… a little catching up on all the fun we had during Sukkot…
Author: aaizenberg
שנה טובה מילדי כיתה א – SHANA TOVA
Welcome to our blog family and friends!
It has been so nice meeting many of you in the last few weeks.
We are already deep into our learning and are excited to continue being the best that we can be throughout this new year!
Below is a little slide show beginning with a song for a sweet new year from our sweet Kitah Alef students. It also includes photos of some of the experiences we had so far – recognition of sounds/letters, starting our T’fila lessons, working as a team to line up and walk throughout the school in a respectful manner, a fun filled apple picking day and the fascinating Shofar workshop we had with rabbi Blum at Hillel Lodge.
Shanna Tova to you from us – Kitah Alef Students and Teachers.
Design by a.aizenbergnbsp;
Hebrew Language Day – יום השפה העברית
Today was a terrific day at school as we came together to celebrate the Hebrew language and its rich history. Kitah Alef and Bet gathered for a special morning dedicated to learning about Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the founder of modern-day Hebrew.
Morah Ada and Morah Dana talked about Eliezer Ben-Yehuda’s incredible vision and determination to revive Hebrew as a spoken language. The children learned how his efforts transformed Hebrew from a language primarily used in religious texts into a vibrant, everyday language spoken by millions today.
To deepen their connection to Hebrew, the students participated in a variety of fun and educational activities. There were word searches that challenged them to find hidden Hebrew words, word-picture matching games that helped them build their vocabulary, and puzzles that encouraged teamwork and problem-solving—all in Hebrew, of course! The room buzzed with energy and enthusiasm as the children immersed themselves in these interactive tasks.
The morning wasn’t just about learning; it was also about fostering a sense of ruach for the Hebrew language. Laughter and excitement filled the air as students proudly showcased their completed activities and shared what they had learned with one another. #We Learn Better Together
By the end of the celebration, the children had not only gained new insights into the history and importance of Hebrew but also strengthened their connection to it through meaningful, hands-on experiences. It was a beautiful reminder of how language can unite and inspire us, and how even our youngest learners can play a role in carrying forward this legacy.
Kol Hakavod to our students for their enthusiasm and participation. Together, we celebrated not just a language, but a vibrant part of our heritage and identity.
Hebrew is Blossoming in Kitah Alef
A quick note to share with you about the joy of learning together in our Kitah Alef.
It is hard to believe December is just around the corner… and we even saw שלג yesterday! so exciting!
We have been learning so much in Kitah Alef. It blows my mind how much vocabulary the students comprehend, and they are starting to communicate in short sentences now as well. I love the twinkle in their eyes, when they realize a word we were using every day is suddenly used elsewhere, and the “coin drops” as they truly understand the meaning, rather than just being able to use it in the daily context, where we hear it on a regular basis. We are almost done our first round of helpers (next week). During this week the student runs the morning routine, which includes attendance, day of the week and the day’s weather vocabulary. They do it all in Hebrew and it is a very steep learning curve from Monday to Friday. They are able to see how they improve from day to day and the pride it gives them is priceless.
It is not only the spken language that is being enhanced, but now, that we completed our first reading booklet (Ah sound with oll the Alef-Bet) the students are so excited to read actual books, with pictures, etc… Other moments that spark their excitement is when we sing our T’filot and they recognize new sounds that we only just learned, on the slide. These moments often lead to us stopping the T’filah for a bit and coming up to the board to find more of the sounds. These are real life experiences. There is complete immersion in what we are doing. I love teaching how to read. the excitement is so contagious!
Being able to read also allows us to play some vocabulary base games like memory, zap, matching, go fish, etc…
For those who want to read some of our books at home, I added books to my Bitmoji Classroom as well as a few fun games on Wordwall to practice the letters and vocabulary.
Shalom Kitah Alef
It has been such a pleasure getting to know each other these past two weeks.
We welcomed three new students into our grade and although some of us were a bit nervous and sad to see our friends in a different class than us, we are already making new friendships and finding our place with our peers… and the best part is that we still get to see our friends and play together at recess. We even get to see our older siblings and sneak in a little hug here and there.
In Jewish Studies we listen to a lot of Hebrew already.
We are going over the days of the week, counting number of days at school and starting to learn weather words.
We can already answer in Hebrew during attendance (“ken, ani bakitah”) and practice new vocabulary to reply when asked how we feel (“tov, lo tov, Kacha-kacha, metzuyan”).
We began talking about different types of T’filot and used sign language to help us recall what they are.
Because it is the month of Elul we listen to the Shoffar daily and think how we can spread kindness in the coming year. This works so well with our ‘Kod Hakavod’ (the code of respect) which we created as a whole grade (see Mrs. Bennett’s post below, or our Kod Hakavod page right here in our blog) ).
