The students of 7/8th Hebrew class are continuing their learning about food. The students have learned a lot of new vocabulary. They described their favorite places to eat and have also presented skits of ordering from a menu- all in Hebrew!

Today we prepared in class Tahini (טחינה) from instructions that the students read. Everyone participated in the making process and enjoyed the result, even though some of the students found the new dish not exactly to their taste! Later, the students will write their own instructions for making favorite foods.

While learning the stories of Bereshit, many questions arise. When we read the stories in 3rd grade, we always make room for questioning.

Our routine includes reading the story in Hebrew and searching for familiar words that will help us understand; reading the English translation; and ask our questions about the text.

One of the students had a great idea that we adopted: having a “question box” where we can put all the questions that come to our mind while learning. This way, we can relate to some of the questions later, and we can also see if other students also came up with similar questions.

During the week, the students fill the box with their questions and on Fridays we take the questions our and discuss them.

Look at some of the thoughts that the 3rd graders had and the things they wondered about:

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On Sunday, the state of Israel commemorated the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin 24 years ago. On Monday we dedicated our Hebrew class to learn about this day. First, we read and listened to an Israeli song called “שווים” (=equal). We discussed the message of the song, that tells about different people and different opinions and wishes they can all come together. We asked what is the benefit of having different people and opinions in society? The students came up with impressive answers and it was even more impressive that they expressed themselves in Hebrew to their best ability. They connected the song to our core value- empathy.

Then, we talked about Yitzhak Rabin and the assassination and we have participated in an activity led by Omer and Khen our shinshinim. The students visited an exhibition telling about the life of Rabin and about the protests against him before the assassination. Oner and Khen led a conversation about how verbal violence can cross the limits and how we as a society and as individual should be careful with our words. The students asked a lot of questions and were fully  engaged in the activity.

In Jewish Studies, the 3rd graders are learning about the creation of the world. We are acquiring new skills of reading from the bible. We listen to the Hebrew reading, trying to recognize words that we already know and interpret them. Then we read in English and find out what was created in each day. The students ask questions about their reading and have already came up with some fascinating big questions that we will explore. They are also encouraged to think and give their own answers.

We are working on an art project that will reflect our learning about the days of creation. Every day the students complete an additional page in a mini-book that will show the evaluation of creation. The students are having a great time working on it and everyone has been very engaged. We are looking forward to learning about the creation of human beings and completing our art work.