SIHA Weekly for January 15, 2021

by admin | Jan 15, 2021 | Newsletter

Dvar Torah

D’var torah Parashas Va’eira
Parshas Vaeira begins “pay back time”. after Pharaoh enslaved the Jews for many years, he is now getting his punishment!
This will lead up to Y’tzias Mitzraim-the exodus of Egypt.
This is also the beginning of the birth of the Jewish nation.

We have a Mitzvah to mention Yetzias Mitzraim – the exodus from Egypt, daily!

Why is this so important that we are commanded to mention it daily?

Rabbi Tzadok Hakohen explains as follows;
The Jews at the time of Yetzias Mitzraim were on the 49th lowest level of Tumah- impurity [the lowest being the 50th level].
Nevertheless the Jews were redeemed!
Why? Answers Rav Tzadok Hakohen: it is never too late. We are never “too far gone”. We can ALWAYS do Tshuba, and Hashem will accept us.
This is such an extremely important message that we need to remind ourselves daily, hence the Mitzva to mention Yetzias Mitzraim- the exodus of Egypt, daily. He also mentions a fantastic idea. We know that Moshe Rabeinu went up to heaven and spent 40 days there with Hashem. Hashem told Moshe that there will be a man Rabbi Akiva who will be even greater than Moshe!
Rabbi Akiva reached the 50th highest level of K’dusha – Holiness . Moshe only reached the 49th level of holiness!
Why? How is this possible that Rabbi Akiva could attain a higher level of Holiness than Moshe Rabeinu?
Answers Rabbi Tzadok: because Rabbi Akiva was a Ba’al T’shuva a Chozer B’tshuva. Until he was 40 years old, he had not learned Torah, and actually DESPISED Torah scholars!
Says Rabbi Tzadok, only a Ba’al T”shuva can attain the highest level!
This, says Rabbi Tzadok, is why we MUST mention Y’tzias Mitzraim, daily. The message is so important. We can always return to Hashem and he will always accept us, as long as we do T’shuva .
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Yaakov Kuritsky

Special Announcement

Dear SIHA Family,
Today was a monumental day for SIHA. Coincidentally, our new playground opening occurred simultaneously with Rosh Chodesh Shevat and great weather. Chodesh Shevat is all about seeing the potential in life. Shevat’s theme is the tree (aka tree of life, tree of knowledge, eitz chaim he – our Torah). The small bud of SIHA was really viewed as a beautiful vibrant tree today with all our classes filled with shining neshamot, smiling joyously, due to their new play hub. When this playground venture was proposed a few years ago, no one honestly fathomed its actual fruition. Only due to the dedication of three amazing parents the potential became a miraculous reality. Today we saw the fruits of that labor of what can happen when school partners with our devoted parents-true joy. This real volunteer effort took a tremendous amount of time but our exemplary parents; Norbert Shtaynberg, Yaniv Iunger, and Carmit Cohen were rewarded with the true experience of joy that emanates from seeing hard work paying off especially done voluntarily as chesed and especially for our children. Carmit specifically championed this effort with keen awareness of every detail to make sure today was a truly lasting memory. From balloons to snack gift bags and even outdoor play things given out prior to all students. Today was a nachat and kidush Hashem. My favorite part was Carmit’s reminding me of the shechiyanu bracha needed to be said. Words can never thank everyone enough; especially towards Hashem Who allowed us to get here to begin with. Actions, dedication, and Chesed initiatives, I believe, is how we can move ahead to truly show thanks and multiply the spiritual joy palpably felt today.
We entered into a new chapter today and I for one am excited to see what miracles Hashem has for us in store tomorrow, weeks, and months ahead.
Chodesh Tov SIHA!!

Dr. Chana Uzhansky

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Miss Esti wants to commend Natalie Fromchuk for doing a great job at her script alef bet work

SIHA Seniors!

EXTRA, EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT!!!

Programming News

Judaics

Second Grade
We had another busy week in 2nd grade. In this weeks Parsha V’airoh we studied the first 7 of the 10 plagues. The first letter in וארא is a Vav the second letter is an Aleph. In Hebrew every letter has a numerical value; Vav=6 Aleph=1. 6+1=7 There are 7 macot-plagues discussed in this weeks Parsha. We were learning all about Hacarat Hatoiv. Being grateful and appreciating what we have. The children wrote beautiful compositions which are proudly displayed on the bulletin board outside our room about what they are grateful for. Since Moshe (Moses) was saved by being put in a basket in the water which supported him when he was a baby,Hashem did not let Moshe bring the first plague of Dom-blood or the following 2 plagues, as Moshe would have to hit the sand. The earth covered the wicked Egyptian overseer whom Moshe killed. As both the earth and the river were kind to Moshe. Hashem did not want him to offend them by hitting them to bring a plague. The Torah teaches us to be grateful for every favor we receive. Hashem directed Moshe to be considerate to the water and soil, which have no feelings, in order for us to learn how we must be grateful to our parents, Hashem and our friends. We celebrated Rosh Chodesh Shevat on Thursday with Fruit Bites as a treat,as the 15th day of Shevat we celebrate Tubeshevat-new year for trees. ( this year it falls out on Jan.28 .during mid winter break) As a Shabbat treat on Friday the children all got gummy frogs.(the second plague) Shabbat Shalom!

Third Grade
Sorry for delay, if not too late here is a little synopsis of 3rd grade judaics this week:
This week had a few highlights starting with the learning of gematriot (Hebrew numerical value of each letter) and the very unique holiday of Tu Bish’vat, the birthday of the trees, in preparation to the new month of Shvat. The celebration of this New month was topped by a special Brachot party where each student ate one of each categories of food and said a bracha loud and clear. We learned the laws of Brachot, how and when to say it.
We also learnt the power of the word Amen. Using the gamatriah, we saw that amen had the same numerical value as 2 of Hashems names.
In Parshat Vaera we loved to see the story of the 10 plagues come to life with the beautiful felt board. We can wait to hear the end of the story next week.
Shabbat shalom
Mrs Ivry

Fourth Grade

Oh, what another wonderful week we had here in 4B! We bagan to discuss the various mourning days that come up on the Hebrew calender. By now we are already pretty familiar with the Chagim and when they all come up. We celebrated the first day of the new Hebrew month, the month of Shevat with a smashing
Brachot party. The goal of the party, other than ofcourse to celebrate the start of the month/ Rosh Chodesh was to practice saying our Brachot and Amens. Donuts and candy and the like definitely gave Brachot saying an exciting kick. The ten plagues that Hashem sent the evil Egyptians, which are discussed in this week’s and next week’s Parshah really came alive with the frog cupcakes and animal crackers that we munched on as we learnt about them. We learn a lesson on appreciation from Mosheh, who did not hit the Nile river in order to bring about the plagues. It was that river that saved him from death as a baby, when King Pharaoh had decreed that all baby boys must be drowned in the Nile. He let his brother Ahron do the job. If having appreciation to a river is a thing, how much more so to a live person with feelings. Special shout out to Elior Factor who found the Nile river on a map of Egypt in his secular studies history book! A moral concept that we’ve been reviewing is the concept of respecting everyone at all times regardless of whether or not we necessarily agree with their actions. Also,we had a guest speaker, Noga Sayag, one of our own beloved seventh grade students, come to speak to us on the topic of loving ourselves for who we are, as all that we are is Hashem’s brilliant will. Thank you, dear parents, thank you for sharing your precious treasures with me! Shabbat Shalom!
Morah Toba

5th and 6th Girls

Dear parents.
Mazel tov to us all for finishing Perez Aleph, the 1st perek (chapter) in Sefer (the book of) Shemot.
We are all really excitedly awaiting our Siyum on Monday!
We learned this week about the amazing everlasting reward of Shifra and Puah, the Jewish midwives, for fearing only Hashem and ignoring Pharaoh’s command to kill all the Jewish baby boys.
We also learned about Pharaoh’s decree to throw all baby boys into the Nile River because his stargazers told him that the Jewish savior was being born.
We had a great time at our Chumash review game. Congratulations Madi, Gabi Fishman, Eva and Mia on your team’s win! They won a +2 on their Chumash test.
We learned about the blessing/beracha of shehakol which we make on all food that doesn’t grow on the ground (meat, candy, drinks etc.)
We learned about how every single one of us was created perfectly, exactly the best way for us and our growth. There were no mistakes! We’ve got to appreciate that Hashem made us the way we are, which is perfect!
We learned about the Parsha, Parshat Vaeira, which talks about 7 of the 10 plagues which G-d inflicted on the Egyptians. (Blood, frogs, lice, wild animals, sickness to their animals which killed them, boils and hail)
Shabbat Shalom!
Have a great weekend.
Best regards,
Miss Dershowitz

7th and 8th Girls
How lucky were we that Rosh Chodesh, our Siyum and ofcourse Friday all fell out in the same week! Thank You , Thank you Ariella Shindelman and Rachel Dym for pulling off the most fun and informative Rosh Chodesh Shevat program. About the siyum, every teacher should have the joy of riding with her students in her car! We had an awesome time chilling at the Dairy Palace. Yes, yes most of them got ice cream even though due to covid 19 we had to sit outside mid- January. The girls earned this trip by putting their all into preparing for the Chumash test which they had taken the day before and did beautifully on. We are now continuing our Chumash journey in Parshat Shemot, we are up to the magnificent scene of Hashem appearing to Moshe for the first time in a burning thorn bush. Rashi explains that Hashem chose a thorn bush in particular because he felt the pain of His nation who we’re being enslaved and tortured, it was a sign of sympathy. We earned some candy bricks during our review of the translation of Al Hamichya, the after Brachah for food made of grain. We are “building” translation of prayer knowledge, one phrase at a time. Ofcourse, the week totally can’t be without the Shabbat party at the end. Thank you Hashem for another great week and thank you parents for sharing your diamonds with me. Shabbat Shalom!
Morah Toba

7th and 8th Boys
7th and 8th grade wonderful boys accomplishments

This week we started off with Parsha at the beginning of the week in order to really be able to have time to learn and review before Shabbat.
We had a fun time learning Gmara with Chavrusas [literally “friends”, referring to study partners]. Boys were challenged to think, remember and share information with their partner.
The boys accepted the challenge and enjoyed the feeling of success. We look forward to more of this type of learning in the coming weeks.
We are davening in SIHA’s shul and boys are getting better at being the Chazan. This is in addition to our daily Minyan for Mincha, prior to lunch.
We celebrated Rosh Chodesh with a party which was also a practice in reciting the correct Brachos. We all enjoyed it.
Thank you to our “program manager, miss Dershowitz and Miss Weitzner

Congratulations to Josh Dinar for winning our daily Mincha raffle for two days in a row!