…and believe it or not but we even began reading this week. We started with the sounds ah and bah, both reading and writing them. Building them in Lego, blocks, tracing them, and even making them from our bodies. It’s been lots of fun.
When we get a bit loud we have a fun song we sing to get us back to work quietly (I cannot believe how quickly the students picked up all the words to it – maybe I’ll record it and post for you to hear).
Looking forward to a great year together.
Hebrew Homework Begins
HOMEWORK IS HERE AND WE ARE EXCITED (and a little nervous)
Really! You should have seen the excitement when I told them they will be bringing homework home this coming week.
Let’s do our best to
keep up this kind of RUACH (SPIRIT).
We have started working at school on our reading, and as of this week, I would like the children to begin practicing what we do in class at home. I believe that to become a good reader you need to practice regularly, and reading at home allows for that.
Also, having some homework encourages the learning of how to be responsible, manage time and plan ahead; a skill that will assist them throughout their careers as students, and later in life.
THIS IS WHAT YOU SHOULD EXPECT:
Now that we have practiced reading and recording on Classkick at school, we are ready to begin our homework.
As mentioned during our Back to School Night, the homework this year will be on Classkick. On page 1 there is an attachment to a PDF file if your preference is for your child to read it from printed pages. You can print the
booklet and use that for homework. If you do, please sign the page he/she read and send it to school with him/her. You can also email me and I am happy to print the booklet for your child to take home daily. If you are not a Hebrew reader and cannot support your child in reading correctly, I encourage you to use the classkick for them to listen and read along with me, while their eyes are on, and finger/pointer is under, the written word.
The links for the homework will always be found in the Weekly Homework Slide on the blog.
This week we begin with 3 pages:
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Tues: P. 7 (ב/ו)
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Wednesday: P. 8 (ג)
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Thursday: P. 9 (ד)
1A CLASSKICK Code: ZKWEFD
1B CLASSKICK Code: 54N25I
There is a recording at the bottom of the page to help review it. In order to use it best, encourage your child to use their finger to follow along as s/he listens and repeats the sounds and words.
The children are encouraged to record themselves as they read daily; however, the requirement is to record twice a week.
Know that if it takes your child too long, they do not require to read the whole page, but rather a few lines. If that is the case, please mark up to where they read.
If your child does not record daily, I ask that you sign the page on the Classkick. Click on the T (Text) or use the pencil option. You bring it to the Signature line and type/sign with a stylus or finger. Once homework is done (includes recording or signature), remind your child to press on the green hand to show me it is complete.
There is an explanation about using CLasskick under the Back to School Videos in our blog.
Finally, I want to remind you, this should not take more than 5-10 minutes at the most. Please let me know if it is taking too long.
Happy Reading,
Morah Ada. 🙂
Cute Social Emotional moment
Today we had a chat about the importance of sharing fears/concerns/disappointments/thoughts with someone you trust. We spoke about how our body feels when we keep it to ourselves and about the relief we get once we share with the person of our choice (one that can help with the next steps). As the students shared some examples of situations that they overcame this way, or are in the process of overcoming, the topic of fear of monsters at night came up and again, they shared what some of them did to help the fear.
At this point I remembered we had a great book in Hebrew (that some knew in English) that speaks of this – פחדרון בארון (Pachadron Ba’aron), so we all gathered on the carpet to read and then discuss. It was a wonderful demonstration of proficiency teaching at work – as it was not planned and related directly to a topic that was on the students’ minds… so they were completely focused and in listening mode… It was perfect for their level of Hebrew (Tiny bit above, but with pictures that made it clear).
Thanks to Ms Emilia, we actually have a photo of that moment to share with you… We were so focused we did not even notice her taking this picture:
A little taste of November
We, at last, finished the puzzle we created with 1A… and are excited to put it up…
We completed the Ah sound of all the Alef Bet and were able to follow along a story as we listened to a recording of it…
Our class was filled with giggles as we practiced the Hebrew words for on, under and in – Al, Tachat & Bah… 
We continue leading our morning routine … and we are getting better every day…
A Peak into a Language Detour
We have been just over 30 days at school now and when I think of the Hebrew my students knew when walking into my room the first day and how much they know now, I feel so proud of them. It is the immediate feedback that I get/give from/to them as we travel this language learning/teaching road that continues to evolve and stop at both foreseen and unforeseen intersections; planned and unplanned interactions. The light in their eyes and the smiles on their faces when they get the connection between words, which in turn allows for greater comprehension and recall, is one of the best feelings when teaching a language.
