Hello all,
Hope you all had a great Spring Break! Sunday we kicked off our last quarter of the year with the story of King Solomon the Wise and a class discussion about the difference between equality and justice. This is a very big theme for second graders, but they did an awesome job being engaged in discussion and staying on task for a topic that will no doubt pop out several more times in their lives.
This next Sunday, our class will be participating in a Seder with the first grade class. We teachers hope to make this an interactive experience for all students in which they can give their input and share a little bit about their own past experiences as well as get to simulate the story of Pesach. In order to make this Seder as successful as we know it can be we will need your help. There are a few things for each student to bring:
1) A memento that represents something unique about their family Seders at
home. This could be anything from a family Haggadah to a Seder plate or
Elijah cup, a sample of a family recipe, photographs of relatives, to
name a few ideas. Feel free to bring anything as long as your student
can talk about it to the class!
2) We also need the following materials in total for 18 people:
3 boxes of Matzoh
Charoset
20 hard-boiled eggs
parsley
horseradish
3 shankbones (or something to substitute for shankbones)
grape juice
You don't have to bring a lot, but if we had everyone bring a little
something, that would be a huge help to us! In an email that I'm about to send to all parents, I will attach a Google
spreadsheet document to the message so that you could just sign in your
name and what your bringing so that everyone else reading this email
can view what we have and what's needed. Please sign up ASAP! Either that or feel free to respond to the email letting me know what you will bring.
I very much look forward to this Sunday, and I hope that all the students are ready for a great time!
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Chag Purim Sameach!
Hello all,
we finished off the third quarter of the year on a high note, with a Purim celebration. As most of you know, we did not have class today, but instead headed straight to the sanctuary for a Purim pep rally full of music, skits and fabulous costumes! Afterwards, the students were free to break off and play games at the Purim carnival. It was a great way to send all of us off for Spring Break.
The next time I will see your students will be April 6th, and the week after that will be a passover seder with the first grade class. We will need parents' help for getting food and materials, and I will be sure to send emails and updates as that week approaches with more information.
Stayed tuned and have a lovely and safe spring break!
-Abby Manaster
we finished off the third quarter of the year on a high note, with a Purim celebration. As most of you know, we did not have class today, but instead headed straight to the sanctuary for a Purim pep rally full of music, skits and fabulous costumes! Afterwards, the students were free to break off and play games at the Purim carnival. It was a great way to send all of us off for Spring Break.
The next time I will see your students will be April 6th, and the week after that will be a passover seder with the first grade class. We will need parents' help for getting food and materials, and I will be sure to send emails and updates as that week approaches with more information.
Stayed tuned and have a lovely and safe spring break!
-Abby Manaster
Monday, March 10, 2014
This Sunday was an exciting day, as some of your students may have told you. After learning and sharing with each other a little bit about the first synagogues, we went outside for our mystery outdoor activity! Everyone got a turn to throw five stones at a Goliath target. By reading the story of David and Goliath, it is my hope that all the students will be empowered to conquer all of their lives' Goliaths. After music and snack sessions, we settled down by learning some Hebrew and finished off the day by watching part of Vegetales' story of Esther in honor of Purim.
Next week will be another exciting time with the Purim carnival coming up. Students may show up in costume if they choose to and we will meet in the classroom at 10 A.M. Afterwards, we'll head on over to the sanctuary to see some Purim skits and then your students will be free to wonder around as they please for the Purim carnival! Please note that there will be no specific dismissal time, but they can stay until the carnival ends at 1:30.
See you all one last time before Spring Holidays!
-Abby M.
Next week will be another exciting time with the Purim carnival coming up. Students may show up in costume if they choose to and we will meet in the classroom at 10 A.M. Afterwards, we'll head on over to the sanctuary to see some Purim skits and then your students will be free to wonder around as they please for the Purim carnival! Please note that there will be no specific dismissal time, but they can stay until the carnival ends at 1:30.
See you all one last time before Spring Holidays!
-Abby M.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Hello all!
This past Sunday we were able to both learn a few new things and recap some of the things we already learned. During the first half of the year, we learned a little bit about what some of the special celebrations that took place in the synagogue. This past week, we refreshed our memory on this subject a little by having the students participate in skits with dialogue involving these special occasions. Almost everyone was eager to read and volunteer for this activity!
