We have learned the most famous letter in the Aleph-Bet, א (aleph). Aleph is different from the other letters we have learned because...א is silent unless it has a vowel. Here are some very important and interesting א words.

Red                         Ah-dom                     אדום

Lion                         Ar-yeh                      אריה

Mom                        E-mah                      אמא

Dad                         Ah-ba                       אבּא

Food                       Oh-chel                     אכל

Spring                        Ah-vev                     אביב

Letter (in a word)            Oh-t                   אות

In addition we did some great handwriting practice to help us write this fun letter.  

Remember, when it comes to ALEPH: NO VOWEL NO SOUND.

You Put Your Aleph in...

DALET

Our letter this week was ד (dalet). ד makes a "d" sound and has a diving board. Once again, we had to use our eagle eyes to make sure that we didn't miss the diving board and think it was a ר (reish).

Here are some words we learned that start with the letter ד:

Honey          D-vash     דבש

Door            Deh-let      דלת

Bee              D-vo-rah  דבורה

Flag             Deh-gel       דגל

Bear            Dov               דב

Fish             Dag               דג

Glue          Deh-vek        דבק

Teddy Bear    Doo-bee   דובי

Chamsot Created by גן (Kindgergarten)

In Judaics, we have been learning about the Chamsa.  It is a symbol associated with the Jewish people, however many Jews don't know why.  Here is a quick fact list of the Chamsa.

• Comes from the word chamaish (5) in Hebrew,
• Roots in the Middle East & Northern Africa. ( See Map Below)
• Is used in Islam as well.
• Has no religious significance but is regarded as a good luck charm.  Protection from the "evil eye".
• So popular it can be found on phone cases, jewelry, clothing, etc...In the U.S. and abroad.

                                     

It was important for me to remind each student that the Chamsa is a cool symbol, but that it is just that- A SYMBOL. It is a reminder of "God's Hand". Each student created their very own Chamsa and are very excited to bring it home.

We are making our way through the Aleph-Bet

This week's letter:

The Letter Vet

Surprise! בּ (bet) has a twin too. בּ(bet's) twin is ב (vet). ב is almost identical to בּ (bet) but 2 things are different.

1.) ב (vet) makes a "v" sound

2.) ב (vet) does not have a belly button.

If you look closely, you can still tell they are in the same family because both have a back bench. I also like the idea of the belly button being vacuumed up. The kids loved the idea of all the twins!

The Letter Chaf

כ (chaf) makes a "ch" sound which is created at the back of the mouth. כ happens to be in the same family as כּ (kaf). They are twins, but NOT identical. These family letters can be confusing so I created a cute story to help your child remember.

כּ (kaf) was not feeling well and had a sore throat, so he went to Nurse Wendy and she gave him a cough drop. His throat felt much better, and when he spoke he made a "k" sound. Now as we know, when one child gets sick so does the other. כ (chaf) also had a sore throat and went to Nurse Wendy, but she was all out of cough drops. So, when he spoke he made a "ch" sound because of his sore throat and mucus.

I know the mucus part is kind of gross, but these little clues within my story really help your child see the difference.

The Letter Reish

 The letter ר (reish) makes a "r" sound.  It is one of my favorites for obvious reasons. (My name starts with one!) ר (reish) also has a round roof. Here are some useful words that start with our new letter:

Spirit - Roo-ach רוח

Legs- Rag-li-yeem רגלים

Head- Rosh ראש

Wednesday- Yom Reh-vee-e יום רביעי

Street- R-chov רחוב

Munchie Math in Hebrew! What?

To practice counting and our colors we used skittles!

Video of all our fun!

 Kindergarten גן News

In addition to learning the letter ה, we have also learned a new vowel!

THE LETTER ה (HAY)

ה (hay) is a fun letter because of the silly way you can remember its "h" sound. Imagine that the letter is a horse stall. The gap on the left is where you throw the hay to the horses. Also, you can think of hay as only having half of a side. It is important to note that ה is silent when it shows up at the end of a word. Here are some new words that start with a hay:

Mountain       Har                  הר

Parents         Ho-reem         הורים

Haggadah     Ha-ga-dah      הגדה

She                Hee                 היא

He                  Hoo                 הוא

Havdalah       Hav-da-lah     הבדלה

Hora                                      הורה

New Vowel  

Our new vowel is the sh'va.  It's job is to tell us to say the sound (s) before and then stop.

