Week 2: Monday, September 11th – Friday, September 15th

Advisory: 

This week in advisory, the eighth graders prepared to perform at the first tekes of the year.  Their songs and raps about each of their nine years as members of the Hannah Senesh community was a whirlwind journey filled with warmth and humor.  It certainly set the tone of a year of full of fun and engaging leadership.

 

Art:

Eighth grade students began the year with color theory. This second week of school they began painting, learning to mix color with acrylic paints.

Hebrew:

Dear parents,

This week the students were busy making short videos talking about what can be done during summer vacation. Next, we started writing short persuasive essays on the topic of if summer vacation is too short, too long or just right.

I am looking forward to seeing everyone at our back to school night Monday evening!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Andreea

Heritage: 

הורים יקרים,

השבוע התחלנו לעבוד על יחידת חזרה בנושא טיול משפחתי. המטרה של היחידה היא לאפשר לתלמידים חדשים וותקים לעסוק בנושא מוכר. היחידה עוסקת בטיולים שמשפחות ערכו עם ילדיהם בהם מסופר על מסלולים מעניינים והחוויות מיוחדות. מלבד קריאה טקסטים רלוונטים התלמידים חולקים מהחוויות האישיות שלהם מטיולים שהם ערכו איתכם בקיץ.

סוף שבוע טוב,

אילנה

Humanities:

This week in Humanities, students continued their work analysis the 4 main characters in their summer reading book, The Chosen.  As a way of expressing what they learned, students imagined what each character’s iPhone would look like if they had one.  Please stop by the 8th Humanities bulletin board on Back To School Night to check out their final product.

In History, students continued to review the tools they will need to think like a historian.  They applied those skills to analyzing the credibility of multiple texts centered around Columbus’s voyage to the Americas. Next week, we will start to learn more about the populations of people who lived in North America before European colonization.

Hope everyone has a relaxing and restful weekend!

Michael

Judaic Studies:

This week we focused on a challenging High Holiday tefila, the ונתנה תוקף/Untaneh tokef. This tefila describes why the High Holidays are נורא ואיום/terrifying and scary: God is reading the book of memories we have written this year and deciding our fate for the coming year, a fate we can influence through teshuva/atonement, tefila/prayer and tzedaka/righteous acts. The 8th graders discussed what this tefila seems to suggest about why bad things happen. We reflected together about how to relate to aspects of Jewish tradition or liturgy that conflict with our values or beliefs. Students read and responded to various contemporary articles about the Unetaneh Tokef and conducted a class debate about whether or not this tefila should be eliminated from High Holiday services. In addition, each 8th grader looked back on the past year and made his or her own ספר זכרונות/Book of Memories. I look forward to sharing them with you at Back to School Night!
Shabbat shalom,
Jessica

Math:

 

Science:

The second week of science has continued its excitement with hands on learning during our exploration of atoms and the periodic table. Students continued to use the interactive atom building simulation in order to explore how electrons in atoms are connected to the organization of the periodic table. Students reconstructed the periodic table from many random pieces in order explore the organization of the table. The love for science knowledge and understanding is blossoming in 8th grade Science!

Mike Noll