We also reviewed the Hebrew word "mi" and learned the the difference between "mi" and "ma", which we were further able to reinforce through a game in which which we drew in a chalkboard house and asked the pressing question: mi/ma b'bayit? Another group got to split up and challenge themselves with a game of Hebrew Hangman.
Finally, we learned about the story of Ruth and Naomi, and to simulate the leadership characteristics of Ruth, we played a game which would be quite familiar to any of us who went to Summer at Sinai or any other summer camp: follow the leader!
As the Primary Grades' Shabbat night on April 18th approaches, we will use part of our time in the next three weeks to prepare some sort of project or demonstrate that we can showcase at the service to show what makes our class special. Up until next week, I told the students to start thinking about songs that the class maybe interested in performing. If you have time, you might want to ask your kid about any songs they have in mind! I'm open to any other creative ideas that our class can use as well.
Have a great week and see everyone next Sunday!
-Abby Manaster
This past Sunday we were able to both learn a few new things and recap some of the things we already learned. During the first half of the year, we learned a little bit about what some of the special celebrations that took place in the synagogue. This past week, we refreshed our memory on this subject a little by having the students participate in skits with dialogue involving these special occasions. Almost everyone was eager to read and volunteer for this activity!
We also reviewed the Hebrew word "mi" and learned the the difference between "mi" and "ma", which we were further able to reinforce through a game in which which we drew in a chalkboard house and asked the pressing question: mi/ma b'bayit? Another group got to split up and challenge themselves with a game of Hebrew Hangman.
Finally, we learned about the story of Ruth and Naomi, and to simulate the leadership characteristics of Ruth, we played a game which would be quite familiar to any of us who went to Summer at Sinai or any other summer camp: follow the leader!
As the Primary Grades' Shabbat night on April 18th approaches, we will use part of our time in the next three weeks to prepare some sort of project or demonstrate that we can showcase at the service to show what makes our class special. Up until next week, I told the students to start thinking about songs that the class maybe interested in performing. If you have time, you might want to ask your kid about any songs they have in mind! I'm open to any other creative ideas that our class can use as well.
Have a great week and see everyone next Sunday!
-Abby Manaster
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Hello Everyone!
Things went smoothly as first as the first week of class this semester goes. We split into small groups for activities such as reading and practicing Hebrew and dream interpretation after reading about Joseph and his brothers. The students each got to act out a dream scenario to the rest of the class and got to share what they thought this dream meant, which everyone seemed to really enjoy! My hope is that the students take away from today that whether their special gift is interpreting dreams or something else, they can use it to help out others.
We also got to go on a little class field trip to the sanctuary, where Rabbi Cook told us a little bit how to dress the Torah. A huge thanks to Rabbi Cook for volunteering his time for those thirty minutes! The students found it very interesting, and I myself learned a lot!
Way to start off the semester!
-Abby Manaster
Things went smoothly as first as the first week of class this semester goes. We split into small groups for activities such as reading and practicing Hebrew and dream interpretation after reading about Joseph and his brothers. The students each got to act out a dream scenario to the rest of the class and got to share what they thought this dream meant, which everyone seemed to really enjoy! My hope is that the students take away from today that whether their special gift is interpreting dreams or something else, they can use it to help out others.
We also got to go on a little class field trip to the sanctuary, where Rabbi Cook told us a little bit how to dress the Torah. A huge thanks to Rabbi Cook for volunteering his time for those thirty minutes! The students found it very interesting, and I myself learned a lot!
Way to start off the semester!
-Abby Manaster
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Hey everyone!
I'm Abby Manaster, the Primary Riveii teacher for Sinai Temple. I am currently a senior at Champaign Central High School. I have been a lifelong member of Sinai Temple and am strongly considering a career in education, so I saw this job fit for me. Band, soccer and languages are among my other interests/pastimes.
My dad, Robert Manaster co-leads the class and makes my life so much easier. He has been a teacher here at Sinai in the past, so although I'm in charge of making lesson plans, he's has the experience to go about dealing with Sunday school classes. Already I feel I've learned a lot about teaching!
With October having started, things are in full swing for Primary Riveii. We have now learned about the stories of creation and Adam and Eve; we have learned a little bit about the purpose and function of the synagogue and are now learning about specific things and places in the synagogue; we have now started lesson two of our Hebrew activity book; and we have already learned about the high holidays and Sukkot!
