This week at SIHA:
Kindergarten:
Mrs. Ivry-Judaic Studies
We learned this week all about the New Year for the trees. The students were very excited to guess what fruits grow on trees or from the ground. We also learned the letters Nun and Nun Sofit and we are getting ready to pass the White Champ level and graduate to Red Champ. Students are so impatient. Of course Parsha was the most exciting with the story of the Exodus from Egypt.
Shabbat Shalom
Mrs Ivry
Ms. Syetta-ELA
This week kindergarten read a story about a big blue ox. They learned how to identify the setting of a story and they painted pictures to show the setting of this weeks story. They learned all about verbs and how to locate verbs in a sentence. They also practiced writing letters to their friends.
Ms. Syetta-Math
This week kindergarten learned how to use pictures to make an addition problem. Then they turned their addition problems into number bonds. They also began creating their own addition books. They are writing number sentences based on their pictures.
Ms. Syetta-Social Studies
This week kindergarten continued to learn about mail carriers and they learned about firefighters. They were so excited to see real firemen. The were able to ask many interesting questions and the fireman explained what firefighters do, what tools they use, and why they use each tool.
Ms. Syetta-Science
This week kindergarten continued to learn all about seeds by doing an experiment with kidney beans, apples, and peppers. As we did the experiment they learned the parts of the scientific method. They cannot believe how much the babies that we saw last week inside the bean grew. We also learned about the parts of the plants and what each part of the plant does.
First Grade:
Mrs. Ivry-Judaic Studies
We started learning a new vowel, the Cholam “oh”. We also started learning our third vocabulary list. We have to know the 10 Makkot in Hebrew and English and in the correct order. It is a fun challenge as it is related to the actual Parsha story. It will also come in handy when Pessach comes around! Of course Parsha was the most exciting with the story of the Exodus from Egypt. I was very impressed and proud to see that most students remembered many details from last year's story!
Shabbat Shalom
Mrs Ivry
Mrs. Shats-Math
We worked on counting tens and ones. Drawing tens and ones for given numbers. Adding and subtracting ones and tens from tens. Solving word problems with the use of bar models and number bonds.
Mr. I.-Science
The first grade continued their unit on weather playing an interactive game in class which taught them about various conditions, vocabulary and seasons while second grade continued to learn about the human body more specifically, the brain
Second Grade:
Mrs. Spiegel-Judaic Studies
We had another wonderful week in second grade.It started off on Monday which was Rosh Chodesh,the new month.Rabbi U discussed the significance of Rosh Chodesh at a special assembly.In second grade we celebrated by making a delicious fruit salad and discussing the beauty of fruit.How potatoes are a drab color because they must be cooked before we eat them and oranges start off green when they are not ready to be consumed and then turn a beautiful orange color.We practiced our reading and writing as well and learned in this week's parsha that if you have a chance to do a mitzva,don't delay,do it right away.
Mrs. Shats-Math
Continued to practice and master adding and subtracting using mental math strategies. Played Around the World game to practice speed math.
Ms. May-ELA
This week in ELA class the 2nd graders learned how to write a composition using paragraph form! They already knew how to indent from learning it weeks before, but this week they learned how to indent with each new thought, and to not skip lines in between so that our paragraphs would look professional; although, it’s a work in progress! They worked in their Treasure workbooks, and I have begun testing their reading levels. We finished reading our trade book, A Long Way to a New Land. We will begin with our Spelling/Vocabulary words after the break, as we are devoting a lot of our time to preparing for the SS Fair.
Ms. Regina-Literary Workshop
This week we worked on the four types of sentences. We worked well as a group to play an activity of raising 1, 2, 3, or 4 fingers to name the type of sentence being read. We wrote our own stories (fiction and non-fiction) and guessed the types of sentences being used.
