It was the perfect morning to walk to Klode for Taslich. Please ask your kiddos about the experience– walking there, Shabbat Sing, Rosh Chodesh groups, Taslich, playing & walking back!
A Beautiful Morning
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Monthly Archives: October 2019
Marsmallow Catapult 5/6 ETC
Who can launch a marshmallow the furthest? Oh, and you have to build the catapult with limited supplies! GO!
But Actually…. Please ask your kiddos about this fun challenge!
Tashlich Friday — Walking to Klode Park
This Friday is our first of the new year and the last we celebrate together before Yom Kippur which means. . . it is time for our annual Tashlich service together.
As of now the weather reports for Friday look cool, but dry. Assuming that is still the case on Friday, we will walk to Klode Park. We’ll then sing and pray, have a short reflection activity by grade, and each student will have a chance to symbolically toss their mistakes from the past year (this year small stones deemed healthier for the wildlife than bread crumbs) into Lake Michigan for a fresh start in the new year. After our Tashlich service we’ll welcome Shabbat together at the playground and have a little down time before walking back to school.
Please check the weather reports and make sure your child is dressed appropriately to spend the morning outdoors, and closed toed walking shoes are required.
If it is raining we will not walk to Klode. Instead we will have regularly scheduled Shabbat sing from 8:05-8:35 a.m., during which students will have some time for reflection and we’ll use dissolvable paper to symbolically “wash away” our mistakes from the past year without leaving the Beit Midrash.
If you’d like to know more about the Tashlich tradition, you can read about the history of the practice here. If you have any questions about our ceremony, please contact Rabbi Schaller, tschaller@mjds.org.
Reading Response Homework
Today I introduced our thinking Journals to use at home for reading responses. Most weeks I will assign 3 reading responses to be due the following week. This means that your child should be reading for at least 20 minutes, three times a week at home. In addition, they should be using their thinking journals to respond to what they have read.
We talked about the expectations for responses, put rubrics in our journals and looked at a few examples together. As we delve further into our fiction unit we will practice the different strategies to use when responding to a text.
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Open in new tab At this point in fifth grade, I expect students to respond by using at least one of our strategies. Next quarter I will expect them to use two and as each quarter progresses, the expectation will grow. This will allow them the time to practice the different strategies before 6th grade where they will be expected to use multiple strategies throughout the entire year.
When reading responses are assigned they will be written in assignment notebooks daily! 🙂 They have TWO responses due on Monday.
Look for a Book Wisconsin- An Awesome Family Activity!
Over the long weekend I became aware of an amazingly fun activity for you & your families! Gev. Jill Voras (3rd grade teacher) started #lookforabookwi with a friend and their daughters- and it is so cool! After doing some quick research I realized that there are #lookforabook groups all over the world, but the idea was new to me! Way to be up with current trends Gev. Voras!
Essentially you find a book that you’re willing to part with, stick it in baggie with a note explaining what it is (see below), hide the bag in a community spot and then use the Facebook Group Page and Instagram hashtag to leave clues for eager seekers/readers! What a fun way to promote literacy around the state! If you follow the hashtag and FB page you can also look for the hidden books! I was SO excited to participate that Sami, Andrew and I ventured out into the rain and hid a book today!
I will be sharing the fun activity with your kiddos tomorrow and we may hide a book or two together!