Elementary School

Kindergarten
This week kindergarten took their first spelling, decoding, and comprehension test! They did amazing! They read a story about a Pig in a Wig and they sorted pictures to help them retell the story in sequential order. Then, they wrote all about what happened to the pig in a wig using the time order words first, next, and last. In math they learned how to find the missing parts of a number bond. They practiced adding by playing games such as shake, spill, add, a board game where they had to add 2 dice, dominoes, and games with pennies. They are so good at memorizing math facts that they learned two math facts higher than 10! In science they sorted the 3 states of matter. In social studies they learned about diversity and how our differences are important because they are what makes everyone special. They also began learning about Martin Luther King Jr. Kindergarten was so excited to play on the new playground and they had so much fun!

First Grade
This week our fabulous first graders have been engaged in many pursuits. They have completed the Reading Unit about characters and setting. Students wrote letters about a special day. However, the highlight of the week was studying measurements in Mathematics. The first graders really enjoyed measuring length and width of objects around the room using non-standard units. We used paper clips, hands, and even string. It was a fun time exploring.

Second Grade
This week, in math, the second graders finished their mini-unit on word problems. In ELA, the students worked on identifying problems and solutions in stories and using text evidence to predict what will happen next. In social studies, the students reviewed culture, different types of holidays, and reading a timeline. We also had some students present their wonderful “My Culture” projects. On Thursday, the students had a blast at the grand opening party for the new playground!

In science, students finished chapter 5 “Weather and other earth changes”.
Students learned about Erosion, Volcanoes and Earthquakes that shape the Earth’s surface.
Amazing projects about Erosion were drawn during the art class.

In science, students learned and explored how bird’s beaks are adapted to eating different kinds of food. Described adaptations that protect organisms in different ecosystems.
An art/science project was displayed about animals that camouflage.

Ms. Sasha

In Science, students started a new chapter that explains forces that shape Earth’s surface.
An experiment about Volcanoes was performed during the science lesson.

Fifth Grade
This week has been a busy week!
The 5th grade learned about contractions in grammar. They practiced identifying and writing contractions to better be able to use them.
In writing the class learned about comparing chronological text structure and problem-solution text structure and how the two structures help the author’s purpose in a passage.
They are also finishing their class novel! They will be writing an essay on Theme- I can’t wait to read what the class has to write!
The class has also begun their new Independent Reading Book. I’m looking forward to their end next IR project!
In math, the class started learning about perimeter and area. The class is also practicing using graph paper when drawing shapes in order to find their area. It was a challenge at first but I am happy to say that the 5th grade is making good progress!
In social studies the class took their end of unit test on South America. I think everyone did very well! They will be finishing the unit with a map project ver the Western Hemisphere. I am excited for the new unit!
Lastly, the entire 5th grade was very happy with the new playground! They enjoyed themselves thoroughly yesterday and were able to go back for a second round of play during recess. I’m sure they will get to enjoy the new playground to their heart’s content in the future.
This week I would like to commend Josh, Alec, and Sofia for making great progress with their IR projects!

In Science, Students learned about major Biomes. Described adaptations that allow organisms to survive in salt and freshwater environments, the importance of estuaries to both land and sea.
Ms. Tatic

Middle School

Middle School ELA

6th Grade had an amazing week! In Grammar, we reviewed for our upcoming grammar test. We went over parts of a sentence, and reviewed subject, predicate, and direct object. Students played a grammar review game, and everyone did amazing! In reading, we continued our novel study of Hatchet. In writing, we wrote a long response about author’s perspective.

7th grade had a busy week! We started our grammar review for our upcoming grammar test. In reading, we continued our novel study of Milkweed. We also reviewed steps to poetry analysis by discussing structure, language, mood and meaning of lyric poems. Students also wrote wonderful paragraphs about the poems they read.

8th grade had a good week! We wrapped up our vocabulary unit with a study of common word parts. In reading, we finished off The Giver and started writing our essay. Students are writing an argumentative essay about whether or not the setting of our novel is a dystopia or a utopia.

Middle School Math

6th grade reviewed how to graph points on a line using charts solved with rates. Pictured below is Eva plotting a point on the graph. Sixth grade also started learning about converting between decimals, fractions, and percents.

7th grade reviewed perimeter and learned how to apply algebra to solve the missing side.

7th honors started their unit on statistics. They learned about populations, samples, random sampling, biased questions, and how to determine if a sample is representative of the population.

8th grade started their unit on graphing linear equations. They learned how to make a table and graph the equation.

8th honors started their unit on graphing linear equations. They learned about x and y intercepts and how to determine the values from a graph and algebraically.

In 8th grade Math B, we learned about types of angles and how to find their angles. We studied complementary, supplementary, and adjacent angles before completing a “Build a Town” project where the students had to create angles made of roads and place town items (school, shul, houses, etc) in specific angles. They did great and worked together so nicely!

Middle School Science
6th Grade
Students learned about Earth’s water. Composition and characteristics of oceans and how energy is transferred through waves.

7th Grade
7th Grade – The 7th Graders are doing fantastic in Science class. This group of students is composed of fantastic leaders, listeners and students with a spectacular work ethic. They work excellent collaboratively and always look out for each other. I am very proud of them, KEEP IT UP 7th GRADE! Now, let me please give props to Yisroel Friedman, Yisorel has been doing fabulous and his progress academically and socially has been unprecedented. Yisroel has earned the title “My Guy” from me in Homeroom and in Science. He is always willing to help out and has earned the job of being my assistant, he is reliable, follows directions and does a spectacular job at getting the job done. WAY TO GO YISROEL!!! Shout Out to Ariella, as she has been diligently working at arriving to school in a timely manner and has been successful. Great Job, keep it up!!! Also, I want to say a special thank you Sarit for all of your hard work, I couldn’t do it without you. Please enjoy the work of our 7th Grade Scholars. Students have been learning about plant and animal cells in addition, they are learning about the functions of the cell and their microscopic organelles. As they dove right into their 3D cell project, students worked together to learn and build their cells.

7th grade started Unit 3 by learning about the international impacts of the American Revolution and also took the Unit 2 exam.

8th grade discussed the decade of the 1890s, including the Spanish-American War and began the leadup to the Great War.

SIHA weekly for January 8, 2021

by admin | Jan 8, 2021 | Newsletter

Dvar Torah

Dvar Torah Parshat Sh’mos

Parshas Sh’os speeds through our suffering in Egypt under a “new Pharaoh” [One Rabbi in the Gemara says he was actually a new Pharaoh, and one Rabbi in the Gemara says he was the same pharaoh who benefited from Yosef’s amazing business acumen but chose to pretend he was someone] who did not know Yosef.
Immediately after briefly describing the suffering the Torah begins to elaborate on our redemption.

After Yosef made the Egyptian empire the wealthiest in the world, they turned against Yosef’s people and family, enslaved them and tortured them. This is similar to the holocaust; after Jews gave so much to Germany and Europe, in the areas of Science, Math, and Medicine etc. the Nazis and other European countries turned against our Jewish relatives, tortured, enslaved and murdered them.

Our Rabbis, may their remembrance be for a blessing, tells us that the Egyptians were on the lowest level of impurity. Our forefathers were almost on the same level, after living with the Egyptians for so many years. They tell us that we were exiled on the merit of a few deeds.

1. we did not change our way of dressing [we did not follow their styles]
2. we did not change our language [we spoke in Hebrew]
3. we did not change our names [we used Jewish names]

Recently I was approached by a [PTA president[ parent,and was suggested that we call our students here in SIHA by their Jewish names. As we see that this is one of the merits that we Jews on no longer enslaved by the Egyptians, we realize that this is no small deed.

One of the reasons that were mentioned to call students by their Jewish names was, so that the students do not forget their Jewish name!

I actually have a brother in law, who was “Chozer Bitshuva” [became religious after growing up as a conservative Jew]. He became religious at the age of 18 years old. For 40 years , when he was called to the Torah he was called up as Mordecai Mendel ben [Hebrew for son (of)] Simcha Tzvi Hersh. Recently, his mom found his “Bar Mitzvah certificate” which stated that his father’s name was NOT Somcha Tzvi Hersh, but Simcha Arye! Forty years of not knowing his father’s correct Jewish name! Who knows how many years his father, may he stay well, did not know his own correct Jewish name?! I also recently, at the bidding of my father, may he live long and stay healthy, attended the funeral of my father’s cousin “Billy”. At the funeral,when they wanted to say a prayer for him, the deceased, no-one , not his wife , not his children or any of his relatives attending the funeral, knew what his correct Jewish name was!
This can be preempted by using our Jewish names!
We often feel that we have to hide our “Jewishness” from non Jews. we feel that if we do so they “won’t know”, or they will accept us better. Unfortunately, history has proven the polar opposite to be true.
When a friend of mine was engaged to be married, his father Mr Yisroel Lefkowtz o.b.m., a religious Jew who was very active in the Agudath Israel of America was in Washington D.C. advocating for Jews. He decided to visit the bride’s father who was a religious Jew who served the U.S. as an attorney for the federal government. The bride’s father’s name is Mr. Moshe Simon [also a Chozer Bitshuva (he grew up irreligious, but then became religious at the age of 19)]. Mr Lefkowitz assumed that any Jew who worked in such a position in the U.S. government would be quiet about his Jewishness and use an American name as a substitute for “Moshe” i.e. Morris or Martin etc. Mr Lefkowitz went to the Washington building and asked the receptionist “do you have a Martin Simon?” She responded “no”. He then asked “do you have a Morris Simon?”. She said “no! but i do have a Moshe”! He went to the attorney’s office, not only finding him using the name “Moshe”, but dressed as a religious Jew [looking almost Chasidic (Hasidic), complete with Yarmulke [Kepa] white shirt, long black coat and black hat! An attorney for the federal government in Washington D.C.

