Welcome, Fourth Grade Families!

Hello Fourth Grade Families!

Welcome back to a brand new year at Hannah Senesh! We’ve gotten off to a great start with the fourth grade. After taking the time to adjust to their new rooms, classes, schedule, and role as Lower School leaders, our students have begun learning the fourth grade curriculum in earnest. We look forward to enjoying many fun times and learning experiences with them (and you!) in the coming year.

Shabbat Shalom! -The Fourth Grade Team

It was an amazing first week in Hebrew class. I was excited to meet again and catch up with the students. We reviewed and practiced the routines and we discussed and worked on class rules related to our school values. We created list of rules in Hebrew that the students drew symbol for each one  and we put the rules and their symbols on poster board signed by the students. In addition, the students met our new Sinshinim and had a great time with them playing Israeli games and get to know them.

It was wonderful catching up with our returning fourth graders and our new faces. We began our school year by diving right into Chumash, learning Parshat Toldot. We caught up with the family tree of Avraham, Sarah, and Yitzchak at this point in the story, and we’re eager to keep learning! Students wrote down their first three Shoreshim (word roots) for our returning games and are gearing up for a new year of Chumash.

In Yahadut, we discussed the difference between Jewish Law (Halacha) and Jewish Traditions (Minhag), and how they developed. We further divided Halacha into its tiers of Halacha MiDe’oraytah (Torah Law) and Halacha MiDeRabanan (Rabbinical Law) and talked about their similarities, differences, and importance in Jewish culture. We also learned about our first Jewish Hero of the Week, the Torah Commentary Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki).

Fourth graders also experienced their first Tefilla in their Beit Midrash with the fifth and sixth grade, running their own Torah service. They observed what a Torah reading looks like in anticipation of reading Torah themselves later this year.

Shabbat Shalom!

Wow! What a great first week! The fourth graders hit the ground running with the year. This week was one of transitions and setting the foundation for our work this year. We made did some community building activities (ask your child about the Black Box Activity) and some games (The Wright Family). We also set labeled and organized all the folders in our desks and decorated our writing notebooks to get ready for a year full of writing. Fourth graders are learning what the increased expectations of this year include and are adjusting to all the new responsibilities that get to enjoy. Looking forward to a great year!