December is the time of holidays of light, and their lessons, including the HOTAM, Education, Culture, Tradition, focus on such subjects as light, enlightenment, traditions and, as always, respect, cooperation and understanding.
The first graders learned about three holidays – Hannukah, Christmas and Al-Isra wal-Mi’raj. Their lessons gave them time to talk about miracles. They drew pictures of the Hannukah oil that miraculously lasted eight days instead of one, and they retold the story of the Prophet Muhammad’s journey for Mecca to Jerusalem, where he miraculously rose up to heaven and received the command for five daily prayers. Christmas is an opportunity to work on math: The kids learned about different kinds of lines – straight, broken or curved – and used their newfound knowledge to color in and cut out drawings of Santa Claus with a big, lined beard.
For the second graders, math lessons are also a lesson in team work, as small groups joined together to sort number cards in order. Those learning Arabic as a second language learned the names of fruits, and then put their knowledge to use cutting up and eating fruit salad.
The third-grade class had a Holiday of holidays event with their parents. After a short ceremony, they enjoyed stations set up around the classroom.
The second- third and fourth-graders also had a special trip to the Bloomfield Science Museum in Jerusalem.
Fourth-graders looked to themselves to understand the subject of light and enlightenment. After a discussion of the positive traits each carries within us, each child chose a trait, wrote it on a cut-out drawing of a candle, and tacked it on the classroom board to share with the class.
Creativity and math were both involved in the lessons on Arabic as a second language. The kids learned the names of geometric shapes, and then used those shapes to draw animals and explain the shapes they had used to the rest of the class. For their HOTAM section on light and enlightenment, each child chose a role model who represented enlightenment to them, researched that figure and prepared a report to the class.
The sixth-grade holiday celebration included musical selections presented by the music students as well as holiday readings. This class took advantage of the nice weather to sit outside and work in small groups on their HOTAM lessons.
The school had a “health day” in which different classed cut up vegetables for soup and salad, made mujadara, and invited the entire school to enjoy a healthy meal.
The entire school went to the Elmina theater in Jaffa to see a play – Two on One Roof. In this play in two languages, two people find themselves trapped on a roof with no way out. At first, they each try to gain the upper hand, but they cannot communicate with one another. Gradually, they (together with the audience) come up with solutions for working together to overcome their plight. The kids greatly enjoyed the play and its humor, as well as absorbing the broad lessons about communication and coexistence.
The student council elected in November held its first meeting with school staff. They talked about expectations as well as their eagerness to begin working on ideas to serve their fellow students.
Of course, the entire school celebrated the Holiday of holidays together, in an event organized by the Parents’ Community. Trees and Hannukah menorahs were lit, songs were sung and a good time was had by all.