  For example:  

The sh'va lets us know to say Riv-kah as 2 separate syllables.  Though this can be a hard concept, the students got it very easily.  

Another example would be : 

 לְ  = l

To work on this vowel along with reviewing our others, each students completed a color by vowel worksheet Vowels are "falling" all around.  It was a blast!

Sukkot and Simchat Torah have come and gone, and we had such a great time learning about both.  For Sukkot, we spent our time learning about why we celebrate the holiday, as well as the names of the objects.  In addition, your child made their own decoration to place inside of our PEACE themed sukkah.

For Simchat Torah, we celebrated all the reasons we love the Torah and created our very own paper Torahs.   I also brought in a real Torah for each class to see and learn about.  Here are some fun facts they learned,

• There are 304, 805 letters in the Torah
• The last letter and first letter of the Torah form the word לב (Lehv) meaning heart
• We don't touch the Torah scroll with our hands because it is made from animal skin
• The wood that holds the scroll together is called Etz Chayim.

Shalom All!

Please be on the look out for the mitzvah card pictured above.  It will be in your child's homework folder.  Since our shofars are way too big to fit inside our treasure boxes, this picture along with the mitzvah stated on the back, is the first one they can place inside of their treasure boxes.

So...It's been a minute, but we have been very busy...

In the past few weeks, we have:

• learned about the meaning and symbols of Rosh Hashanah
• created our 1st Treasure
• defined and discussed Teshuva
• discussed Yom Kippur
• AND even learned the Hebrew letter KAF

.  Here's "The Skimm" on what we've been working on.

Round challah: A symbol of completion as we cycle from year to the next.

Pomegranate: Said to contain 613 seeds, just like the Torah contains 613 mitzvot.  We eat it to fill us                          with mitzvot as we enter our new year.

Apples and Honey:  Eat for a sweet year.

Tashlich:  Symbolically casting away things we did that were not nice.  Usually done with bread and                    a body of moving water.

Cards:  Create Cards to wish family and friends a sweet and happy new year.

Machzor:  Different prayer book used on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

Shofar:  Sounded during the month of  Elul as a reminder that the Days of Awe are approaching and                 that we should reflect on our choices and behavior. 

Fish:  Symbol of being a leader not a follower.  We want to be the head of the fish (leader) and not the tail (follower),

OUR TRADITION IS A TREASURE: 1st Treasure    

In preparation for Rosh Hashanah, we made our very own shofars.  Also, we learned why we blow the shofar, how a shofar is  made, and even the difference between each sound of the Shofar.  From Tekiah all the way to Tekiah Gedola.  This was a very exciting time for us,  

STEPS TO TESHUVA

The act of Teshuva is that of saying sorry and changing your actions.As a class, we spent a great deal of time discussing that the key to Teshuva is that you change your actions.  Above are the steps to Teshuva out of order.  The Steps to Teshuva in order are:

1. Realize your mistake
2. Regret what you did
3. Confess 
4. Don't do it again.   

TASHLICH

Each class had their own Tashlich service. In place of bread we drew a picture or wrote a note of a mistake we wanted to cast away.  In place of a river or creek, we used a small pool of water.  It was a reflective and meaningful time and I am so proud of how much Kavod they each showed.

YOM KIPPUR

Last week we focused on Yom Kippur.  We discussed the meaning of the day and read the story of Jonah.  We then had a discussion about how Jonah and the people of Nineveh showed  Teshuva.  To remember the story we created our very own whales and Jonahs.

KEEP READING...IT'S SO WORTH IT!!!

THE LETTER כּ (KAF).

Kaf כּ makes a “k” sound like the “k” in kid. This letter is tricky because it looks a lot like a bet בּ. Everyone was sure to have eagle eyes to notice the difference. בּ (bet) has a belly button and a bench that goes to the back, while כּ has a “cough / kaf” drop. This cough drop helps him to say his name very clearly. We enjoyed using and practicing the following words:

Yes         kehn        כּן

  

Kippah                  כּיפה

Dog        Ke-lev    כּלב

Wall       Ko-tel      כּתל

Star        Ko-chav     כּוכב

Chair      Key-say   כּסא

YOU FINISHED READING THIS BLOG POST!!