One such intersection happened this week, as we spoke about Seffer Bereshit, before reading the Parashat Shavuah. As we began to review the first two Parashot from the past weeks, I knew most of them could tell (if asked) that bereshit is at the beginning/the start… but I wanted them to understand the why and to be able to connect this word to other words we have used/learned… so… I wrote the word בראשית (BERESHIT) on the board and circled 3 letters ראש (ROSH) knowing that we used it during different parts of our learning already (Rosh Hashannah, Rosh Chodesh, Body part, Front of line etc…)
Then I asked (the way I do every day during our daily quiz): Mee Yodeah, mee Yoda’at Mah Zeh Rosh? (Who knows what is Rosh?)
I need to digress, to explain that during our daily quiz, students are allowed to call out the answer – the person I hear first, sits down and is not allowed to answer aloud any more – this way, everyone gets to shine, and everyone gets to hear correct answers even if they do not remember… so it is a wonderful and fun way to review our increasing vocabulary.
The second the question was asked, a collection of voices called out happy to share their knowledge: “head!” While some pointing to their own Rosh – saying the word in Hebrew. What a wonderful feeling! Then we moved to the challenging question, where else did we meet this word before? Now the room was still abuzz… but the answers were with question marks at the end of them and went in different directions… not really understanding what I was looking for…. They were thinking in English… searching for ideas from their past knowledge in the language they are more proficient in…. So I had to refocus them and remind them we need to search our brain for the Hebrew we know, and that I am actually looking for the word ROSH to be part of the memory (not only the meaning itself)… I gave a hint to think of our Tishrei holidays… now someone called: “ROSH HASHANNAH!” This got someone else association going as she called: “ROSH CHODESH!”
YES! they are in their Hebrew brain drawer now… 😉
The challenge was not over… now I asked them to look around the room and think what other word has a similar meaning (it also has the letters ראש in it). Curiosity peaked…. it was actually very quiet…. and again, they needed some hints – it is part of a routine song we sing daily… it is part of of the shavuah (week). A few more seconds… and as they were searching around the room, few students called at once: ראשון! (Rishon! Sunday!) WOOHOO!
Now I added ראשון to the board, beside the word בראשית and with their help circled the same 3 letters – ראש!
This discovery of course begged for more questions:
Me: Mah zeh RISHON?
Students: FIRST!
Me: Lama Sunday Zeh Yom Rishon?
Students: Because it is the FIRST day in the week! It is the start of the week! It is like a number!
Me: Nachon! (True)! Mah od milah Le’RISHON? (What’s another word for Rishon?)
Students: ROSH! ROSH! ROSH!
Me: Lama yesh ראש be’Rosh Hashanah? (Why does Rosh Hashannah has the word ROSH in it?) (raised hand please)
Student: Because it is the first holiday of the year.
Me: Be’Ivrit?
Student: Rosh Hashanah RISHON ba’shanah!
Me: Yofi! Lama Yesh ראש Be’Rosh Chodesh?
Students: It is the first day of the month. It is Alef like ONE!
Me (not letting them get away with it ;): Be’Ivrit?
This is not an easy recall… we give time to think… to struggle… to search…
student: Yom …. Rishon ….. ba… Chodesh (a bit hesitant…)
Me: METZUYAN! (excellent)! Lama yesh ראש be’Bereshit?
Students: “Because it is the first!” “It is the Rishon!” “It is the start of everything…”
Me: Az mee yodeah Mee Yodaat, Mah Rosh Hatorah?
Students: BERESHIT!
Connections made… for now! Successful detour! We will definitely need to return to this road again and again in order to not require a guide!
This is one example of the importance of digging into the language we learn. Learning a language is understanding it, not only memorizing words! We use many words throughout our day – a lot of routine words that the students are getting used to and understand more and more. it is these opportunities, to take words out of the familiar context and together discover it’s meaning(s) that allows our students to more easily fill up that ‘other language drawer’ and open it when needed.
This takes me back, to our daily quiz (חידון יומי)… as it provides the opportunity to work on the quick recall of a word, which one can only do once one knows the meaning with no context. NOT AN EASY TASK! …and guess what… The students LOVE this challenge! If I forget to do it, they ALWAYS remind me.
Canada Israel Friendship building
We had so much fun meeting new friends from Israel via Zoom today. Thank you to Mrs. Bennett who connected us with Gali Lev Ari’s on-line Students. We enjoyed helping them with their English, as we spoke of our pets, favourite food, animals, colours, etc… They were very impressed that we study in English Hebrew and French every day. We hope to meet again sometime soon. Maybe they can teach us some Hebrew next time…