Let us be proud to be Jews and Jewish. This is the United States of America. We are given freedom of Religion. Let proudly “flaunt” our Jewish names. We will be able to remember our Jewish names and perhaps that will be a merit to bring the Moshiach, the Messiah and the final redemption that we are anticipating!
Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Kuritsky
Judaic Studies Curriculum Coordinator

Special Announcement!

Winter break is upon us!
SIHA’s winter break starts on 1/21 and continues to 1/29.
That means that last day of classes before Winter Break is Wednesday, 1/20.
Classes resume on Monday, 2/1/2021

Please note!
The week of 2/1/2021 will be a remote learning week.
From Monday, 2/1/2021 to Friday, 2/5/2021 SIHA will be learning online.

Programming News

Dear parents.
We had an amazing week, Boruch Hashem!
The students worked on speaking positively and watching their mouths from talking negatively about others.
We gave out many many treats (sour lips for watching our lips?) for all the Shemirat Halashon cards filled out!
Congratulations Sophie Dym on winning the school-wide Shemirat Halashon raffle!
We’re so proud of her and every single student who works on controlling themselves from speaking bad about others.
We all tried to wear our adorable red bracelets that remind us not to speak Lashon Hara! There are very special raffles for those who wear them every day.
This is the link to the amazing 7th and 8th grade girls’ Shemirat Halashon video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejiBzqz01qQ

Shabbat Shalom!
Have a nice weekend.
Best,
Miss Dershowitz

Judaics

Kindergarten and First Grade
We had a great week this week! In Kindergarten Judaics we learnt the letters nun and enda nun! We had a great time using blue tape to make yuds,vavs and enda nuns on the floor. In first grade we have begun level green aleph champ workbook and have learnt the nekuda chirik! This week in honor of parshas shemos we made a fun project with 6 babies, because the Jewish ladies in Mitzrayim gave birth to six babies at once. Shabbat Shalom!

Second Grade
The week flew by as we spent time reviewing Sefer Breishit(Genesis) and beginning Sefer Shimot. The second of the 5 books of the Torah. Shimot means names. We are all proud of our Jewish names. After our forefather Yaakov and his children including Yosef (Joseph) all passed away the Jews were multiplying and King Pharaoh was afraid they might eventually take over the country. They therefore issued orders to first kill all Jewish male babies and then issued orders to throw all Jewish boy babies in the Nile River. In the meantime the Egyptians made the Jews work very hard as slaves in Egypt. This week the Torah portion discusses the birth of Moshe (Moses) who would eventually became the leader of the Jewish people and lead the Jews out of Egypt. We are working on perfecting our handwriting skills as well as learning the correct Brochos we make on various foods. Shabbat Shalom!

In Kriah we reached the last exception rule and are working nicely in groups. Our goal is now to read a page in under 30 seconds and we are almost there already!
In Ivrit/ Dikduk, we learnt the last 3 prefixes, Mastered our first daily Hebrew vocabulary words and introduced the next part of Dikduk: Zachar and Nekeva (Male and female in the Hebrew language)
The third graders davening is priceless and their eagerness to give Tzedaka giving daily is inspiring. They already filled up a box of Tzedaka around Chanukah time and the box is now already almost half full!
Shabbat Shalom
Mrs Ivry

5th and 6th grade girls

Dear parents.
Thank G-d, we had an amazing week!
We continued on in Chumash Shemot learning about how the Jewish midwives refused to listen to Pharaoh and kill the Jewish babies. We learned many interesting explanations of the miracles that occurred to the Jewish people in Egypt. The Egyptians tried their hardest to break us and get rid of the Jewish people but they could not succeed! Hashem destroyed their plans and made us multiply more than ever!
The girls put on an amazing skit, acting out the miracles of Egypt.
The girls are doing a great job on their Chumash slides.
We learned about the blessing we make on fruits, borei peri Haetz. The girls all helped and we made a delicious fruit salad and said our berachot out loud.
Congratulations to Gabi Mekler and Eva Leivent on winning our Halacha raffle this week. Keep up the berachot!
We learned a lot about this week’s Parsha, Parshat Shemot. We all knew so much because we’re already learning it for Chumash.
We are all trying to learn from Moshe Rabbeinu who truly felt the pain of the Jewish people’s suffering, although he was living in Pharaoh’s palace and was not a slave.
Make sure your daughters tell you some stories from the Parsha – they are pros?
Have a great weekend!
Shabbat Shalom!
Best,
Miss Dershowitz

7th and 8th Boys
7th and 8th grade this week accomplished taking and doing well on their first Gemara test.
Congratulations!
We have been studying the laws of “your $” [property i.e. your animal] that damages. What is your responsibility, and liability in different scenarios.
We also learned about the Parsha in detail.
Boys are continuing to be the “Chazan”, and are doing a great job at it.

We had fun adding up all the boys’ present in the class’ names! In the Hebrew alphabet, letters have a numerical value. We all wrote each boy’s Jewish name. We then added up [some boys used a calculator… for accuracy, I presume] the numerical value. We accomplished studying “Yedios Klalios”, math and had fun at the same time.
We had an especially terrific day on Thursday, so Rabbi Kuritsky, responding to the class vote [we do live in a democratic country after all] ran to stop and shop and purchased chips, cookies and drinks for all to celebrate. Each boy said the appropriate Bracha on each treat.

Elementary School

Kindergarten
This week kindergarten was so excited to read their first story from a first grade reader. They learned all about the CK rule and can now read and spell many words that end with the letters CK. They took their first spelling pre-test and did amazing! The class also continued to write their personal narratives and they have been working on adding details to their writing. They did a directed drawing of the cat Sam from their story of the week and then they painted their drawing. They did a fabulous job following directions and they were all so proud of their paintings when they were done. In math they practiced measuring and weighing items to prepare for their test on nonstandard tools. The entire class did excellent on their math test! They practiced adding and subtracting and they learned how to find the missing whole number in a number bond. In science they learned all about gas as a state of matter. Then, they cut, glued, and sorted the three states of matter. In social studies they continued to learn about different cultures. They learned about the different types of houses people live in and they learned about Africa.

In art class we made sock snowmen to remind us of the winter season. I think they did a phenomenal job.

4B
This week in grammar 4B is learning about verbs. We are learning about subject-verb agreement, verb tenses, main verbs, helping verbs, linking verbs, and irregular verbs. Verbs, verbs, verbs!!!! In math we are mastering our fraction skills. We learned about mixed numbers and improper fractions. In social studies we are learning about the southern region of the United States.

Fifth Grade

This week went by quickly! Nevertheless, the 5th grade was quite busy!

In ELA the students learned about linking verbs and the tricky irregular verbs. They practiced finding meanings of unknown words in writing by using context clues. The 5th grade also presented their independent book projects. The book cubes turned out amazing!

In math, the class finished their review over multiplying and dividing factions. This will mark the end of our unit on fractions. Next week, the 5th class will begin learning about perimeter and area. 

In social studies the students finished their unit on the geography of South America. They will have a unit test next Thursday. They will also begin their end of unit project next week. I look forward to seeing how amazing their projects will turn out!

Middle School

Middle School ELA
6th grade had a great week! In grammar, students learned about subject complements. We practiced finding predicate nominatives and predicate adjectives in sentences. In writing, we learned about author’s perspective. We also continued our novel study of Hatchet!

7th grade had a busy week! In grammar, we reviewed combining sentences in several different ways to create better sentence variety. In writing, we had a State Test Prep assessment week. Students read nonfiction passages, answered multiple choice, short answer, and long answer questions. We also continued our novel study of Milkweed!

8th grade had a good week! In grammar, we started our unit review. In writing, we worked on paragraph structure, and wrote some beautiful long paragraphs. Mrs. Hazen is particularly impressed with Rachel’s writing! We discussed how text structure helps authors carry their ideas across. In reading, we finished reading The Giver!

Middle School Social Studies

6th grade learned about ancient Indian empires this week and engaged in an interactive activity regarding empire building.

7th grade played the Summer of ’87 game and stepped into the shoes of the Founding Fathers to try and solve issues revolving around the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.

8th grade studied for and took its Unit 2 test and also began Unit 3 with a discussion of European colonialism and imperialism in the 19th century.

Middle School Math
6th learned about proportions and how to use algebra to solve them. They also learned how to complete tables using unit rates and how to graph that on a coordinate plane. There will be a test Tuesday on modules 6 and 7.

7th learned how to calculate area of a circle and how to solve for missing dimensions when given circumference. They also know how to calculate the area of a circle given circumference. There will be a test Tuesday on module 3, 4.1 and 4.2.

7th honors completed unit 3 on geometry. They learned how to calculate surface and volume and apply the formulas to composite figures. There will be a test Tuesday on unit 3.

