Create Your Own Game

Today as a culminating project/ assessment for Perek Daled in Chumash, each student will need to make up their own game. Below you will find a copy of the letter that I gave out today in class.



Instructions: You need to create a game for Perek Daled in Chumash . The game can be a board game, matching, Jeopardy, I Have Who Has, or one you make up.

Each game must include: 7-10 shorashim and translations
7-10 basic questions
7-10 questions on Rashi

Grading: Each section is worth 30 points = 90 points
There will be 10 points given for neatness

Project is Due Tuesday December 21

There will be very little if any class time given to work on this project

Please return a signed copy by Friday December 17

_____________ ____________________
Parent Signature Student Signature

Class Update

It has been a long time since I have written a class update.
I am truly sorry about that and it something that I will try to do on a more regular basis. On the flip side it means that we have been very busy.

Here are some of the highlights of the exciting things that we have been doing in class:
• We now have a blog where each student can write a post and comment on posts written by other students
• Some students have joined me when I have Skyped with other schools
• We made videos about Chanukah at our class Chanukah party and watched them the next day in school
• We learned about the Fires in Israel by watching news clips
• The Bat Ami girls did a program about Hero’s related to Chanukah
• We made Chanukah brochures
• We are almost finished with Parashat Shemot

There are a lot of fun and exciting things going on in the Fifth grade. The common denominator with all of them is that the students are engaged and are active participants in the learning process which is one of my major goals.

Have a good Shabbos
Rabbi Greenblatt

I Just Had to Share

Each week I usually give out a Dvar Torah for the students to to read at the Shabbat table. Today I decided to have them come up with something on their own.I gave them the topic of Avraham's Ten Tests to write about. I told them it was for them, written by them, and I made it clear it would not be graded. Everyone in the class was working and writing some amazing ideas. I walked around the room watching and helping as needed. One student was writing about how the tests got harder, another one wrote why Hashem tested Avraham, and so on. The entire class was motivated and engaged. This was something new and just having them motivated would have been amazing, but that wasn't even the most amazing part. After giving them the allotted time I announced it was time for recess. About half the class sat in their seats and asked me if they could stay and finish their (ungraded) Dvar Torah's .
I couldn't believe it.

They made my day.

You as parents should take pride and have Nachas in the amazing work that everyone is doing. Please ask them to share with you their Dvar Torah's
Have a great weekend and Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Greenblatt

Critical Thinking and Open Ended Projects

In almost all of the educational literature today you read about the concept of 21st Century skills. To boil it down, 21st Century skills are skills that students will need to be successful in life. Some of these skills include but are not limited to; critical thinking, collaboration, questioning, and analyzing. The literature also tells us that these skills need to be taught and they don’t come naturally to our students. With that in mind I have tried to create an environment in my class that pushes the students to think and ask questions about what we are learning. This is not easy but as I told the class on the first day I will help you and give whatever assistance you need but I will not allow the words “I Can’t “ to be said in my class.
One of the ways to help students learn these skills is to give them projects that are open ended and by giving them choices.
Now that we have finished the first Perek in Shemot I have assigned a Tic-Tac-Toe activity that gives the students nine different choices of activities which are open ended (There is no one right way to do it ) as an assessment for Perek Alef.
These projects are due next Friday.

I am confident that as we progress, your children will see the benefit of learning these important skills.
If you have any concerns as always please feel free to speak to me
Have a Great Shabbos
Rabbi Greenblatt

Using technology in the classroom

Recently there have been a number of discussions regarding using technology in the classroom. My personal opinion is that it is a tool, it doesn’t replace good teaching, and the focus must always be learning. Today I tried to incorporate the two in a lesson about Sukkot. I showed the class a video about the Arabah Minim. Then I asked them to each write down questions based on facts that they saw in the video. I showed the video twice. After that I shuffled the papers and gave each student someone else’s questions to answer. Before they answered the questions I showed the video again.

Most of the students came up with at least 10 questions and all the students were engaged in watching the video so that they could come up with their own questions and answer the questions they were given. The four and half minute video incorporated many of the same facts that I would presented in a lecture but I know with 100% certainty that the format in which the same facts were presented was more engaging and therefore I believe in the end the students learned more.

Technology and videos cannot nor should they replace teachers or good teaching but teachers should use these tools to help their students learn.

Wishing you all a Chag Sameach

A Rosh Hashanah Message

Rosh Hashanah is a time of a lot of symbolism. We eat certain foods, we don’t eat other food like nuts, and some have the custom not to take a Yom Tov nap on the first day of Rosh Hashanah. Why do we do all of these different things after all we are not a religion that believes in superstitions? I would suggest that the reason can be found in a concept that the Sefer HaChinuch mentions often as to the reason behind certain Mitzvoth. He says that one’s thoughts follow ones actions. So if one is involved in giving of Tzedakah he will begin to not only to do acts of kindness but actual start thinking that way. I believe the same is true with our actions on Rosh Hashanah; we do things so that we will have the proper frame of mind as we enter into Rosh Hashanah, Yom Hadin, the Day of Judgment. Perhaps by not eating nuts we will think about the reason behind this custom ,and focus less on the concept of Chet (sins). Therefore even things that we may not do the entire year we do on Rosh Hashanah with the hope that these actions will lead to thoughts that will indeed change the way we think and act for the entire year. In order to get the year off on a proper note I have sent home four divrei torah so that there can be one dvar torah at each meal.

My hope is that through all of our actions and deeds may we all be inscribed for a happy and healthy new year.

Ketiva V’chatima Tova
Rabbi Greenblatt

The week in Review

Before I begin the formal review of what we did this week I just wanted to thank the parents for attending Back To school Night. One of the my personal goals and theme that we have as a school communication and parent involvement. I hope to work together with you through out the year to make this a successful year of learning for each of your children.

As I look back on this week I am happy to say that not only did we learn a lot but that as a class we were engaged and participated in the learning. Some of the skills that we worked on this week include;Shorashim, Understanding basic facts, knowing Rashi letters, questioning, sequencing,and critical thinking to name a few. Next week I hope to start learning the Rashi's inside the Chumash and working on the skill of reading Rashi.

We worked on and assessed these skills through; matching games, a creative project, exit cards, and the I have Who has game.
All of this was just in Chumash. We also did a Web to see what we already know about the Shofar and Boy! did they know a lot already. We also leaned the meaning of the word Teruah and why we blow the different sounds. We even integrated some math into our lesson about the Shofar.

Today we discussed the Parsha and how from the mitzvah of Bikurim we learn that we need to be careful about ones feelings and shouldn't embarrass anyone. Every student was also given a Dvar Torah.

I would also encourage you to look at the Judaic Studies blog at mhalowerschooljudaics.blogspot.com to learn about a special activity that I did with the fourth and fifth graders today.

UP COMING EVENTS
Sunday ASBEE BBQ
Monday School Mitzvah Raffle
Pre Rosh Hashanah Oneg Next Shabbos at my home from 5:45-6:30 ( More details to follow )

Have a Great Shabbos

Rabbi Greenblatt