Language Center now with English
At the end of February, English joined Arabic and Hebrew in the Language Center, getting its own corner of the center. Set up by the school’s English teachers, it provides games and fun challenges to enrich the children’s learning experience and give them a wealth of ways to absorb the language. The kids love the opportunity to spend more time in the language center, and they reacted with delight on opening day.
The end of February also saw the sixth-graders presenting their science and technology projects to the school. As the younger children went from table to table, the young scientists had to explain their hypotheses and results. The projects, which the children conducted in small groups, included investigations into the effects of treatment or soil on sprouting seeds, and effects of cell phones on concentration in class. Other groups invented a smart mirror that offers makeup suggestions, a hat for cell phones and a light that turns on with the clapping of hands.
The fifth-graders had a presentation, as well, on internet safety and the dangers that young students should beware of when using popular platforms and apps, as well as the benefits of that same world and the ways of navigating this world. The work was done in the computer room with computer teacher Rani Mahajana.
In the classroom
First grade: That child is me. With the help of parents, each child created a presentation to the class – some using online tools others cardboard cutouts, exploring their identity and telling the others what makes them unique. Each presentation included a favorite game, which the class played together.
Learning outdoors is a part of the school day, especially for the younger children. Memory games with large cards, for example, create a calm, enjoyable atmosphere for classes.
Second grade: For family day, in the beginning of March, the children learned about different kinds of families and drew family trees for their own. They also prepared gift bags for their families, including a special game.
Tu B’shvat, the Jewish holiday of trees, is an important one in the school. After learning about the different kinds of trees, each child decided what kind of tree they would like to be and drew a self-portrait of themselves as a tree.
To further cement the connections between the children, six members of the second-grade class, together with their parents, hosted other children from the class. The day after, the children reported back on their experiences in the homes of children from other cultures.
Third grade: In the framework of the HOTAM, Education, Culture, Tradition curriculum, the third-graders investigated their immediate surroundings in the school grounds. Together, they created a map of the school and signs for the different corners, rooms and buildings. As well as a great cooperative project, the map was a way to help the children translate one kind of visual element to another, representative one.
For Tu B’shvat, in addition to learning about trees, their place in ecosystems and the importance of preserving them, the children enjoyed the fruits of the trees – literally – by cutting up and eating fruit salad. The native Hebrew speakers also learned words connected to trees and to the holiday.
The third-graders made games for their families, as well, these ones with a path that had to be traversed by answering questions, and they included a personal card expressing their love for their families.
Fourth grade: The two fourth-grade classes had a special period in the play ground and soccer field. The purpose was to bring them together and encourage them to bond in a playful setting.
For their HOTAM lessons, the children researched leaders. Each one drew the name of a leader and prepared a research project and presentation on that leader. Over the course of the section, they not only learned about different leadership styles, but about how each deals with differences of opinion.
Fifth grade: In their “second language” lessons, some of the children concluded a section of folk tales, playing games and learning about the verb form in that language. Others practiced telling time in their second language, and they created informative posters on clock towers in the region.
Really special days
Purim and Ramadan overlap this year, but the children had another celebration: Math Day. The math teachers created an entire day of fun and activities, including creative ones, puzzles and challenges, around math. The children learned that math can be fun and, just as importantly, that math skills are critical to daily life.
Purim is a week-long holiday for all the children in the school. After last year’s success, the parents, teachers and student council organized a costume exchange, so that everyone could come dressed up for the party. During the week, they had culture day, in which the children came in their family’s cultural clothing, color day in which each class picked a color and all dressed in that color, and, of course, the Purim party itself, with a costume parade, activity stations set up by the sixth graders and the traditional sweets. The second-graders, who had learned about Picasso, created cubist Purim masks that made wonderfully colorful decorations for their classroom.
One additional special day during this period was Good Deeds Day. The children decided to use the day to clean up and improve their environment, including cleaning up the streets around the school and handing out flowers to plant.