8th learned how to solve inequalities and graph the solution set on a number line. They also learned how to solve word problems with inequalities. There will be a test on chapter 2 Tuesday.

8th grade Math B reviewed cross sections by creating the shakes with plain and cutting them with playing cards. The visual really helped see the cross section

8th honors learned how to solve inequalities, graph the solution set on a number line, and represent the solutions in interval notation. They also learned how to solve word problems with inequalities. There will be a test on chapter 2 Tuesday.

Please meet our class sorter goblin.

7th Graders are rocking and rolling. Students have learned how to use their critical thinking skills, math skills, listening skills and apply their knowledge to an at home experiment. Students learned how to create data tables, extrapolate their data and plug into graphs. Students are now discovering the world of cells. Students are investigating through microscopes and seeing what the world looks like from a microscopic view.

8th Grade is identifying how photosynthesis and cellular respiration are inter related. Students have identified the reactants and products of biochemical processes are necessary for the proper functioning of each process. In addition, students investigated the role fermentation plays in the making of bread. They were able to explain the function of bacteria and its significance in the process.

SIHA Weekly for January 1

by admin | Jan 1, 2021 | Newsletter

Dvar Torah

Parshas Vayeche is the last Parsha in Chumash [literally “fifth’ of the Torah] Braishis.
Yaavov Aveenu is approaching death. As an aside, Yaakov Aveenu is the first person to become sick and realize that his death was approaching. Until then, people would just die, when their time came. Yaakov Aveenu utilizes this “advance notice” very wisely. For one, he blesses each of his twelve sons. Each son is blessed uniquely, according to their natural talents. His focus and goal was that each son would use his unique talent to serve Hashem, for that is the reason that Hashem gives us talents.
Let us all realize our special talent(s), and use them for our ultimate goal in our journey through this world, which is to serve Hashem, our creator.

Rabbi Kuritsky
Judaic studies coordinator
Special Announcement

A great big SIHA congratulations to our amazing students of the month!

K – Emanuella Brooks
1 – Sophie Braun
2 – Michael Groys
3 – Zohar Zadok
4-A – Ariella Khaimov
4-B – Ethan Shenkman
5 – Sofia Sandler
6 – Etai Factor
6 – Eva Leivent (Judaic Studies)

Programming News

Dear parents.
Thank G-d, we had a great week! This month’s theme in coimstruction is walls. Every student received a sticky hammer to help build the walls.
We are working this month on Shemirat Halashon – watching our tongue.
Shout out to the 7th and 8th grade girls for their awesome Shemirat Halashon movie!
Contest:
Every time we want to speak bad about another person but we control ourselves, we fill out a card. Every card will earn a treat and will enter a raffle for special prizes.
Please encourage speaking nicely about others at home and in school.
Looking forward to receiving our exciting Shemirat Halashon – watch your mouth! – bracelets this week!
Happy new year!

Judaics

Kindergarten and First Grade
We had a super duper week this week in Kindergarten and First Grade Judaics! Our kindergarteners are already up to learning the letters Mem and Enda Mem! We had so much fun reading the ziggawat story about Mem and the Mitzvah Contest. We did a great job cutting, sorting and pasting the mems and tets, even though they look similar we can tell the difference! In First Grade Judaics we began learning the nekuda cholam! We know that cholam can come in two different ways, a lollipop floating in the sky, or a lollipop on a stick! We are doing such a great job with our hebrew reading we are even up to reading four letter words! This week we continued in our unit about Hashem is watching over us always and learnt about saying Shema before we go to sleep. We made beautiful shema frames to hang in our rooms and began a shema before bed contest, we are so excited to do this mitzvah! Shabbat Shalom!

Mrs Ivry

Fourth Grade
Its been so nice, diving back into things. The students greeted me with a warm, enthusiastic welcome, as I excpected. By now we are so comfortable and familiar with the Hebrew letters and there various nekudot/ vowels. Did you know that every day a star soloist is selected to come sing the Aleph Bet on the ( neon colored, plastic) mike for us? We know that each Mitzvah comes with a set of laws, and we are excited about learning the laws of making Brachot on food. For example, the food must be unwrapped/unpeeled and ready to eat before the Brachah is said. There is a super enthusiastic and earnest feel in the room as we make our Brachot on our snacks before recess. We market Trader Joe’s Takis ,as they are kosher unlike the other Takis. They are a fad, and we make sure to enjoy it within the boundaries of our law. Parshah class has us spellbound as we hear the final words of wisdom and blessings that Yaakov Avinu gives his sons before he passes on. By the way, we know the names of Yaakov’s 12 sons, the Shevatim real well. Sometimes I wonder, how do we get through so much content in just two hours a day? And the answer dawns on me real fast- it’s because these students are sponges-ready and excited to absorb each lesson, to really hear, learn, and internalize. I am a lucky Morah! Thank you for sharing your treasures! Remember to reach out to me any time with any questions, concerns, thoughts or just to say hello!
Morah Toba

5th and 6th Girls
Dear parents.
Thank G-d, we had a great week!
We learned about the backbreaking labor of the Jewish people in Egypt so that Pharoah could destroy them. But instead, they multiplied more than ever!
Then, Pharaoh commanded the Jewish midwives, Shifra and Yocheved, to kill all Jewish baby boys so that the Jewish people can’t reproduce. But they were scared of Hashem, the king of all kings, more than they were scared of the ruthless Egyptian king and they DID NOT LISTEN TO PHARAOH!!
We learned about the beracha of Ha’adama – which we make on vegetables/fruit that grow on the ground. Congratulations Sophie Dym on winning our Halacha raffle!
We had a great time making popcorn for Ha’adama!
We learned about the weekly parsha portion – Parshat Vayechi. Yaakov blessed all his sons, the 12 shevatim, before he passed away at age 147.
He made Yosef promise to bury him in Israel.
Our Middot lesson focused on trying to count our blessings and look out for the good in our lives instead of complaining. Sophie gave us great examples of times when she could’ve complained, but instead focused on the blessings in her life. We’re so proud of her!
The girls will try to focus on their blessings this week and move the Middot game piece to earn very exciting rewards!
Shout out to Ziva for coming to school last Friday! Keep it up!
Happy new year!
Have a great weekend.
Best,
Miss Dershowitz

5th and 6th Boys
This week our class gets a big Mazel Tov!
We finished the first Perek/Chapter of Mishnayot Sukkah!
Accordingly we had a big Siyum celebration, which only added to the excitement.
We also began learning Pirkai Avot/Ethics of the Fathers, which will certainly widen the boys horizons.
Looking forward to a great new week.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Levy

7th and 8th Girls
Ah, it was nice to be back with my group of favorite role models. Firstly, we enjoyed the Mazal Tov party that the girls put together for me 🙂 I also enjoyed their beautiful Mazal Tov cards and earnest wishes. We began our series on the 13 Ani Maamins, which are 13 principals of faith that we are supposed to make our business to believe. The first one is the belief that Hashem created everything. To illustrate just how much it is that he created, we played a little game. Two girls exchanged ideas and items that Hashem created, one after the other. The goal of the game was to keep coming up with things, with out repeating any and without stopping to think. Some of them were really good at it, and it was amazing to stop and think that it was Hashem who created everything. There is an amazing song by Rabbi Mordechai Dubin of these 13 beliefs that has been going around. We listen and even dance to it together sometimes. In translation of Tefiillah class, we began to explore the meanings of the Bracha Acharonas, blessings after food. We discussed how every law in Judiasm holds worlds of significance, and then began to explore the laws of making Brachot properly. We are becoming pros at understanding the way Rashi, our sage who’s explanations are written all over Chumash, thinks. And by now we have memorized tens of Shorashim, roots of Hebrew words. This week’s Parshah has us nodding along as we hear about the death of our forefather Yaakov, how he asked to be sick and week for a period of time before he parted so that he can use the time to repent before entering the next world, how he blessed and advised his children before going and how his son Yosef, a king, hung his crown oh his father’s coffin to show respect. We’re thankful for having had yet another really fun and growth oriented week together, once again. Thank you Hashem!
Morah Toba

7th and 8th Boys
This week we went further and deeper in the new Limud [topic], gmara. We always start a Gmara with a Mishna. As such, we actually began learning a Mishna, as an introduction to the Gmara which G-d willing we will reach in the near future.
We learned about this week’s Parsha, Parshas Vayeche.

Leam Bilik is the winner of the Grand Mincha Prize, an ipad.

We began davening in our shul for Shacharis and Mincha, daily. The boys take turns acting as Chazan. The boys are acting really mature about this new challenge. It is our hope that they will all become “pros” at davening and be able to daven in any shul in any place and keep up.

Elementary School

Kindergarten
This week kindergarten learned how to read and spell many words with the CH sound. They are doing amazing! They began writing their personal narratives and they are doing so well working independently. In math they continued to use non standard tools to measure and weigh everything they can find in the classroom! They played a lot of fun games to review for their test they will be having next week. They also continued to practice adding 2 to a number and subtracting 2 from a number using mental math. In science they loved doing an experiment to learn which solids sink and which solids float in a liquid. They made a mess but they had a lot of fun and made some interesting and accurate conclusions. In social studies they learned about the different roles of family members, how to be responsible, and how to stay safe. They also began learning about different cultures. They were really interested in learning about Japanese clothing, traditions, and language. They wanted to hear the numbers in Japanese from 1-10 over and over again!

First Grade
Our first graders began studying about geometric solids this week. They were interested to see the difference between plane shapes and solids. We shared reports about arctic animals like the arctic fox, the polar bear, and the penguin. Students seemed fascinated by their ability to camouflage in the snow! Finally, we explored the underground home of the vole – a tiny mammal that borrows out a home in the ground. We even designed some underground homes of our own.

