This week at SIHA.
Kindergarten:
Mrs. Ivry-Judaics
The story of Chanukah was a big hit this week! The hero, Yehuda Makabi, made a great impression on the Kindergarteners and of course the first graders remembered him well from last year. We discussed the motivation of Yehuda Makabi for fighting against the Greeks although they were stronger than the Jews. His love and pride in being a Jew and acting like a Jew led him to gather the remaining faithful Jews to fight against the Greeks and their decrees to stop acting like Jews. We discussed how we can express our pride today, living in a free country. The answers came pouring both from the first graders and Kindergarteners. They displayed such love and pride for who they are and for the Jewish people in general. Their remarks and answers are displayed on the bulletin board. Please make sure to stop by when you visit the school.
Ms. Syetta-ELA
This week kindergarten finished their personal narratives. They wrote wonderful stories about vacations, trips to the park, and flying to their favorite place. We discovered that our brain is like a computer, which holds all different types of documents consisting of information we already know about various topics. We learned how to use our schema to answer questions about a story and to understand how characters feel in a story.
Ms. Syetta-Math
This week kindergarten began learning addition. We practiced adding toys, blocks, and even children. We played board games with dice to practice addition. We also learned practiced adding kinesthetically by using a number line on the floor and moving to the numbers. We even created our own addition word stories by acting out the stories and counting.
Ms. Syetta-Social Studies
This week kindergarten began learning about Thanksgiving. We learned why we celebrate Thanksgiving and what it means to be thankful. We talked about what we are thankful for and what we could do for other people during Thanksgiving to show we are thankful.
Ms. Syetta-Science
This week we continued to learn all about the four seasons. We drew our own pictures of what each season looks like, what the animals are doing in each season, and what the trees look like. We reviewed what we learned about what causes it to rain or snow to help us understand the water cycle.
First Grade:
Mrs. Ivry-Judaics
The story of Chanukah was a big hitthis week! The hero, Yehuda Makabi, made a great impression on the Kindergarteners and of course the first graders remembered him well from last year. We discussed the motivation of Yehuda Makabi for fighting against the Greeks although they were stronger than the Jews. His love and pride in being a Jew and acting like a Jew led him to gather the remaining faithful Jews to fight against the Greeks and their decrees to stop acting like Jews. We discussed how we can express our pride today, living in a free country. The answers came pouring both from the first graders and Kindergarteners. They displayed such love and pride for who they are and for the Jewish people in general. Their remarks and answers are displayed on the bulletin board. Please make sure to stop by when you visit the school.
Mrs. Shats-Math
This week we worked on comparing numbers, arranging numbers in order, adding and subtracting numbers to 20 using different strategies. We worked on addition and subtraction word problems.
Mr. I.-Science
We studied and reviewed the scientific method. Students seemed to enjoy the topic very much and we wrapped up by doing a science experiment through the steps of the scientific method. Our experiment was "how many droplets of water can a penny hold on its surface?" Students were very surprised to see their hypotheses being proven wrong as the penny held 22 drops as compared to their original hypothesis of 6-10 drops. They were also told to start thinking about what they want to do for the science fair in mid April.
Mrs. Perles-ELA, Social Studies
This week we continued learning about Thanksgiving. We made Pilgrim and Indian puppets, canoes, tepees, and of course turkeys. We had a blast! We wrote a great composition. The children wrote clues about what they want to be when they grow up and I had to guess what they chose. I had many teachers, policemen, and firemen. We also wrote about what we are thankful for. Almost everyone wrote about their moms and dads, their houses, and friends.
In our Reader, we read a Frog and Toad story called The Kite by Arnold Lobel.
