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In order to maintain consistancy with the rest of the school, I will be switching to using homeworknow.com for updates. Please subscribe there to continue receiving updates.

There will also be a separate middle school signup for general announcements.

Race to Nowhere

In school, we are working hard to prepare for Pesach, focusing on dinim in all classes.

Tonight, make sure to come out at 7 for the Akiba showing of The Race to Nowhere, a movie about education. It is an important event and opportunity to think as a community about what we ask of students.

A General Update

Here’s what we’re up to in classes:

6th Navi – Perek 19 – Yonatan and David. We just talked about important decisions in our lives and how we make choices.

6th Chumash – We are about to finish the story of the meraglim (spies)

6th BOL – We will be switching to discuss Pesach for the next few weeks, focusing on the Hagadah.

7th Navi – We are in the middle of perek 13, a very intense perek that deals with the beginning of David’s punishment.

7th BOL – We have started learning mishnayot about Pesach, and will continue with learning Hagadah.

8th Navi – We have learned about the separation of the kingdoms and are through perek 14.

All classes will be doing dinim of Nissan and Pesach, and all classes have begun learning those topics. We will continue this week learning about chametz and matzah.

6th Grade Journals

In sixth grade, we are going to take some time to “strategically plan.” Individually, we will be writing in journals that we each received and taking some time to think about how we can grow.

Tonight, we will be writting a page on our strengths and weaknesses. We are not just making a list, but rather discussing why we are strong or weak in any particular area, and giving examples to support our opinions.

Over the next few weeks, we will be completing many of these “meta” assignments.

Thanks!

Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make Mitzvah Fair such a success! The buzz was great about both the sixth and seventh graders, and everyone was amazed by how well they knew their topics. The sixth grade raised over $200 for Tomchei Shabbos of Dallas in their gift shop. To learn more about this important organization, click here.

We are very excited about getting back to learning Navi this week! Also, today and tomorrow are Rosh Chodesh Adar which will usher in all sorts of fun for our Middle School. There will also be a Shabbaton the last weekend in March, so mark your calendars!

Overall Update

Here’s where we are in all classes:

6th Oral Law: Perek 1 Mishnah 4 – who counts as family in court?

6th Chumash: Perek 14 (finishing up this week!) – The Jews are punished for the sin of the meraglim. Why is their sin worse than the sin of the golden calf from this week’s parsha?

6th Navi: Perek 17 – David and Galyat

7th Navi: Perek 12 – The fallout from David and Bat-Sheva

7th Oral Law: Perek 2 Mishnah 3 – Accidental murder

8th Navi: Perek 12 – the kingdom falls apart

If you have any questions, or have missed any material, let me know!

6th Grade Chumash

In sixth grade Chumash, we are focusing intensely on skills, particularly reading and translating. We are moving slowly through parshat Shelach, but we have made incredible progress in ability to translate. The class has become much more comfortable with the grammar used in Chumash, and they are needing to ask questions from me much less.
One question I frequently get is why I don’t give vocabulary lists to memorize. Basically, what I have found is that when students memorize words they become able to translate words but not sentences. When students know how to see the whole sentence, they also are able to translate more efficiently using context clues. I do emphasize the need to practice heavily. I encourage the class to go home and go over the pesukim we learn in class on a daily basis, if possible. Students who review even once a week are at a great advantage.

Mitzvah Fair

We are making great progress in our preparations for Mitzvah Fair, which has been rescheduled for March 3 because of the ‘snow days’ we’ve had recently. Both sixth and seventh grades have their groups and assignments and have received the various dates by which they will need to complete work:

Sixth Grade:

February 21: Rough draft of “plaque,” rough draft of script

February 24: Final draft of script and plaque

February 28: Script memorized and items for your exhibit at school (including box)

 

Seventh grade:

February 21: Powerpoint, rough draft of scripts

February 24: Final draft of script

February 28: Script memorized and visual component at school

 

We will be using the week of the 28th for practicing. We hope everyone can make it to the Mitzvah Fair, which promises to be amazing!

6th Grade BOL

Today we will take a look at our 6th Grade Boys Oral Law class. In case you don’t remember, we are learning mesechet Sanhedrin which deals with halachic legal proceedings. So far, we have finished the first two perakim of Sanhedrin.

The third perek deals with the process of choosing who sits on a court and who counts as a kosher witness. We are currently going through various activities (i.e. gambling) that disqualify a person from testifying in court even if they are not intrinsically prohibited. We focus on the ‘whys’ of the Mishna, not the ‘whats.’

I strongly encourage each student to review at home each night. We have talked a lot about ‘assigning yourself’ or telling yourself what needs to be done, even if you have not been told by someone else.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) we will be reviewing what we have learned, and Friday we will be assessing our progress.

6th – 8th Dinim

Today we will focus on the Dinim, Jewish law, program. This is traditionally the most exciting time of year in Dinim, as we are beginning preparations for Mitzvah Fair which will be February 24 at 6:45 PM.

Sixth grade has already begun learning the halachot of muktza. We are extremely proud of our muktza unit as the students come out with a clear understanding of how this complicated legal topic works. They will know categories of muktza, how to determine the category of an object, and what they can or can not do with the object on Shabbat. At the Mitzvah Fair, they will share their knowledge via the “Muktza Museum.” We have already covered the types of muktza and will be spending the next few weeks practicing constantly to perfect our knowledge. Then we will move into the planning of Mitzvah Fair itself.

Seventh grade is learning the laws of Jewish Business Ethics. We cover topics like ‘Copyright,’ ‘Truth in Advertising,’ and ‘Competition.’ These laws are crucial for our students as they come into play several times each day. Students will be receiving packets this week in groups and beginning to research their individual topics.

8th grade will be learning about Jews and the environment with Rabbi Silver, beginning tomorrow.

Stay tuned for more!