4B
4B had an exciting week! Thursday was New Year’s Eve, so we had a fun day! We played board games, and had some extra gym time! But it wasn’t all fun and games. We also continued learning about fractions, specifically how to add and subtract fractions. Also, Ethan Shenkman was awarded student of the month! I chose Ethan because he has improved his behavior in class, and he also had the highest grade in the class on the Math test, scoring over 100!

Fifth Grade

Fifth grade had a busy week! In grammar, we learned about helping and linking verbs. In reading, we continued our novel study of Holes. Students also finished their Independent Reading Projects! Everyone did an awesome job! Please look forward to pictures of their presentations next week! In Math, we started our unit review over multiplying and dividing fractions. Next week, we are going to take our unit test. I have faith that the class will do amazing. In social studies, we are learning about the countries of South America and rounding off our unit there. I would like to wish everyone a very happy New Year! 

Middle School

Middle School ELA
6th grade had a great week! In grammar, students learned about direct object. We also reviewed subjects and predicates. Students had a vocabulary Unit Test, and everyone did amazing! In writing, we learned about different types of text structure. We also continued our novel study of Hatchet!

7th grade had a busy week! In grammar, we reviewed combining sentences in several different ways to create better sentence variety. Students also took a vocabulary unit test, and everyone did amazing!In writing, students learned about author’s position, and wrote beautiful paragraphs. We also continued our novel study of Milkweed!

8th grade had a good week! In grammar, we reviewed three types of verbal phrases. Students practiced recognizing them in sentences, as well as writing their own. In writing, students learned about different points of view and the author’s position. We discussed how text structure helps authors carry their ideas across. In ELA, students continued their novel study of The Giver!

Middle School Math

6th grade is learning about ratios and rates. We are using unit rates to solve word problems.

7th grade has been working on circumference and area of a circle. 7th honors finished work on circumference and area. They have been working on area of composite figures.

8th grade has been working with proportions, ratios and rates in algebra word problems. We started reviewing inequalities and working on expressing them in interval notation, graphically, and as a solution set.

Middle School Social Studies
6th grade learned about early Indian civilization, including the Indus River and the Indus Valley Civilization.

7th grade started preparing to play the Summer of ’87 Reacting to the Past game. Each student was given a role to play in the game, based on a Founding Father, and has been tasked with doing research on him to find out his opinions about various issues.

8th grade discussed the U. S. national debt crisis and the stimuli that were passed this year to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

SIHA weekly for December 25

by admin | Dec 25, 2020 | Newsletter

Reminder: Friday December 25 10th day of Teves is a fast day 5:50 a.m. – 5:15 p.m.

Dvar Torah

Parshas Vayegash

In this week’s parsha, Yosef finally reveals himself to his brothers. The shock , when they realize that the viceroy of Egypt that they have been dealing with and bowing down to, is none other than their “little brother” Yosef, whom they sold as a slave 22 years earlier and never dreamed he would even be alive, let alone royalty!
They were terrified. He could kill them. He could torture them. He could enslave them.
Nevertheless, Yosef’s reaction is totally different. He tells them “you had in mind to do bad, but Hashem G-d of the universe intended the whole episode for good! It had nothing to do with you, your actions or intentions. Yosef bears no grudge at all whatsoever. He understands that, nothing can happen without Hashem the Almighty willing it to be so.

Let us take a lesson from Yosef, for that is the reason it is written in the holy Torah. The next time a family member or friend [or even a foe] upsets us or G-d forbid harms us, we should try to remember that It is actually the hand of Hashem,and it is really, ultimately for our own benefit.

Rabbi Kuritsky
Curriculum Coordinator
Judaic Studies

Special Announcement

Congratulations to the 7th and 8th grade boys Mincha winners!
7th and 8th grade Mincha winners;
A few month ago, when we began davening Mincha in school, Rabbi Uzhansky incentivized the boys to Daven better by incentifying them with 3 raffles:

• $10 coupon
• $25 coupon
• Ipad

Doron Glickman is the first winner of a $10 Amazon coupon
Michael Clift is the winner of a $25 Amazon coupon
We are waiting a few days to pick the Ipad winner.
The boys are very excited about the raffle. One boy, Josh D., is quoted as saying “if I win, there will be a pizza party [paid for by Yehuda]”
We look forward to the boys to continue to daven nicely even without a raffle.

Oorah is coming to SIHA!
All students, boys and girls, will have a great time and win prizes! Stay tuned: more details in next week’s newsletter.

Programming News

Dear parents,
We had a great week! I’m so proud of Etai and Oren from 6th grade who turned off their electronics for a while on Shabbat!
This week, we will be starting a really exciting Shmirat Halashon program. We will work on speaking positively about others and earn really exciting prizes!
Shabbat Shalom!
Best,
Miss Dershowitz

Judaics

Kindergarten and First Grade
We had a great week in Kindergarten and First Grade Judaics! Our kindergarteners have learnt about long long lamed! We can a great job stretching out our hands and bodies into the shape of a lamed. We are all so really lucky because there are so many children in our class who have a lamed in their name like Liad, ShLomo, ALexander, DaLia, and ILan! In First Grade we are doing a great job reading four letter hebrew words and have begun learning the letter cholam. Cholam is a little confusing since there are two types but we are doing a great job! This week in both Kindergarten and First grade we discussed how proud we are to be children of Hashem, We are princes and princesses of Hashem our King. We know that when boys wear their kippah and tzitzit and girls dress tzniusly we are showing that we are proud to be those princes and princesses of Hashem! We are so proud to dress the right way! Morah Kaplan is especially proud that all the boys did a great job this week wearing their kippahs and making brachot on tzitzit and all the girls were dressed so tzniusly! We have so many mitzvah children in our class, Keep it up!

Second Grade
We had another productive busy week in 2nd grade. We reviewed much of Sefer Breishit (Genesis). We especially enjoyed the booklet we worked on in class on Wednesday reviewing the names of our Avot (Fathers) and Emohoit (Mothers) the first Jews in the world. There are so many lessons we learned from this week’s Parshat Vayegash. Yehuda, when pleading with the prime minister of Egypt not to keep his younger brother as a slave (Binyamin) got very angry. Then Yehuda spoke calmly. We discussed how important it is to speak politely and calmly when we want something. Yosef (The Prime minister of Egypt)sent the Egyptians out of the room before revealing his true identity as Yosef the missing brother in order not to embarrass his brothers. We learn that we have to be careful about people’s feelings and not to embarrass anyone. Yosef could have been angry at his brothers and could take revenge, however he was not angry
and did not take revenge. When Yosef was finally reunited with his elderly father Yaakov the first thing Yaakov did was say “Shma Yisroel” Thanking G-d and praising Hashem for being able to reunite. Shabbat Shalom!

Third Grade
After a fun-filled week of Chanukah, the students were eager to go back to school and learn more about Parsha and Jewish History. THe last few weeks’ Parsha stories were quite suspenseful and everyone was happy to hear the happy ending of Yosef and his brothers and his reunion with his long father Yaakov.

We started working on the Yediot Klaliot program and are excited to learn an overview of all the amazing Jewish Holidays throughout the year.
We continue learning Dikduk and are getting really good with prefixes!
For Kriah, we started reading in groups and will soon be using timers to work on our reading speed.
We also learned the History of the first Beth Hamikdash and how it was destroyed, starting on the 10th of tevet when Nevuchadnetzar besieged Jerusalem. Thai friday is a fast day because it was the beginning of the end of the Beth hamikdash which was destroyed 2 and a half years later on the 9th of Av. In all there are 4 fats connected to the destruction of the Temple. We love the Beth hamikdash and pray each day that Hashem should build us the 3rd Temple very soon.
Shabbat Shalom
Mrs. Ivry

Fourth Grade
This week we focused on beautiful stories and lessons on Tefila. We said stories from the Talmud and Parables with their lesson. We are continuing to learn a few halachot (Jewish Laws) a day. We are learning the laws of השכמת הבקר – (When we wake up in the morning) What we should and shouldn’t do. In Parshat Vayigash we learned how Yosef Hatzadik cared about his brother’s shame, and he sent out all his servants before he revealed himself. Every day we review what Hashem created on each day. We discussed that this Friday is a fast day. The reason is because on this day of Asara Btevet. (10th day of Tevet) the king of Bavel (Nevuchadnetzar) and his men surrounded the walls of Yerushaylaim (Jerusalem). This is one out of the four fasts that have to do with the Destruction of the Batei Hamikdash – Holy Temples. May it be rebuilt speedy in our days.
Shabbat Shalom!

Mrs. Bistritz

5th and 6th grade Girls
Dear parents.
We had a great week! We continued on in Chumash, learning about the backbreaking labor of the Jews in Egypt. No matter how much they tortured the Jews in order to destroy them, the Jews only multiplied more!! It’s a lesson for us all that no matter how hard and how many times in history, nations have tried to destroy us, we are alive and vibrant with Jewish life today!
We continued on in Jewish law, learning in depth about the Beracha of Mezonot and Hagafen. We make the blessing of Mezonot on any food with the 5 grains, besides for bread. We all enjoyed doughnuts and made the Beracha of Mezonot out loud. We make the blessing of Hagafen on wine and grape juice and we all enjoyed our cups of grape juice, making our berachot out loud.
Shout out to Ziva for pouring the cups of grape juice and handing them out to everyone!
Congratulations to our weekly Halacha raffle winner – Mia Portman!
We learned the weekly Parsha portion about Yosef revealing himself to his brothers. In order not to shock Yaakov too much, Serach, his granddaughter broke the news that Yosef was still alive while playing on her harp. Yosef was crying when he finally saw his father after 22 years and Yaakov was saying Shema, thanking Hashem for this moment. Wow, Yaakov wasn’t focused on embracing his son whom he missed so terribly, but thanking Hashem!!
We are all working our gratitude this week, learning from Yaakov to be thankful for all our gifts.
Shabbat Shalom!
Have a great weekend.
Best,
Ms Dershowitz

7th and 8th grade Boys
Judaic studies 7th/8th grade
This week we began a new Perek in Gamara1
The name of the Perek is Hakones. It is in Masechta Baba Kama [6th Perek]
We learned and reviewed Yedios Klalios .
We learned about the Parsha.We learned with Chavrusas [friends] learning partners. It went really well. The boys enjoyed it.