This Sunday, we reviewed the story of Adam and Eve and talked about the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. We then created our own Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, gluing cut-out leaves onto a picture of a tree. They were color-coded so the bad things were red leaves and good things were orange leaves. The students thought of some really good examples and the tree will no doubt be hung up in our classroom soon!
Lesson two's keyword this week for our Hebrew activity book was dag. Most students caught on pretty well. Some had a little bit of trouble at first, but once they received individual attention from me or Robert they caught on and became very enthusiastic about it. Some kids have actually gone ahead in the book, as you may have worked with them on it at home, which I think is wonderful! Practicing and reviewing at home is by no means required, but is certainly encouraged. As far as working ahead goes, I won't stop them! To keep those kids from getting bored during class, I have them help out any classmates who may need it. I'm also in the process of finding new ways for them to approach the activities so they could challenge themselves yet still be in the same lesson with their peers.
We had a scavenger hunt around the temple today, which was a blast! I made it into a competition between two teams: both teams, I decided, would receive a prize next week, though the winning team will get the bigger prize of the two. I'm thinking the kids would look candy/chocolate of some sort, but I will have to check-up with all the parents.
As a review of Sukkot, we played a game to do with the Four Species: etrog, lulav, hadas and aravah. It was very similar to musical chairs, except we didn't have chairs at first, so things got a little wild. However, when we added chairs everything seemed to make more sense to the students and there was a wider participation.
That's my overview of the first few weeks! I'm looking forward to next week and a great rest of the Year!
I'm Abby Manaster, the Primary Riveii teacher for Sinai Temple. I am currently a senior at Champaign Central High School. I have been a lifelong member of Sinai Temple and am strongly considering a career in education, so I saw this job fit for me. Band, soccer and languages are among my other interests/pastimes.
My dad, Robert Manaster co-leads the class and makes my life so much easier. He has been a teacher here at Sinai in the past, so although I'm in charge of making lesson plans, he's has the experience to go about dealing with Sunday school classes. Already I feel I've learned a lot about teaching!
With October having started, things are in full swing for Primary Riveii. We have now learned about the stories of creation and Adam and Eve; we have learned a little bit about the purpose and function of the synagogue and are now learning about specific things and places in the synagogue; we have now started lesson two of our Hebrew activity book; and we have already learned about the high holidays and Sukkot!
This Sunday, we reviewed the story of Adam and Eve and talked about the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. We then created our own Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, gluing cut-out leaves onto a picture of a tree. They were color-coded so the bad things were red leaves and good things were orange leaves. The students thought of some really good examples and the tree will no doubt be hung up in our classroom soon!
Lesson two's keyword this week for our Hebrew activity book was dag. Most students caught on pretty well. Some had a little bit of trouble at first, but once they received individual attention from me or Robert they caught on and became very enthusiastic about it. Some kids have actually gone ahead in the book, as you may have worked with them on it at home, which I think is wonderful! Practicing and reviewing at home is by no means required, but is certainly encouraged. As far as working ahead goes, I won't stop them! To keep those kids from getting bored during class, I have them help out any classmates who may need it. I'm also in the process of finding new ways for them to approach the activities so they could challenge themselves yet still be in the same lesson with their peers.
We had a scavenger hunt around the temple today, which was a blast! I made it into a competition between two teams: both teams, I decided, would receive a prize next week, though the winning team will get the bigger prize of the two. I'm thinking the kids would look candy/chocolate of some sort, but I will have to check-up with all the parents.
As a review of Sukkot, we played a game to do with the Four Species: etrog, lulav, hadas and aravah. It was very similar to musical chairs, except we didn't have chairs at first, so things got a little wild. However, when we added chairs everything seemed to make more sense to the students and there was a wider participation.
That's my overview of the first few weeks! I'm looking forward to next week and a great rest of the Year!
Thursday, September 26, 2013
2ND GRADE OVERVIEW
The Second Grade will focus on four main themes. The first theme is Bible stories. Students will learn several core Jewish stories, mainly from Genesis, as well as many from the Prophets. The class will also focus on Jewish values as seen and learned through these Jewish stories. The second theme is to become familiar with the synagogue. Students will learn about the main symbols and religious objects found in a typical sanctuary, the uses of a synagogue, the people who work there, and the history of Sinai Temple in Champaign/Urbana. The third theme for second grade is a review of the Hebrew Alphabet and the vowels. Students will have an opportunity to learn how to write the print form of the letters. Lastly, throughout the year, students will learn about the holidays as they occur.
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