THE LETTER ל (LAMED)

The letter ל (lamed) makes a "l" sound. Lamed also looks like a lightening bolt. It's one of my favorites, and the kids too. Here are some words we learned that start with ל (lamed).

Why         La-mah            למה

Heart        Lehv                 לב

Lulav                                לולב

Lemon       Lee-mon         לימון

Bread         Le-chem           לחם

Pancakes   Leh-vee-vot      לביבות

I am so proud of גן (Gan : Kindergarten).  They are so pumped about learning Hebrew and are already recognizing letters and beginning to read.  My heart is so full when your children stop me to tell me that a word has a letter we've learned in it.  They truly understand that Hebrew is alive not just in my classroom, but everywhere.  

OUR TRADITIONS ARE A TREASURE

As you know, treasure boxes came home last Friday.  As we create a treasure, I will be sending home a small picture representation of it and the name of the mitzvah.  Please be on the lookout for these pictures.  When they get home, they can put the picture into their treasure box and can display and use the many treasures.  (As they may not all fit in the treasure box. LOL.) 

!שלום

It has been a wonderful week in גן (Gan:Kindergarten).  We have learned the letter מ (mem) and have even started to read some small 2 syllable words.  We remember מ (mem) because it looks like a mountain.  

Here are some useful words that begin with the letter מ:

Water                            Ma-yeem                         מַיִם

  Gift                           Ma-ta-na                     מַתָּנָה

Teacher (m)               Mo-reh                      מוֹרֶה

Teacher (f)                  Mo-rah                       מוֹרָה

We also had a fantastic time singing Shabbat Songs, saying Brachot (Blessings), and having Shabbat Centers today.

SHABBAT BINGO:

SHABBAT HELPERS:  

SHABBAT ART:  C said "I drew a picture of my family having Shabbat, look my dog is there too."

WHAT SOME FRIENDS DO FOR FUN DURING SHABBAT CENTERS:

SHABBAT SHALOM!

Shiru Shir!  SO much ruach!

Wow, can you believe it? We just finished our first month of school. I am so proud of all they have learned already.  This month we have learned three hebrew letters and 2 vowels, and if that isn't enough they also learned about their Hebrew names and practiced how to write them.

 To read Hebrew, just like English, you take the letter sound and combine it with the vowel sound. I describe it as simple math. Just like 1+1=2, letter sound + vowel sound = whole sound.

THE LETTER BET

The letter בּ BET makes a "b" sound and we remember who BET is by its belly button and bench in the back.  It also looks like a basketball hoop with a basketball.  Visual cues like these are very helpful in helping your child differentiate between letters. We will be using such cues for each of the letters of the Aleph-Bet.  

                         

THE LETTER TAV

The letter ת TAV makes a "t" sound and has a tail and sometimes a tickle spot.  Tav also happens to be the last letter of the Aleph-Bet.  

Here are some words we learned that start with a ת:

Torah                            תּוֹרָה

Baby            Tee-nok    תִּינוֹק

Date             Ta-mar     תָּמָר

Thank you    Toe-da     תּוֹדָה

THE LETTER SHIN

The letter שׁ SHIN has become a part of the growing list of letters that we know. שׁ (shin) makes a "sh" sound and can be found in words like שׁלום (Shalom). 

Here are some words we learned that start with a שׁ:

Seven Sheh-va  שֶׁבַע

Year Sha-nah שָׁנָה

Shofar Sho-far שׁוֹפָר

Necklace    Shar-sheh-reht  שַׁרְשֶׁרֶת

Shalom שָׁלוֹם

Shabbat שַׁבָּת

VOWELS WE KNOW

In addition to our 3 new letters, we have learned 2 vowels! They are the kamatz and patach . They both make the sound "ah" like Aqua. Or we remember the doctor says "open up and say ah". These vowels are only found under letters. Remember, to read Hebrew you have to take the letter sound and combine it with the vowel sound. For example , בּ plus a kamatz or patach = בָּ (bah)

         KAMATZ           

PATACH