Mr. I.-Science:
The first grade continued their unit on weather playing an interactive game in class which taught them about various conditions, vocabulary and seasons while second grade continued to learn about the human body more specifically, the brain
Ms. May-Social Studies
In SS we worked on collecting research to include in our compositions, as well as to put on our tri-folds. We also learned about the different types of powers of each branch, and how all the branches need to work together for the government to run efficiently. They were both curious and amazed to discover all the laws that exist, and in particular, the power to impeach a leader was by far the most talked about discovery! We were fortunate enough to have our very own Mrs. Gluck to come in on Wednesday to assist the students in understanding the Three branches
of Government and especially, the Judicial Branch which seemed to be the most difficult to wrap their minds around. It was a nice treat, and the students had a Q & A afterward. Lastly, we worked on our SS Fair presentation which the 2nd graders are excited about, and working hard to do their best. I am proud that the students are making connections not only within the trade books and independent books that they are reading, but from subject- to- subject. They were fascinated to have read Ruby Bridges in ELA class, and to then have learned that the Plessy verse Ferguson case had to do with the same subject matter—interdisciplinary at its natural best.
Third Grade:
Mrs. Shats-Math
Continued to practice division and multiplication.
At this point kids should know their multiplication tables well. We played Around the World game to practice speed math.
Mr. I.-Science
Continued to study the various properties of matter such as transparency and how to use scientific inquiry to identify an unknown object.
Ms. Regina-ELA
This week we worked on character traits. We worked well together in groups to come up with character traits with evidence from the book The Cricket in Times Square. We began a file folder review using post-its to help us study for our test. We have already filled in character traits for almost every character, next will be theme.
Mr. I-Computers
Grades 3-5 created Microsoft Onedrive accounts which are an online storage system that enables them to start a project at home and continue it at school or vice versa. The second and the first grade learned basic typing skills by playing interactive games online as practice.
Fourth Grade:
Ms. May-ELA
In 4th grade this week, we focused on how to be a persuasive writer. We began with learning how to write a hook in order to engage our readers to ensure that our position is well stated; after all, how can we persuade another, if we are uncertain of our stance? We then moved on to learning how to write topic sentences, and how each paragraph needs to include one with each new thought. The analogy that floated around during ELA class was that of opening a gift. A writer needs to slowly reveal his/her story- whether it be a by way of an essay, or a letter; if the writer reveals all their ideas and creativity in the first paragraph, what left is there to anticipate? The students learned how to organize their thoughts and the strategies that they would incorporate within each persuasive paragraph- from including examples and anecdotes from their personal lives, to facts and statements from having done a little bit of research.
We learned to communicate our thoughts on the page so that nothing was left unsaid. I shared a persuasive letter that I had written to engage them and to make them realize that what one learns in ELA class is a tool that they can and will need to use in other aspects of their lives. The art of persuasion is one that will never get old! We have put our weekly Spelling/Vocabulary words on hold to focus on writing our persuasive essays, and learning the many new words in our trade book, Stargirl which we are nearing the end in reading. What a heartfelt book thus far! The text is somewhat challenging, but the students are engaged and determined, and have shown a great deal of finesse in deciphering difficult vocabulary and figurative language. I am proud that they have had the mentality to candidly connect past vocabulary words, and reading strategies to the text on hand, and I am in awe of the insightful questions and discoveries that they have been bringing forth during our lesson. Some of them are having a coming-of-age before my eyes. Our biggest goal seems to be organizing our lives—in writing, in work habits, and in our thoughts, although in time, I can see the ‘neatness’ is nearing.
Ms. Regina-Literary Workshop
This week we worked on the four types of sentences. We worked well as a group to play an activity of raising 1, 2, 3, or 4 fingers to name the type of sentence being read. We read sentences allowed in crazy voices and tones. We continued our read aloud book, The First Day of School Forever by R.L. Stine.
Mrs. Uzhansky-Math
This week fourth grade completed basic unit conversions and have been applying their knowledge in word problems.
Mrs. Shats-Math Enrichment
Practiced logical multistep problems.
Mr. I.-Science
Concluded our matter unit and properties of matter. Review will be given next week and a test will be given after the break.
Mr. I.-Social Studies
We studied the case of Plessy vs Ferguson on monday by watching an interactive video explaining the case and on Wednesday, the class answered review questions on US colonization. A review will be given next week followed by an exam on colonies of the US such as New Spain and New England.