Elementary School

Kindergarten
This week kindergarten practiced reading and spelling many different words with the SH sound. They learned how to identify the beginning, middle, and end of a story. After listening to many read alouds about personal narratives they picked interesting topics to write their very own personal narrative. I can’t wait to read their writing! In math they continued to amaze me with the speed they are picking up addition and subtraction facts. They practiced counting everything by 2s. They counted by 2s to find out how many feet, eyes, knees, legs, arms, ears, shoulders, elbows, and even eyebrows we have in the classroom! They practiced adding and subtracting by 2 and played games to review the concept of addition. In social studies they learned about traditions. They did a wonderful job presenting their papers about their favorite family tradition. In science they learned all about liquids. They went on a scavenger hunt to find the most solids and liquids. They also did a directed drawing and made really cute snowmen and snowwomen. I was really impressed with how well the entire class followed directions!

Third Grade

This week Grade 3 students explored the Central Plains, Great Plains, and the Coastal Gulf Plains of the Central United States. They also discussed the purpose and importance of the invisible lines around the planet Earth such as the equator. In Math, students reviewed multiple mental math strategies for addition and subtraction. In Russian, they had taken a quiz on the /Aa/ sound words and are excited to begin a new letter next week. In Grammar, students practiced identifying common and proper nouns. This week they also had taken their first Computer quiz on virtual responsibility and security.

Students learned and explored how animals and plants depend on each other for food. Students are working also on winter theme art.

Miss Sasha

4A
This week in math we started a new unit Operations on Fractions. We worked on adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators.
In ELA we completed our unit on verbs and continued to write persuasive writing activities.
On Social Studies we reading and discussing resources, economy and people of the South.
In science, Students learned and explored factors that threaten the survival of a species.

4B
4B has entered the magical world of fractions! We know how to identify equivalent fractions, we know how to compare fractions, we know how to simplify fractions, we know how to find common denominators, and now we are learning how to add fractions! Very exciting stuff!! In ELA, we have been learning about verbs and verb tenses. We have also been doing a lot of test prep, learning how to properly annotate, and pull the main idea and key details from texts.
In science, students learned and explored factors that threaten the survival of species .
Mrs. Belli wants to mention Sapir Benlulu 4B Class. She got excellent scores on Quizzes! You could see happy tears on her eyes!

Fifth Grade
Greetings and salutations!
I hope everyone had a wonderful week!
The 5th grade had a good but busy week.
In grammar the 5th grade continued practicing with the perfect tenses. They also practiced typing a bit since their assignments required them to type.
In writing the students practiced using details to support inferences in literary texts. They read about King Arthur and (some) of his valiant knights. The students had a lot of fun reading the stories!
In reading we continued to read Holes and discuss what we read. We tried in the three stories within the book and how they connect to what is happening at Camp Green Lake with Stanley and Zero. Additionally, I am very proud to say that all of the 5th graders are doing an amazing job preparing their independent reading book project. I can’t wait until it is complete!

In math the 5th grade reviewed multiplying factions and continued on to learn and practice dividing fractions. I am happy to say that the students are very confident about their skills in multiplying and dividing fractions.

In science, Students learned and described interactions that occur within an ecosystem. Analized adaptive characteristics that result in an organism’s unique niche in an ecosystem.

In social studies the students learned about the past and culture of South America. They were particularly fascinated by the Inca and Machu Picchu. A lot of students were shocked when they saw what terraced farming looked like so high up in the mountains. Next week, we will be rounding off our unit on South America!

This week I would like to commend Matthew for his on point participation during class discussions!

Middle School

Middle School ELA
6th grade had a great week! In grammar, students learned about compound subjects and compound verbs. We also practiced finding subjects in inverted sentences and questions. Students also spent the week reviewing for our upcoming vocabulary test! In writing, we learned about connotative word meanings, and words that have a technical meaning. We also started our novel study of Hatchet by discussing different types of conflict!

7th grade had a busy week! In grammar, we learned about combining sentences in several different ways to create better sentence variety. Students also spent the week reviewing our vocabulary unit in preparation for the test next week. In writing, students learned about different types of text structure, and wrote beautiful paragraphs. We also continued our novel study of Milkweed!

8th grade had a good week! In grammar, we learned about three types of verbal phrases. Students practiced recognizing them in sentences, as well as writing their own. In writing, students reviewed different types of text structure. We discussed how text structure helps authors carry their ideas across. In ELA, students continued their novel study of The Giver!

Middle School Math

6th finished unit 2 on fractions and decimals.

7th grade finished module 4 on angle relations and are currently working on circumference.

8th grade learned how to solve rational equations and apply algebra to ratios, rates, and proportions.

Middle School Social Studies

6th grade took the Unit 2 exam this week and also began Unit 3: South Asia. Students learned about the geography and notable features of the region, as well as facts about each country located within it.

7th grade completed the final lesson of Unit 2, regarding the first phase of American abolition. Students learned about the concept of abolition, how it began in the New World, who the original leaders of the movement were, and what the pro-slavery argument was.

8th grade learned about the beginning of the fight of workers to form unions in order to protect themselves. The class then had a discussion about the current events issue of whether or not to raise the federal minimum wage. Students talked about the positive and negative aspects of the proposal and gave their thoughts on the matter.

Middle School Science

6th graders finished their Unit about the Earth’s Changing Surface.

SIHA Weekly for December 18

by admin | Dec 18, 2020 | Newsletter

Dvar Torah

Miracles! Miracles!
Who doesn’t want miracles to happen to them?
How can we even dream of expecting a miracle happening to/for us?
The Lubavitcher Rebbe is quoted as saying “if we want Hashem to do something for us against nature, we must also act against our nature”!
We see this concept in the miracle of Chanuka. A group of five men,Kohanim, people that were accustomed to serving in the Bais Hamikdosh- the Holy Temple, stand up to an entire Syrian-greek army of thousands of soldiers for the purpose of being able to serve Hashem properly, to be able to keep the Torah, with all the Mitzvos.
Hashem says “you acted out of your nature, I will make miracles for you that counter nature”.
Similarly, we find with Yosef Hatzadik. He is tempted daily, by Potifar’s wife, for a full year, yet he goes against nature and his natural desires and does not give in.
Hashem rewards Yosef by changing his status. In one quick moment he is elevated from a slave in a jail to becoming the viceroy [second to the king of Egypt, the largest and most powerful country at that time]!
All of us would love to have a miracle-something special happen to/for us that we know won’t happen “naturally”, but if we are willing to go out of our nature, to serve Hashem, we can look forward to Him [hashem] possibly, changing nature for us.
Chodesh Tov
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Yaakov kuritsky

Message from Dr. Uzhansky

וקבעו שמונת ימי חנוכה אלו, להודות ולהלל לשמך הגדול
And they established these eight days of Chanukah to express thanks and praise to Your great Name.

It seems that the Chachamim were telling us that the essence of Chanukah is to recognize all that Hashem did (and does) for us and to praise and thank Him. We know this is not for His benefit but rather for ours. Praising and thanking Hashem brings us closer to Him, which is the ultimate purpose of all the mitzvos.

Dear SIHA family especially to my dear students,

Thank you for giving me a reason to smile on this last night of Chanukah. The world may be caught in a vertex of chaos but tonight the little simple candles flickering gives me great comfort. The beauty of their light is just an external reminder of the light found within each of us always striving to go up, give warmth, and illuminate our uniqueness to the world around us. Children exude that light more so with their purity and profound potential. We, lucky to be in the world of education and as parents, can celebrate Chanukah, seeing that shine 365/24/7. Those neshamot are the gifts that keep on giving! ????

Chag Chanukah Sameach!!!
Morah Chana

Thank you to the PTA and all the SIHA Parents for being phenomenal this holiday season!

This was a week of fun and excitement for every SIHA student. We celebrated Chanuka with activities and play, culminating in the incredible Traveling Tykes Carnival in the middle of the week! Between the bounce-castle, the train, the slide, the cotton candy and the music, the students had a magical time!
2020 has been a trying year. Thank you, again, for making the end of the year amazing and memorable. The students will remember and appreciate your incredible dedication to making their childhoods special.

P.S. From all the staff, thank you very much for your amazing gifts this Chanukah season. We really appreciate them! 

Judaics

Kindergarten and First Grade
We had such a great week in Kindergarten and First Grade Judaics we did a lot of fun Channukah activities, come check it out!

On Monday, we made our very own doughnuts! Chocolate icing, vanilla icing, and sprinkles, we sure got sticky!! We also made our very own “finding Hashem” diaries where we are writing or drawing things to thank Hashem for, and places where we saw Hashem helping us. For example, Morah was running late to an appointment and when she came there was a parking space right in front of the building! Hashem had made that parking space open special for Morah! On Tuesday, we had the traveling tykes carnival! On Wednesday, we had a fun chanukah party and made our scratch off dreidels! On Thursday we had zoom school! and watched a fun Chanukah video. We also learnt about making the right choices! We read a special Danny, power to choose, story where we read and made the right choices , the choices Hashem would want, for Danny. We know Hashem is always watching us and knows everything we do and think and that we try to do our best. We spoke about how even if we make mistakes Hashem always loves us, no matter what, and we can try again next time. On Friday, we made our very own dreidel pinatas!