Here are some of our turkeys:
Kindergarten:
Mrs. Ivry-Judaics
The story of Chanukah was a big hit this week! The hero, Yehuda Makabi, made a great impression on the Kindergarteners and of course the first graders remembered him well from last year. We discussed the motivation of Yehuda Makabi for fighting against the Greeks although they were stronger than the Jews. His love and pride in being a Jew and acting like a Jew led him to gather the remaining faithful Jews to fight against the Greeks and their decrees to stop acting like Jews. We discussed how we can express our pride today, living in a free country. The answers came pouring both from the first graders and Kindergarteners. They displayed such love and pride for who they are and for the Jewish people in general. Their remarks and answers are displayed on the bulletin board. Please make sure to stop by when you visit the school.
Ms. Syetta-ELA
This week kindergarten finished their personal narratives. They wrote wonderful stories about vacations, trips to the park, and flying to their favorite place. We discovered that our brain is like a computer, which holds all different types of documents consisting of information we already know about various topics. We learned how to use our schema to answer questions about a story and to understand how characters feel in a story.
Ms. Syetta-Math
This week kindergarten began learning addition. We practiced adding toys, blocks, and even children. We played board games with dice to practice addition. We also learned practiced adding kinesthetically by using a number line on the floor and moving to the numbers. We even created our own addition word stories by acting out the stories and counting.
Ms. Syetta-Social Studies
This week kindergarten began learning about Thanksgiving. We learned why we celebrate Thanksgiving and what it means to be thankful. We talked about what we are thankful for and what we could do for other people during Thanksgiving to show we are thankful.
Ms. Syetta-Science
This week we continued to learn all about the four seasons. We drew our own pictures of what each season looks like, what the animals are doing in each season, and what the trees look like. We reviewed what we learned about what causes it to rain or snow to help us understand the water cycle.
First Grade:
Mrs. Ivry-Judaics
The story of Chanukah was a big hitthis week! The hero, Yehuda Makabi, made a great impression on the Kindergarteners and of course the first graders remembered him well from last year. We discussed the motivation of Yehuda Makabi for fighting against the Greeks although they were stronger than the Jews. His love and pride in being a Jew and acting like a Jew led him to gather the remaining faithful Jews to fight against the Greeks and their decrees to stop acting like Jews. We discussed how we can express our pride today, living in a free country. The answers came pouring both from the first graders and Kindergarteners. They displayed such love and pride for who they are and for the Jewish people in general. Their remarks and answers are displayed on the bulletin board. Please make sure to stop by when you visit the school.
Mrs. Shats-Math
This week we worked on comparing numbers, arranging numbers in order, adding and subtracting numbers to 20 using different strategies. We worked on addition and subtraction word problems.
Mr. I.-Science
We studied and reviewed the scientific method. Students seemed to enjoy the topic very much and we wrapped up by doing a science experiment through the steps of the scientific method. Our experiment was "how many droplets of water can a penny hold on its surface?" Students were very surprised to see their hypotheses being proven wrong as the penny held 22 drops as compared to their original hypothesis of 6-10 drops. They were also told to start thinking about what they want to do for the science fair in mid April.
Mrs. Perles-ELA, Social Studies
This week we continued learning about Thanksgiving. We made Pilgrim and Indian puppets, canoes, tepees, and of course turkeys. We had a blast! We wrote a great composition. The children wrote clues about what they want to be when they grow up and I had to guess what they chose. I had many teachers, policemen, and firemen. We also wrote about what we are thankful for. Almost everyone wrote about their moms and dads, their houses, and friends.
In our Reader, we read a Frog and Toad story called The Kite by Arnold Lobel.
Here are some of our turkeys:
Second Grade:
Ms. May - ELA & SS
This week the 2nd graders focused on learning their new set of vocabulary words which stemmed from commonly misspelled words such as their, there, and they're. We also finished writing our first Literary Letters which we will be writing in place of our book reports. We learned what a draft is, and how to indent when writing by placing our finger against the margin, moving in--knuckle's length. They learned how to conference with me about their writing goals, and spent time practicing their print letters. Lastly, we began learning how to brainstorm in order to start thinking of the meaning if Thanksgiving.