Mr. I.-Computers
Grades 3-5 created Microsoft Onedrive accounts which are an online storage system that enables them to start a project at home and continue it at school or vice versa. The second and the first grade learned basic typing skills by playing interactive games online as practice.
Fifth Grade:
Mrs. Grodsky-ELA
This week the fifth graders learned to cite their work in text when preparing their research for the Social Studies Fair or any other research project they will do in future. We have discussed the rules of converting direct speech to indirect speech and practiced doing so. We have discovered that "time"-words such as yesterday, today and tomorrow do not exist in such sentences and are replaced with "the day before", "that day", the "next/following day" etc.
We have had a turn to practice public speaking skills where students came up and presented several pages of The Cay to their classmates.
Students have drawn maps of Willemsted based on information in Chapters 1 and 2 and our imagination to see what Phillip saw and connect with him; we searched through the chapters for details to describe Phillip's physical appearance and character traits to understand him better. We have listened to some Caribbean music to get more familiar with why Timothy and understand him better.
Students listened and watched a video of Martin Luther King, Jr. making his famous speech "I have a dream" and discussed the ideas he wanted to have changed in our country. We have noticed how his speech was effective because of the words he chose and emotions he put in to his speech. We have started to make connections between this speech and The Cay, finding how the themes of his speech showed in the book.
Mr. I.-Science
Studied various patholgies of the respiratory system mainly, Bronchitis. On Wednesday, a parent of one of our students who works as a respiratory therapist came to speak about Asthma, COPD , sleep Apnea and the harm of smoking. The class really enjoyed the presentation and got a lot out of it.
Mr. I.-Social Studies
We studied the code of Hammurabi which instantly gained the interest of the entire class and we were able to conclude chapter 5. Next week, a detailed review will be given followed by an exam after the break.
Mrs. Uzhansky-Math
Fifth grade completed their unit on ratios and have been applying their knowledge in word problems.
Mrs. Shats-Math Enrichment
Practiced logical multistep problems.
Mr. I.-Computers
Grades 3-5 created Microsoft Onedrive accounts which are an online storage system that enables them to start a project at home and continue it at school or vice versa. The second and the first grade learned basic typing skills by playing interactive games online as practice.
Mrs. Ivry-Judaic Studies
We learned this week all about the New Year for the trees. The students were very excited to guess what fruits grow on trees or from the ground. We also learned the letters Nun and Nun Sofit and we are getting ready to pass the White Champ level and graduate to Red Champ. Students are so impatient. Of course Parsha was the most exciting with the story of the Exodus from Egypt.
Shabbat Shalom
Mrs Ivry
Ms. Syetta-ELA
This week kindergarten read a story about a big blue ox. They learned how to identify the setting of a story and they painted pictures to show the setting of this weeks story. They learned all about verbs and how to locate verbs in a sentence. They also practiced writing letters to their friends.
Ms. Syetta-Math
This week kindergarten learned how to use pictures to make an addition problem. Then they turned their addition problems into number bonds. They also began creating their own addition books. They are writing number sentences based on their pictures.
Ms. Syetta-Social Studies
This week kindergarten continued to learn about mail carriers and they learned about firefighters. They were so excited to see real firemen. The were able to ask many interesting questions and the fireman explained what firefighters do, what tools they use, and why they use each tool.
Ms. Syetta-Science
This week kindergarten continued to learn all about seeds by doing an experiment with kidney beans, apples, and peppers. As we did the experiment they learned the parts of the scientific method. They cannot believe how much the babies that we saw last week inside the bean grew. We also learned about the parts of the plants and what each part of the plant does.
First Grade:
Mrs. Ivry-Judaic Studies
We started learning a new vowel, the Cholam “oh”. We also started learning our third vocabulary list. We have to know the 10 Makkot in Hebrew and English and in the correct order. It is a fun challenge as it is related to the actual Parsha story. It will also come in handy when Pessach comes around! Of course Parsha was the most exciting with the story of the Exodus from Egypt. I was very impressed and proud to see that most students remembered many details from last year's story!
Shabbat Shalom
Mrs Ivry
Mrs. Shats-Math
We worked on counting tens and ones. Drawing tens and ones for given numbers. Adding and subtracting ones and tens from tens. Solving word problems with the use of bar models and number bonds.