Second Grade
We had an exciting week of Chanukah beginning on Monday with reviewing our Chanukah booklets, our reading skills and icing our donuts with either chocolate or vanilla icing and colorful sprinkles. You can be sure we all enjoyed our snack on Monday. Tuesday was a blast participating in the Traveling Tykes carnival. Wednesday we read about Chana and her 7 sons in Hebrew. I was impressed how beautifully the children were able to read and understand the sentences in English. We also did a special Chanukah arts and crafts project and enjoyed special goodies in honor of the holiday. Thursday our snow day we zoomed away reviewing this weeks Parsha Mekaitz. We see how humble Yosef was. When he was called to interpret Pharaoh’s dream Yosef said “ the ability to interpret the dream was given only by Hashem,it is not due to my credit. We learn from Yosef to be humble and not brag or show off our talents. A special thanks to Miss Dershowitz for all her hard work in coordinating the outstanding projects and activities everyone enjoyed for Chanukah. Shabbat Shalom!

7th and 8th Grade Boys
This week, the 7th and 8th grade boys enjoyed a Chanukah party, as well as decorating [and eating] our very own doughnuts.
Each day of Chanuka, we lit the Menorah in our classroom and said the Brachos [without Hashem’s name]. We learned more about Chanuka and we contrasted the troubles that we had in the time of the Greek rulership, and the celebration, when the Chashmonaim were victorious over the Greeks vs the troubles we had in the time of the Persians, Haman etc, and the celebration when Mordechai and Esther were victorious.
This week on zoom the boys were challenged by Rabbi Kuritsky with a Gmara in P’sachim that discussed the Halacha regarding a situation where one is forced to benefit from something forbidden and chooses to enjoy.

Elementary School

Kindergarten
This week kindergarten learned to read and spell many words with the TH sound. Using the writing skill they learned about how to write a predictable book they wrote all about what they like to do on Chanukah. They also made a menorah. In Math they learned so many facts this week I can’t even keep up with the class! They just keep asking for more! I love their enthusiasm for learning how to add and subtract. We played two different types of dreidel games to practice adding and subtracting. It is in their red folder if you want them to teach you how to play. In social studies they finished sharing their family trees. They really loved getting to share all about their family and they were very proud of themselves. In science they learned all about solids and what makes an object solid. I am very proud of the class for how well they did for their first time on zoom. They were very focused and they all participated and tried their best!
Happy birthday to Alexander, Emanuella, and Ilan!

Third Grade
This week third grade students practiced modifying nouns into their plural forms. They not only were able to use the rules we had learned previously but are now able to identify and modify plural nouns into their irregular forms. Students also wrote and revised their positivity poems, creating wonderful pieces. In Social Studies, students continued to learn how climate and geography affects people and their decisions on where they live. In Computer class, they learned how to fortify their passwords to better secure their information and privacy.
Miss Sasha

4B
4B had a wild and crazy week! We had fun Chanukah events including decorating donuts, and going in a bouncy house and on a train ride courtesy of The Traveling Tykes! We also had a snow zoom day! In ELA, we learned about verbs, and how to make our verbs agree with our subjects when writing. In math we started learning about fractions. In social studies we talked about the 3 branches of government and what each one consists of.

Fifth Grade
Greetings and salutations!
This week in 5th grade has been pretty busy despite the holiday festivities.
In grammar, the 5th grade learned about the tricky perfect tenses. They continued to practice throughout the week and I am confident that the class will do quite well on their quiz next week.
In writing, the class practiced finding key details in stories and using them to summarize the plot of a story. This skill will surely come in handy for their upcoming independent reading book project! The class also wrote amazing positivity Haikus!
In reading, the class continued to read Holes. We discussed and analyzed the actions of the characters. We also began tying in the details of the parallel stories within the book and how they connect to what is going on with Stanley in the present.

In math, the students practiced multiplying fractions as well as multiplying mixed numbers. I am happy to say that the students seem very comfortable with multiplying fractions and mixed numbers alike!

Lastly, in Social Studies, the students continued their journey through South America. They learned about some of the amazing creatures that inhabit our neighbor to the south. The students also learned about the people that once lived there and about people that live there presently.

This week, I would like to commend Sophie Dym for her diligent work!

Middle School

Middle School ELA
6th Grade
Sixth Graders had a great week! In reading, we completed our novel study of The Lightning Thief! We discussed plot and climax, and wrote beautiful paragraphs. In grammar, students practiced identifying subjects and predicates in a variety of sentences. In writing, we learned about summarizing fictional texts, and wrote beautiful summaries of short stories, We also wrote wonderful haiku poems about our theme of the month: being positive.
7th Grade
Seventh graders had a busy week! We continued our novel study of Milkweed, and discussed setting. In Grammar, students learned about different types of sentences based on structure. They practiced identifying simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences. In writing, we discussed and wrote about the author’s tone, and how word choice helps us identify it. Students also wrote haiku poems!
8th Grade
Eighth graders had a good week! We continued our novel study of The Giver, and discussed character motivations. In grammar, students learned about different types of phrases. This week, we practiced identifying and writing with prepositional and appositive phrases. In writing, we discussed connotation and denotation of a word, and how word choice can change a story. Students also wrote haikus!

Middle School Math
6th finished the module on fraction operations. We have been working on challenging word problems.

7th has been working on geometry. We used kinetic sand to visualize the cross section of 3D figures. THey also learned about complementary and supplementary angles. I want to congratulate Lana Medik for diligently working on triangle contradictions.

8th started chapter two on algebraic properties. We worked on challenging word problems and will be learning how to solve liberal equations.

Ms. Ilanit enjoyed her snow day yesterday and 7th grade has a new classmate Shmuly.

7th grade learned about the document that allowed the Constitution to be ratified and go into effect: the Bill of Rights. Consisting of the first ten amendments to the new national government, this piece of legislation secures the basic rights of American citizens, including the freedoms of speech and religion, the right to own a firearm, and the guarantee of a trial by jury.

8th grade covered the political career of Theodore Roosevelt. Becoming America’s youngest chief executive after the assassination of President Mckinley in 1901, Roosevelt is now infamous as the “Trust Buster” and creator of the country’s system of national parks.

Middle School Science
7th grade has been diligently working through a unit on the Scientific Method. During this unit students are learning how to investigate like a scientist. Answering bigger questions and creating hypotheses to help investigate to find answers. Students learned how to identify independent and dependent variables and graph their findings.

8th grade has completed biochemical processes. During this time students learned the importance and inter-relatedness between cellular respiration and photosynthesis and how the reactants and products are necessary for each to function properly. They investigated how to make effective sourdough starters and the role that bacteria has in the fermentation process. They also completed a yeast respiration lab wherein they were able to see evidence of CO2 being released by the size of the balloon at the end of the experiment.

SIHA Weekly for December 11

by admin | Dec 11, 2020 | Newsletter

Dvar Torah Parshas Vayeishev

In this week’s Parsha, the tragic story of M’cheras Yosef is told. Besides being intrinsically horrific, the after effects are perhaps even more appalling.
[The Asara Harigei malchus- the Roman’s murdering of ten great innocent Torah scholars, generations later, is attributed to this chronicle]
The story basically is; the 10 [brothers besides Binyamin] Shevatim decide that Yosef is Chayav Meesa, to be sentenced to death, based on some of his actions.
Reuvein, the Bchor, first born son,decides to “push off” carrying out this sentence by having Yosef deposited in a pit [Rashi explains that in truth, Reuvein’s intention was to save him completely].
After Reuvein leaves, to spend time with his father, the brothers encounter a passing caravan of Arabs, Yehuda speaks up and says “why should we spill blood, let’s sell him instead as a slave”.
They do sell Yosef to the Arabs.
The Posuk states a seemingly unnecessary statement “the Arabs were carrying beautiful smelling perfumes”.
Why does the Torah deem this statement necessary?
Rashi explains that this was an unusual “load” for these Arabs, as they usually would transport and sell neft, foul smelling freight. Hashem arranged this so that the Tzadik, Yosef would not have to bear the foul smelling neft.

The question is; at the end of the day, Yosef was sold as a slave, and he would be a slave for the next 13 years! Who cares that he was transported with spices versus neft?

We can ask a similar question about the holiday of Chanuka.
We are all excited about the upcoming holiday. We were told by our Rabbis thousands of years ago to celebrate every year for 8 days!
The question is; if we study the era in history preceding Chanuka and after Chanuka, we find really hard and difficult times for us Jews!
Why the celebration, it was only for a short period of time that we enjoyed tranquility?

I heard a beautiful answer from my Rabbi in Lakewood, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Kahan shlita, that can answer both questions.

It is true that Yosef was being sold and transported as a slave, but the fact that the Arabs were carrying beautiful smelling perfumes and spices v.s. foul smelling neft, that was the norm for Arabs to transport, was a clear message to Yosef from Hashem. Hashem was telling him “I am with you”!

Hashem shone a light on Yosef in his time of darkness.

The same is true for Chanuka, although times were turbulent for us Jews prior to the events of the Greeks and the Chashmonaim, and they were turbulent and troublesome after the winning of the war against the Greeks, but since Hashem shined His light on us,

His message was clear “I am with you”!

That is plenty of reason for celebration!

Each of us in our own lives have gone through, or may be going through a “dark period”, but if we look, we will see the “light that Hashem is shining” on us.

