Pennies for Patients

Dear Friends of Gefen and Tamar,

This week the students began a 3-week campaigning for Pennies for Patients, a fundraiser to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. On the last day of every school week during this campaign, each class counts the money its students have raised. Here are a few shots of fourth graders counting their money this morning to mark the end of week one.

Students count their Pennies for Patients money

Bryce sorts coins. 

So far, fourth graders have raised...

Wait for it...

$142.85! And it's just week one! Students are so proud of themselves; I am proud of them too.

Best,
Hamorah Eliza

Going to the 5th state of America-Connecticut

Hi,
The best thing I did this weekend was going to Connecticut. I liked going to Connecticut the most because there was a Foosball table. The Foosball table was great because I like twirling the handles back and forth. I also like winning.

Something that happened this week which I am proud of is I directed my mom when she was making a wrong turn.

The hardest part of the week was when my brother's friend trampled on me. It was hard because he is stronger than me. It was surprising because he is shorter than me.

I hope that next time I will not get trampled on!

I would like to compliment my friend for saving me from my brother's friend this week.

Bye,
Jonathan

My Birthday Weekend

Dear Readers,

The best thing I did this weekend was have my birthday. I liked it because I invited my friends over. Something that happened this weekend which I am proud of is my friends had a good time and I was not being bossy because I'm sometimes bossy. The hardest part of the weekend was trying not to be bossy to my friends. I hope that next weekend I will get more presents from my family at my family birthday party. I would like to compliment my mom for letting me have my birthday party.

Bye,
Avia

My Weekend

Yoyo Peeps,
The best thing I did this weekend was when I went to Providence R.I to see my friend Alena. I liked it because I have not seen her in a long time and I love hanging with her. Something that happened this weekend which I am proud of is completing my 6 hour reading goal which would give me a free ticket to 6 flags. The hardest part of this week was completing the 6 hour reading goal. I hope that this weekend I will get to read another 6 hours even though I wont get a reward. I would like to compliment    my friend Alena for just being there. 

Adios,
Elliana

My Basketball Game

Shalom Friends,


The best thing I did this weekend was my basketball game. I liked it because (we won but) we always have fun and  got 6 rebounds, 2 points, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. Something That happened this weekend which I am proud of is we won by double-digits (14).  I would still like to improve my foul-shot.

The hardest part of the weekend was waking up today. I hope next week i'll wake up easier.

I would like to compliment Benjy my brother for supporting me even though his foot is broken.


As Always Stay Cool,
Sam,

Weekend in Review

Dear Blog Readers, 

The best thing I did last weekend was going to the Brandeis University basketball game. I liked it because I play basketball. Something that happened this weekend which I am proud of is playing basketball. I hope that next weekend my team wins the basketball game. I would like to compliment Hamorah Eliza for making school AWESOME:) 

  

Best Wishes,

Eliana S.

Dear Tamar Parents
The best thing I did last weekend was snowboarding. I liked it because snowboarding is a awesome sport. Something that happened this weekend which I am proud of is doing the headwall of a trail. The hardest part of the weekend was doing homework. I hope that this weekend I do harder things. I would like to compliment Bruce for being him.

Your Blogger,
Bryce

MEG'S WEEKEND NEWS

HI PEOPLES,
THE ONLY THING I DID THIS WEEKEND WAS GOING TO THE NATICK MALL AND GOING TO BUILD-A-BEAR WORKSHOP . I MADE A KITTY AND I NAMED HER SNOWBALL. I LIKED IT BECAUSE IT WAS SO FUN. SOMETHING THAT I DID THIS WEEKEND WICH I AM PROUD OF IS MAKING SNOWBALL. THE HARDEST PART OF MY WEEKEND WAS READING FOR A LONG TIME. I HOPE THAT NEXT WEEKEND I GET GLOVES AND SHOES FOR SNOWBALL. I WOULD LIKE TO COMPLIMENT MY GRANDPARENTS FOR BUYING SNOWBALL AND BUYING HER CLOTHES!!!!!!!!!

YOUR BLOGGER,
MEG

Doggy Days

Aloha,

The best thing I did this weekend is hanging out with my dog and training him. I liked it because I got to spend time with my dog and I love dogs and I got to know that I was helping him learn by training him. I taught him to balance a treat on his nose without eating it until I said "kosher". I had to say "traif, traif, traif..." When I said "kosher" he was allowed to eat the treat, which in other words meant that the treat was kosher. When we say "kosher" we are teaching him Judaism, basically. Something that happened this weekend which I am proud of is succeeding in that task. I would still like to improve how I work on training. The hardest part of last weekend was having Yael, my sister, rile up the dog while I was trying to train him. I hope that next weekend I get to show my parents how much I have worked on my dog training and how much I've improved. I would like to compliment my dog for being a fast learner. His name is Botzi.

