SOFER/SCRIBE VISITS!

Today we had a Sofer visit our class in preparation for our Chumash Party on November 7th.

He showed the children how he writes on parchment using a special feather and ink. He showed the class a real Megillah that he wrote for purim and written scrolls found inside of the tefillin and mezuzah.

In addition the children had a chance to watch the sofer write a few of the children's name on a peice of parchment!

Happy Birthday Alan!

Thank you for the thoughtful gift Verkhovsky family!

Learning about the Torah!

Dear Parents,

The children in Kitah Beis are very busy preparing for our Chumash Party- When the children will receive their first Chumash!

We have been learning in preperation for this special day, how special the torah is and what is written inside. We discussed that the Torah has 5 books, and at our Chumash Party we will receive the first one- Chumash Bereishis!

We were able to look at a mini  Torah and see whats inside and of it and the different garments used to cover it. In addition we all had a chance to feel "klaf"- the special paper used to write a Torah, and the feather the Sofer/Scribe uses to write the holy letters.

The children can not wait to visit the Scribe and see how we writes a real Torah!

Learning about different Genres in Reading Workshop and using our Reading Binders

In Reading Workshop we have been focusing on shopping for books, habits of good readers, keeping our library neat and orderly. One other major focus has been on different kinds of Genres. We learned about Fantasy, Biography (non-fiction) Science Fiction, and Fiction. Last class I read a Biography (Helen Keller) to the class, and then they had to choose their own Biography or Non-Fiction book to read. We took out all the book bins that are either Biography or Non Fiction and off they went to shop. Afterward they had to use their Reading Binders, to record the book they read in the Binder Reading Log, make a Tally Mark for the genre they read, and use a Bar Graph for the month of October to see how many different genres they read this month. 

Second graders are already pros at doing this ... :)

PLAYING WITH ICE

In Science we are just about to wrap up our unit on PROPERTIES OF MATTER. We were learning about heating and cooling, and had a chance to experiment with ice - cubes.. what is an ice cube when it is frozen ?? It is a solid.. what happens when it melts?? it become a liquid.. For this experiment we activated prior knowledge in our mini lesson on the rug, and quickly moved into playing with ice .. well first we make predilections, and observations which were recorded on our sheets .. then we watched and waited for the ice to melt.. some kids smelled the ice cube, some held it in their hands, while others put it on their desks and waited to see what would happen ...