Mr. I.-Science
The first grade continued their unit on weather playing an interactive game in class which taught them about various conditions, vocabulary and seasons while second grade continued to learn about the human body more specifically, the brain
Second Grade:
Mrs. Spiegel-Judaic Studies
We had another wonderful week in second grade.It started off on Monday which was Rosh Chodesh,the new month.Rabbi U discussed the significance of Rosh Chodesh at a special assembly.In second grade we celebrated by making a delicious fruit salad and discussing the beauty of fruit.How potatoes are a drab color because they must be cooked before we eat them and oranges start off green when they are not ready to be consumed and then turn a beautiful orange color.We practiced our reading and writing as well and learned in this week's parsha that if you have a chance to do a mitzva,don't delay,do it right away.
Mrs. Shats-Math
Continued to practice and master adding and subtracting using mental math strategies. Played Around the World game to practice speed math.
Ms. May-ELA
This week in ELA class the 2nd graders learned how to write a composition using paragraph form! They already knew how to indent from learning it weeks before, but this week they learned how to indent with each new thought, and to not skip lines in between so that our paragraphs would look professional; although, it’s a work in progress! They worked in their Treasure workbooks, and I have begun testing their reading levels. We finished reading our trade book, A Long Way to a New Land. We will begin with our Spelling/Vocabulary words after the break, as we are devoting a lot of our time to preparing for the SS Fair.
Ms. Regina-Literary Workshop
This week we worked on the four types of sentences. We worked well as a group to play an activity of raising 1, 2, 3, or 4 fingers to name the type of sentence being read. We wrote our own stories (fiction and non-fiction) and guessed the types of sentences being used.
Mr. I.-Science:
The first grade continued their unit on weather playing an interactive game in class which taught them about various conditions, vocabulary and seasons while second grade continued to learn about the human body more specifically, the brain
Ms. May-Social Studies
In SS we worked on collecting research to include in our compositions, as well as to put on our tri-folds. We also learned about the different types of powers of each branch, and how all the branches need to work together for the government to run efficiently. They were both curious and amazed to discover all the laws that exist, and in particular, the power to impeach a leader was by far the most talked about discovery! We were fortunate enough to have our very own Mrs. Gluck to come in on Wednesday to assist the students in understanding the Three branches
of Government and especially, the Judicial Branch which seemed to be the most difficult to wrap their minds around. It was a nice treat, and the students had a Q & A afterward. Lastly, we worked on our SS Fair presentation which the 2nd graders are excited about, and working hard to do their best. I am proud that the students are making connections not only within the trade books and independent books that they are reading, but from subject- to- subject. They were fascinated to have read Ruby Bridges in ELA class, and to then have learned that the Plessy verse Ferguson case had to do with the same subject matter—interdisciplinary at its natural best.
Third Grade:
Mrs. Shats-Math
Continued to practice division and multiplication.
At this point kids should know their multiplication tables well. We played Around the World game to practice speed math.
Mr. I.-Science
Continued to study the various properties of matter such as transparency and how to use scientific inquiry to identify an unknown object.
Ms. Regina-ELA
This week we worked on character traits. We worked well together in groups to come up with character traits with evidence from the book The Cricket in Times Square. We began a file folder review using post-its to help us study for our test. We have already filled in character traits for almost every character, next will be theme.
Mr. I-Computers
Grades 3-5 created Microsoft Onedrive accounts which are an online storage system that enables them to start a project at home and continue it at school or vice versa. The second and the first grade learned basic typing skills by playing interactive games online as practice.
Fourth Grade:
Ms. May-ELA
In 4th grade this week, we focused on how to be a persuasive writer. We began with learning how to write a hook in order to engage our readers to ensure that our position is well stated; after all, how can we persuade another, if we are uncertain of our stance? We then moved on to learning how to write topic sentences, and how each paragraph needs to include one with each new thought. The analogy that floated around during ELA class was that of opening a gift. A writer needs to slowly reveal his/her story- whether it be a by way of an essay, or a letter; if the writer reveals all their ideas and creativity in the first paragraph, what left is there to anticipate? The students learned how to organize their thoughts and the strategies that they would incorporate within each persuasive paragraph- from including examples and anecdotes from their personal lives, to facts and statements from having done a little bit of research.