An excursion:
I recently broke my patella [knee cap] while bike riding in Ohio this summer. This was a pretty dark period, for me. I meritted to see the “light that Hashem made shine” upon me, nevertheless. For example;
Within 60 seconds of falling on the bike trail, a registered nurse came and offered me help.
I was not with my family,as I had taken a group of “special adults” on an excursion.
How was I to get home back to New Jersey?
Hashem arranged that my chavrusa [learning partner] came to Ohio by plane for the same weekend with his wife and children. He [and his wife!] agreed to drive my van home with me and the special adults. {an 8 hour ride!}.
The list goes on and on…
May we all merit to see the “light of Hashem” shine on us, whether in dark times or in pleasant times, and may we merit seeing the coming of Moshiach and the “light” of redemption speedily in our days!
Shabbat Shalom
Happy Chanuka
Rabbi Kuritsky

Special Announcement! Chanukah is here! 

A great big thank you to the SIHA PTA for organizing an amazing week for the SIHA students! So many fun surprises are in store: Menorah making, Chanukah sale, gelt, Dreidels, projects, Sufganiot decorating, party, piñata making and the biggest of them all The Traveling Tykes Carnival is coming to us!!! Please look forward to it! 

Judaics

Kindergarten and First Grade
We had a great week in Kindergarten and First Grade Judaics! Our kindergarteners have learnt the letter kaf and enda kaf! We have a special song for these letters and can make our fingers into their shapes! In First Grade we have begun a new nekuda, shva! We are getting very good at reading three letter words in hebrew! This week we continued to learn about Channukah! We learnt how the weak Macabim won the war against the Greeks. We learnt how after the Jewish people cleaned up the Bet Hamikdash they could not find the special pure oil to light the menorah. Finally they found one jar, that was only supposed to last for one night. Hashem made a big miracle and the oil lasted for eight nights! In honor of Chanukah we decorated our very own menorahs, we can’t wait to use them at home!
Happy Channukah and Shabbat Shalom!
Morah Kaplan

Second Grade
We had a busy week getting through all the preparations for Chanukah. We hope all mothers in 2nd grade will enjoy the Chanukah Gift we made
especially for you and will think of us when you light the Shabbat candles. We are sure you are all enjoying the custom made Chanukah mat, menorah and all the other goodies we brought home to honor this wonderful festival. This week we still managed to practice our reading skills, learn about Chanukah and complete the weekly Parsha. In this weeks Parsha we discussed how the brothers were jealous of Yosef and how he was sold as a slave, worked for Potiphar and was thrown into jail where he interpreted the dreams which the butler and baker were
troubled by.
Have a Happy Chanukah and Shabbat Shalom.
Morah Spiegel

4B
We spent a lot of this week preparing for Chanukah. The children learned the Chanuka Story as well as some Halachos (Laws) of Chanuka!
Have a happy and enjoyable Chanuka!
Morah Bistriz

Love, Morah Bistritz

Judaics – Middle School

5th and 6th Grade Girls

Dear parents.
Wow, we had an amazing week.
We learned all about Chanukah. The Greeks were trying to force the Jews to assimilate to the Greek culture. Antiochus, their wicked king, decreed laws preventing the Jews from keeping Torah and Mitzvot. No keeping Shabbat, no keeping Kashrut, no learning Torah, no giving a Brit Milah. Any Jews caught breaking any of these laws was killed!
Lots of Jews went to hide in caves to learn Torah. They would learn with their Sefarim (Torah books), while there was a watchman at the door making sure that no Greek soldiers were coming. Whenever they saw a Greek soldier coming, the watchmen would quickly notify the people, who would then take out their dreidels and start to play. When the Greek soldiers walked in, hoping to find some torah-learning Jews to kill – the Jews were all playing dreidel!
In our classroom, we appointed watchmen to notify us when the Greeks were coming. We also appointed 2 students as Greek soldiers – who came marching into our classroom to kill whoever was learning Torah. The watchmen quickly notified everyone and the girls immediately took out their dreidels and began to play. We had a great time acting this out!
We painted and made beautiful glass cube Menorahs this week. Every girl did a great job and the Menorahs came out stunning!
We all wrapped our Chanukah lighting Brachot/songs card and candles beautifully and came home with a beautiful package (our students packed them for the whole school!!) with a dreidel and instructions, the Menorah contest and The Chanukah Post – Siha’s Chanukah Newspaper.
All the girls worked to say the blessing/beracha of Asher Yatzar after they went to the bathroom, thanking Hashem for the wisdom in our bodies and that we’re alive.
Our weekly Halacha – Jewish Law – raffle winner is Gabby Fishman! Great job, Gabby We had a great time going to 7-11 to get a Slurpee.
Happy Chanukah!
Have a great weekend!
Best,
Miss Dershowitz

5th and 6th Grade Boys
This week in Tefila we began giving a more in depth look into the Shemona Esrai.
We explained how the only one we can truly rely on is Hashem and how the prayer for healing (Refaeinu) has taken on more meaning during corona.
We also got into the Chanukah mode by Building our own Menoras and discussing some of the concepts of the Holiday. Stay tuned!
Rabbi Levy

7th and 8th Grade Girls
Our zoom ride this week was successful and enjoyable. We prepared our minds and hearts for this very meaningful week of light-styled festivities that are coming up. We learnt all about the true, deep meaning of light. Rabbi Charlie Harary spoke beautifully on this topic! We also learnt how to make the perfect Latkes, yummm.
Happy Chanukah!!
Morah Toba

7th and 8th Grade Boys
7th and 8th grade boys faced a real life challenge this week, quarantining at home and schooling on zoom!
It was really nice to see the boys, albeit on zoom and have their participation. This week, we took a 50+ question test on Chanukah facts. The boys scored well. We learned many points on this week’s Parsha, Parshas Vayeishev.
We also made our very own wooden Menorah. We painted, glued and put pieces together.
Rabbi Kuritsky

Elementary School

Kindergarten
This week kindergarten finished writing their first books! They did such an amazing job. They are very excited to read their books to the class. They also learned about Impolite Theo who makes the TH sound. They listened to read alouds all about Chanukah and made dreidel people. In math they used toys and number lines to help them understand the concept of adding 1 more and subtracting 1 less using mental math. They also had so much fun measuring the height of things using non standard tools. In science they learned how to describe the physical properties of different objects and they went on a scavenger hunt to find wood, metal, and plastic items. In social studies they made a family glyph. They made such beautiful family trees. They began sharing their family trees with the class and they loved getting to tell us all about their family.
Ms. Syetta

First Grade
Our first graders are really learning a lot. In addition to learning about the genres of Fantasy and Reality, the first grade has been solving number puzzles and subtraction equations. It is amazing to see how well they understand the relationship between numbers
Also, in celebration of Chanukah the first grade wrote paragraphs describing in detail their love for the season. They love lighting the menorah and eating the latkes. They were especially excited to design their own dreidel patterns! You may see them proudly displayed this week in our first grade classroom.
Mrs. Adams

Miss Sasha

Fourth Grade
4A
This week in math we changed mixed numbers to improper fractions, expressed fractions in simplest form, changed improper fractions to mixed numbers, added and subtracted fractions.
And ELA we worked on present tense verbs, identified main and helping verbs and worked on persuasive writing. We completed our first chapter book Inside Out and Back Again.
In Social Studies this week we reviewed and took a test on chapter four Living In The East.
Mrs. Shats
4B
4B had a fun week! Chanukah is upon us! We went down to the beautiful Chanukah sale that the PTA prepared for SIHA. It was truly bigger and better than ever before! The children bought toys, candy, and other trinkets. Many of them bought gifts for people as well! It was so nice to see my students being so selfless and using their money to buy gifts for their parents, classmates, and teachers as well! Happy Chanukah!
Mr. F

Fifth Grade
This week, the fifth graders practiced identifying verb tenses in grammar. In writing, we practiced finding themes in poems and writing about theme. In reading, we continued our novel study of Holes. We also continued working on our independent reading book project. In math, we finished off our unit on adding and subtracting fractions. In Social Studies, we continued our unit on geography of South America. Ms. Tatic would like to commend Charles Grego for being an amazing student!
Ms. Tatic

Middle School

Middle School ELA
6th Grade
Sixth graders had a great week! We spent the week reviewing. We went over different types of sentences, different ways to begin a sentence, and independent and dependent clauses. We also had a classwide Kahoot challenge. Oren Bilik got the highest score! Go Oren! After we wrapped up our unit on sentence variety, and had a grammar unit test. Everyone did great! In reading, we continued our novel study of The Lightning Thief.

7th grade
Seventh graders had a busy week! In grammar, we reviewed independent and dependent clauses, as well as three different sentence structures. Students wrote beautiful paragraphs. In writing, we wrapped up our unit on key details and themes in Literature. Mrs. Hazen would like to commend Ariella Shindelman for her wonderful writing!
In reading, we continued our novel study of Milkweed.

8th grade
Eighth graders had a good week! In grammar, we reviewed independent and dependent clauses, as well as four different sentence structures. Students put their skills to test with a grammar-themed Kahoot! Josh Osher got the highest score! Good job Josh!
In writing, students practiced identifying theme and key supporting details in literature. We also continued our novel study of The Giver.

Middle School Math
6th
We started the unit on number operations. We’re using the LCM and GCF to do operations with fractions.

7th
We started our unit on Geometry. This week we focused on scale drawing and finding the area. We will be going into geometric construction next week.

8th
We reviewed radical operations and exponent rules. The class did radicals beyond square root and cube root. They completed advanced problems with radicals.

Middle School Social Studies
6th grade continued to learn about arguably the greatest civilization in antiquity, Ancient Egypt. Students this week learned about the “Age of the Pyramid Builders” and the various Egyptian scripts used in society. The mysteries of the Rosetta Stone were also discussed. Students then practiced what they learned in class.

7th grade learned about the second, and current, government of the United States of America, the Constitution. All seven articles of the document were explored, including the requirements for each major federal position and the powers of each branch.

8th grade continued to explore the Gilded Age by learning about the impacts of the Industrial Revolution. Immigraton and urbanization were two significant topics examined over the course of the week.