In SS we are preparing to begin Current Events for next week. We also finished our lesson on Abraham Lincoln.
Mr. I.-Science
We studied and reviewed the scientific method. Students seemed to enjoy the topic very much and we wrapped up by doing a science experiment through the steps of the scientific method. Our experiment was "how many droplets of water can a penny hold on its surface?" Students were very surprised to see their hypotheses being proven wrong as the penny held 22 drops as compared to their original hypothesis of 6-10 drops. They were also told to start thinking about what they want to do for the science fair in mid April.
Mrs. Shats-Math
This week we completed unit on weight. Worked and addition and subtraction one-step and multi step word problem.
Ms. Regina-Literary Workshop
This week we began writing our opinion essays. We discussed how to take the information from our outlines and put it into full sentences. We then worked individually with our teachers to make sure we were on the right track.
Mrs. Speigel-Judaics
We had another exciting week as we started learning about Chanukah. The holiday begins on the 25th day of Kislev. The last two letters of the word Chanukah are caf and hay in hebrew. Caf -20 hay-5.Every Hebrew letter has a numerical value. We actually received Gem atria booklets this week which go through the hebrew alphabet and the letters numerical value.Don't worry we are still working on reading and writing. We enjoyed making our Parsha project on Thursday and as we complete our unit on Shabbat we look forward to baking our Challah in honor of Shabbat.
Third Grade:
Mrs. Shats-Math
This week we started our unit on multiplication and division. Completing equations with a correct sign or symbol. Completed division and multiplication word problems
Mrs. K.-Judaics
The 3rd graders played a fun "Dikduk" (Hebrew grammar) game as a great review of all the grammar rules we learned so far. The students started to learn different "Shorashim" (Hebrew root words) and how to identify them in various Hebrew words. This week's Parsha (Torah Portion) is "Parshat Vayeitze" which speaks about the tremendous kindness Rochel did for her sister Leah so that she won't be embarrassed. We had a class discussion on kindness and how we should strive to do good for others.
Ms. Regina-ELA
This week we discussed five reading strategies that we can incorporate into our reading. These include Questioning, Summarizing, Visualizing, Predicting, and Text Connections. These strategies will also help us find examples for our writing in essays and explanations. Our enthusiasm was very impressive and many of our classmates asked wonderful questions that were actually able to be answered in the reading.
Mr. I.-Science
We reviewed everything from day 1 for their first exam. Studies included the scientific method, 5 senses, living/non-;living things and last but not least, the life cycle of a plant. They created their own review sheets as part of their class notes and were asked to take their books home over the weekend. Students were very confident in their knowledge and retention of the topics as they were quick to answer questions filled with enthusiasm. I think this first exam will go very well
Fourth Grade:
Ms. May - ELA
This week the 4th graders studiously practiced applying their reading strategies while reading "Wonder". They drew pictures to express their visualizations, and made many connections and reflections about their memories when experiencing the concept of being bullied which is one of the themes in the book. They are finished learning their new words from "Wonder" and are doing a great job with diciphering and discerning the different parts of speech of each word and how to use them appropriately when writing. The 4th graders worked on their first writing process in writing their literary letters.
Mrs. K.-Judaics
The 4th graders completed the Hebrew story they were in the middle of reading. They did a writing assignment on the story as well as answered many questions that were all written in Hebrew. The 4th graders are showing great signs of improvement in their Hebrew language skills. This week's Parsha (Torah Portion) is "Parshat Vayeitze" which speaks about the tremendous kindness Rochel did for her sister Leah so that she won't be embarrassed. We had a class discussion on kindness and how we should strive to do good for others.
Ms. Regina-Literary Workshop
This week we worked on writing prompts in different points of view. We discussed first, second, and third person points of view allowing us to make text connections to the books we've read in these point of views. Being as second person is the least common to be seen, it was very impressive that the students were able to find a text to connect with this point of view.