We learned to communicate our thoughts on the page so that nothing was left unsaid. I shared a persuasive letter that I had written to engage them and to make them realize that what one learns in ELA class is a tool that they can and will need to use in other aspects of their lives. The art of persuasion is one that will never get old! We have put our weekly Spelling/Vocabulary words on hold to focus on writing our persuasive essays, and learning the many new words in our trade book, Stargirl which we are nearing the end in reading. What a heartfelt book thus far! The text is somewhat challenging, but the students are engaged and determined, and have shown a great deal of finesse in deciphering difficult vocabulary and figurative language. I am proud that they have had the mentality to candidly connect past vocabulary words, and reading strategies to the text on hand, and I am in awe of the insightful questions and discoveries that they have been bringing forth during our lesson. Some of them are having a coming-of-age before my eyes. Our biggest goal seems to be organizing our lives—in writing, in work habits, and in our thoughts, although in time, I can see the ‘neatness’ is nearing.
Ms. Regina-Literary Workshop
This week we worked on the four types of sentences. We worked well as a group to play an activity of raising 1, 2, 3, or 4 fingers to name the type of sentence being read. We read sentences allowed in crazy voices and tones. We continued our read aloud book, The First Day of School Forever by R.L. Stine.
Mrs. Uzhansky-Math
This week fourth grade completed basic unit conversions and have been applying their knowledge in word problems.
Mrs. Shats-Math Enrichment
Practiced logical multistep problems.
Mr. I.-Science
Concluded our matter unit and properties of matter. Review will be given next week and a test will be given after the break.
Mr. I.-Social Studies
We studied the case of Plessy vs Ferguson on monday by watching an interactive video explaining the case and on Wednesday, the class answered review questions on US colonization. A review will be given next week followed by an exam on colonies of the US such as New Spain and New England.
Mr. I.-Computers
Grades 3-5 created Microsoft Onedrive accounts which are an online storage system that enables them to start a project at home and continue it at school or vice versa. The second and the first grade learned basic typing skills by playing interactive games online as practice.
Fifth Grade:
Mrs. Grodsky-ELA
This week the fifth graders learned to cite their work in text when preparing their research for the Social Studies Fair or any other research project they will do in future. We have discussed the rules of converting direct speech to indirect speech and practiced doing so. We have discovered that "time"-words such as yesterday, today and tomorrow do not exist in such sentences and are replaced with "the day before", "that day", the "next/following day" etc.
We have had a turn to practice public speaking skills where students came up and presented several pages of The Cay to their classmates.
Students have drawn maps of Willemsted based on information in Chapters 1 and 2 and our imagination to see what Phillip saw and connect with him; we searched through the chapters for details to describe Phillip's physical appearance and character traits to understand him better. We have listened to some Caribbean music to get more familiar with why Timothy and understand him better.
Students listened and watched a video of Martin Luther King, Jr. making his famous speech "I have a dream" and discussed the ideas he wanted to have changed in our country. We have noticed how his speech was effective because of the words he chose and emotions he put in to his speech. We have started to make connections between this speech and The Cay, finding how the themes of his speech showed in the book.
Mr. I.-Science
Studied various patholgies of the respiratory system mainly, Bronchitis. On Wednesday, a parent of one of our students who works as a respiratory therapist came to speak about Asthma, COPD , sleep Apnea and the harm of smoking. The class really enjoyed the presentation and got a lot out of it.
Mr. I.-Social Studies
We studied the code of Hammurabi which instantly gained the interest of the entire class and we were able to conclude chapter 5. Next week, a detailed review will be given followed by an exam after the break.
Mrs. Uzhansky-Math
Fifth grade completed their unit on ratios and have been applying their knowledge in word problems.
Mrs. Shats-Math Enrichment
Practiced logical multistep problems.
Mr. I.-Computers
Grades 3-5 created Microsoft Onedrive accounts which are an online storage system that enables them to start a project at home and continue it at school or vice versa. The second and the first grade learned basic typing skills by playing interactive games online as practice.