Your Blogger,
Hadass (and my inspiration, Botzi)

Finishing Up Our Colonial Communities

Dear Friends of Gefen and Tamar,

Although we had a short week, fourth graders were able to (nearly) finish their work on their colonial communities! Here are some photos of the students painting the buildings in their villages/on their plantations.

The boys' group's school house

Avia paints:)

Elliana is hard work....

We are aiming to showcase our completed projects next Friday at Shabbat, so (tentatively) mark your calendars!

Best,
Hamorah Eliza

Hamorah Janis's Report

This week's special Blogger is Hana from the Gefen class.  Here are this weeks events:

Today we did the commercials for the Frindle Book Report.  We went into the library and Hamorah Janis’ husband filmed us. 

We had art and we started landscape pictures.  First we sketched the picture using pencils and next we are going to use water colors and salt.

We only had 3 days of school this week but we got a lot done.

In Hebrew we planted all different kinds of flowers.  They are starting to grow!

In Fine Arts we are practicing the play Rumplestiltskin.

We played games with Hamorah Sigilit.

Best, 

Hamorah Janis

Tu B'Shvat Fun

Dear Friends of Gefen and Tamar,

On Thursday afternoon we celebrated Tu B'Shvat, which is Arbor Day or "The New Year for the Trees". One custom associated with this holiday is to eat fruits, or to eat from the Seven Species (shivat haminim) described in the torah as being abundant in the land of Israel. Third and fourth graders actually led our school-wide celebration. They each had lines that punctuated our Tu B'Shvat seder, which consisted of four courses of fruits and four courses of grape juice to represent the four seasons of the year.

We also did a really cool art project. Each student in the school wrote his/her name on a leaf and glued it to a branch on our Tu B'Shvat tree, which Hamorah Carol painted. Each grade had its own branch. Once everyone had a turn to go up to fasten his/her leaf to the tree, we had a colorful, beautiful, leafy tree to admire as we ate and drank.

Parents and visiters attended and it was just a really nice way to celebrate nature and community and the land of Israel. Here are some pictures from our fun afternoon.

Gefen students add their leaves to the Tu B'Shvat tree

Leaves!

Justin attaches his leaf. 

Tamar students take their turns. 

Tamar students say "cheese" with Rav Hazzan

 Best,
Hamorah Eliza

Editing Blog Posts and Building Colonial Community Models in Fourth Grade

Dear Friends of Gefen and Tamar,

Because it's a new year, Tamar students spent some time this morning "cleaning out" their blog posts. That is, they edited them. Today we reviewed punctuation, capitalization and format rules and then each student chose one or more of his/her blog posts from earlier in the academic year to improve. If you visit some of our older posts, you may notice that they have been updated. Have a look...

Fourth graders have also been hard at work building their colonial communities. Students are working in three group and each group is creating a unique model of a colonial-era community. One group is making a southern plantation. One group is making a middle colonial village. And another group is making a New England colonial village. These models must be historically accurate. In order to make these models, students studied the architecture, village layout, building materials, animals, and crops that actually existed in the region and era in which their model is set. Here are pictures of the students working on their models. We finished constructing this week. Next week we will begin painting. Students have been SO CREATIVE with their work thus far. I can't wait to see how these models turn out.

Eliana builds her village's schoolhouse

Sam googles pictures of colonial-era buildings for his project

Best,
Hamorah Eliza

Out with the Old (Roald Dahl Author Study), In With the New (Light and Optical Engineering)

Dear Friends of Gefen and Tamar,

Today was our first FULL day of school in 2014. And it was a packed one. Fourth graders wrapped up their author study on Roald Dahl. We discussed the ways in which his books are similar and the ways in which they are different. A few things we noticed that are true about (virtually) all of his books are: they fall into the Fantasy genre, they have a main "kid" character, they have a bad guy (or gal), they often take place in Great Britain, and they tend to have silly words and detailed descriptions. Students also made Venn diagrams to illustrate these similarities and differences.

In science, we began a new unit called Light and Optical Engineering. Like the last unit we did (Sound and Acoustical Engineering), we will continue to learn about engineers and how they work to create various technologies. And, again, we will conduct experiments by following the engineering design process. Of course the content will be different this time. Hamorah Janis and I are excited to see how the students are able to apply what they learned in the fall to new concepts and topics.

Stay tuned...

Best,
Hamorah Eliza