Mr. I.-Science
We continued our study of weathering and erosion. Students learned the difference between the two as well as dissected what chemical and mechanical weathering were as well as their causes. Students also learned about the various spheres of earth and how they affect each other. For example the hydrosphere has lots to do with the geosphere in shaping the various landforms on earth. A joke before we sign off: What did the geosphere say to the hydosphere? Give up? YOU CRACK ME UP!!!
Mr. I.-Social Studies
We continued studying our unit on the first explorers. The class learned that Columbus discovered "America" by mistake, Prince Henry of Portugal began a school for Navigation and Marco Polo was a trailblazer for future explorers journeying on land from Europe to Asia.
Mrs. Uzhansky-Math
This week fourth grade learned how to divide with out remainders. They were able to utilize these skills thru bar models word problems.
Mrs. Shats-Math Enrichment
We worked on multistep challenging word problems.
Fifth Grade:
Mr. I.-Science
We began studying the Integumentary system! For those of you who are unfamiliar, its just another fancy shmancy way of saying the skin. The class loves the content and the essential surprises that the skin actually holds. Who knew it had so many layers, so many functions and that it was actually our biggest organ? We are up to studying the common pathologies of the skin which is essential for fifth graders because some relate directly to personal hygiene (habits of cleanliness that are essential at this age for children).
Mr. I.-Social Studies
We continued our study of climates/resources/habitats. They took a test on 11/19 and the class as a whole seemed to do well upon first glance. We will be transitioning to the people of the world next week.
Mrs. Uzhansky-Math
This week fifth grade learned how to find the lowest common denominator to change unlike fractions to like fractions. The class also practiced changing mixed numbers to improper fractions.
Mrs. Shats-Math Enrichment
We worked on challenging multi-step word problems.
Ms. May - ELA & SS
This week the 2nd graders focused on learning their new set of vocabulary words which stemmed from commonly misspelled words such as their, there, and they're. We also finished writing our first Literary Letters which we will be writing in place of our book reports. We learned what a draft is, and how to indent when writing by placing our finger against the margin, moving in--knuckle's length. They learned how to conference with me about their writing goals, and spent time practicing their print letters. Lastly, we began learning how to brainstorm in order to start thinking of the meaning if Thanksgiving.
In SS we are preparing to begin Current Events for next week. We also finished our lesson on Abraham Lincoln.
Mr. I.-Science
We studied and reviewed the scientific method. Students seemed to enjoy the topic very much and we wrapped up by doing a science experiment through the steps of the scientific method. Our experiment was "how many droplets of water can a penny hold on its surface?" Students were very surprised to see their hypotheses being proven wrong as the penny held 22 drops as compared to their original hypothesis of 6-10 drops. They were also told to start thinking about what they want to do for the science fair in mid April.
Mrs. Shats-Math
This week we completed unit on weight. Worked and addition and subtraction one-step and multi step word problem.
Ms. Regina-Literary Workshop
This week we began writing our opinion essays. We discussed how to take the information from our outlines and put it into full sentences. We then worked individually with our teachers to make sure we were on the right track.
Mrs. Speigel-Judaics
We had another exciting week as we started learning about Chanukah. The holiday begins on the 25th day of Kislev. The last two letters of the word Chanukah are caf and hay in hebrew. Caf -20 hay-5.Every Hebrew letter has a numerical value. We actually received Gem atria booklets this week which go through the hebrew alphabet and the letters numerical value.Don't worry we are still working on reading and writing. We enjoyed making our Parsha project on Thursday and as we complete our unit on Shabbat we look forward to baking our Challah in honor of Shabbat.
Third Grade:
Mrs. Shats-Math
This week we started our unit on multiplication and division. Completing equations with a correct sign or symbol. Completed division and multiplication word problems
Mrs. K.-Judaics
The 3rd graders played a fun "Dikduk" (Hebrew grammar) game as a great review of all the grammar rules we learned so far. The students started to learn different "Shorashim" (Hebrew root words) and how to identify them in various Hebrew words. This week's Parsha (Torah Portion) is "Parshat Vayeitze" which speaks about the tremendous kindness Rochel did for her sister Leah so that she won't be embarrassed. We had a class discussion on kindness and how we should strive to do good for others.
