answering those questions, learning the Purim story, and putting together a few creative projects.

I hope to see you all at the ARS Pizza Dinner on Tuesday. As always, please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions you might have!

Shabbat Boxes are on Their Way!

Dear 3rd Grade Parents,

The students have spent the last 3 weeks working dilligently on completing Shabbat boxes to take home!

Today, each student decorated candlesticks, challah covers, and kiddush cups to add to these boxes. Next week (when everything is dry!) the students will take these boxes home. It is my hope that you will use these boxes to celebrate Shabbat on Friday evenings with your children at home. The best way to reinforce all that we have been learning in class about Shabbat is to celebrate with your children at home. I'm confident they would love to share with you all the reasons why we have each of these ritual objects, and what each one represents!

We will continue to add items as we continue to study the other parts of Shabbat -- such as Havdallah -- later in the year.

Next week, we will be taking a brief break from our study of Shabbat to learn all about Chanukah (which comes VERY early this year). Students will be going home today with a photocopied sheet of their "checklist" from the front of their Chanukah chapter. Please go over this list with your student and think about new traditions you can add to your current family traditions. The homework checklist this week contains some great questions to discuss at home and bring back to class next week.

As part of our curriculum, I encourage you to attend both of the synagogues upcoming Chanukah events. The first is a special Friday evening Chanukah service on December 3, and the second is the ARS Chanukah Dinner/Celebration on Tuesday, December 7. The ARS dinner follows right after religoius school and is a great way to celebrate Chanukah as a member of the ARS community!

As always, please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Best,

Stacy
sweinberg@ohabei.org

Shabbat is Here!

Hello Families!

Yesterday was another great day in third grade! Although I myself was absent, the substitute, Phil Bressler, reported that they had a great class. I would like to start off with a quick apology. It is my understanding that there was some confusion in regards to the books going home with your students this week. I will scan the required homework page and post it tomorrow to make sure that your student can complete their assignment!

We have begun our study of Shabbat rituals for Friday Evening. Class began with a discussion of why we celebrate Shabbat, and then moved into a discussion of ritual. The students were introduced to what a ritual object is, and how we use ritual objects to celebrate all holidays, including Shabbat. They shared their ideas on the different ritual objects that are a part of their lives, and their importance.

They then began a project that will carry us through the next couple of weeks of class. We are making "Shabbat Boxes" for the children to bring home with them. These boxes will contain all (mostly) of the objects that they need to help themselves and their families celebrate Shabbat. Yesterday, we worked on decorating these boxes, and over the next couple of weeks we will decorate/create the objects that will go inside them. I hope that you will take advantage of having these wonderful ritual objects in your home to create some new or reinforce some old Shabbat traditions in your homes.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Stacy