Ms. Regina-ELA
This week we discussed five reading strategies that we can incorporate into our reading. These include Questioning, Summarizing, Visualizing, Predicting, and Text Connections. These strategies will also help us find examples for our writing in essays and explanations. Our enthusiasm was very impressive and many of our classmates asked wonderful questions that were actually able to be answered in the reading.
Mr. I.-Science
We reviewed everything from day 1 for their first exam. Studies included the scientific method, 5 senses, living/non-;living things and last but not least, the life cycle of a plant. They created their own review sheets as part of their class notes and were asked to take their books home over the weekend. Students were very confident in their knowledge and retention of the topics as they were quick to answer questions filled with enthusiasm. I think this first exam will go very well
Fourth Grade:
Ms. May - ELA
This week the 4th graders studiously practiced applying their reading strategies while reading "Wonder". They drew pictures to express their visualizations, and made many connections and reflections about their memories when experiencing the concept of being bullied which is one of the themes in the book. They are finished learning their new words from "Wonder" and are doing a great job with diciphering and discerning the different parts of speech of each word and how to use them appropriately when writing. The 4th graders worked on their first writing process in writing their literary letters.
Mrs. K.-Judaics
The 4th graders completed the Hebrew story they were in the middle of reading. They did a writing assignment on the story as well as answered many questions that were all written in Hebrew. The 4th graders are showing great signs of improvement in their Hebrew language skills. This week's Parsha (Torah Portion) is "Parshat Vayeitze" which speaks about the tremendous kindness Rochel did for her sister Leah so that she won't be embarrassed. We had a class discussion on kindness and how we should strive to do good for others.
Ms. Regina-Literary Workshop
This week we worked on writing prompts in different points of view. We discussed first, second, and third person points of view allowing us to make text connections to the books we've read in these point of views. Being as second person is the least common to be seen, it was very impressive that the students were able to find a text to connect with this point of view.
Mr. I.-Science
We continued our study of weathering and erosion. Students learned the difference between the two as well as dissected what chemical and mechanical weathering were as well as their causes. Students also learned about the various spheres of earth and how they affect each other. For example the hydrosphere has lots to do with the geosphere in shaping the various landforms on earth. A joke before we sign off: What did the geosphere say to the hydosphere? Give up? YOU CRACK ME UP!!!
Mr. I.-Social Studies
We continued studying our unit on the first explorers. The class learned that Columbus discovered "America" by mistake, Prince Henry of Portugal began a school for Navigation and Marco Polo was a trailblazer for future explorers journeying on land from Europe to Asia.
Mrs. Uzhansky-Math
This week fourth grade learned how to divide with out remainders. They were able to utilize these skills thru bar models word problems.
Mrs. Shats-Math Enrichment
We worked on multistep challenging word problems.
Fifth Grade:
Mr. I.-Science
We began studying the Integumentary system! For those of you who are unfamiliar, its just another fancy shmancy way of saying the skin. The class loves the content and the essential surprises that the skin actually holds. Who knew it had so many layers, so many functions and that it was actually our biggest organ? We are up to studying the common pathologies of the skin which is essential for fifth graders because some relate directly to personal hygiene (habits of cleanliness that are essential at this age for children).
Mr. I.-Social Studies
We continued our study of climates/resources/habitats. They took a test on 11/19 and the class as a whole seemed to do well upon first glance. We will be transitioning to the people of the world next week.
Mrs. Uzhansky-Math
This week fifth grade learned how to find the lowest common denominator to change unlike fractions to like fractions. The class also practiced changing mixed numbers to improper fractions.
Mrs. Shats-Math Enrichment
We worked on challenging multi-step word problems.