Aleph – First Year – Wednesday (Wilgus)

12/18: Today in class we worked on:

  1. Today, the students gathered in the sanctuary, with Rabbi Prass, for tefillah. He pointed out that at this time of year in Chicago, the amount of sunlight is less and less, and asked the students what they do to feel the light and find the light.  They shared some lovely ideas.  He pointed out that one source of light for all of us is how much the students are able to participate more and more confidently in our t’fillah.
  2. We then reviewed the letters and vowels we have learned this year and practiced last week’s letter and vowel by reading aloud.
  3. We did some of the exercises in the Resh chapter together, and wrote letters on the board in a game.
  4. We then joined Rabbi Prass for a surprise Pizza Dinner (!) with the rest of the school to celebrate the end of our first semester together.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. During break, please be sure to practice reading Hebrew aloud at least 10 minutes a day (you can do it in the car when travelling to different places!). 
  2. Please make sure you have finished all of the exercises in your book up through the “Resh” chapter. Practice writing your letters in your machberet, and practice with your letter flash cards. We have more letters to learn when we come back!
  3. Have a great break and Chanukah!

12/11: Today in class we worked on:

  1. School began with an all school Tefiilah led by Rabbi Prass.  He started asking us who and what makes you feel safe? We then looked at our prayer avot v’imahot, and how the last line talks about God being the “Shield of Abraham and the Help of Sarah”, or in other words make us feel safe.  We also talked about how the Maccabees fought to make our ancestors feel safe.  The 7th graders have started helping our class to make sure we know where we are in the sidur!
  2. Then we reviewed all the letters and vowels we have learned so far and learned 2 new ones! We learned the resh (rrrrrr) and the tzaray (vowel makes ayyyyy sound)! Then we practiced reading with them and did a quick turn with our white boards to review writing the letters.
  3. We closed the session by joining all of the other classes to play Hebrew-Thru-Movement, Chanukah Style, led by Rabbi Prass.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Complete the exercises in our new chapter. Practice writing at least one page in your machberet the letters tzadi, resh, final tzadi, and others you want to include.
  2. Make sure to practice reading aloud in Hebrew at least 10 minutes a day – it will make a difference!

12/4: Today in class we worked on:

  1. Today was a good day!
  2. School began with an all-school Tefillah.  Rabbi Prass asked the students “What is something positive you caused to happen over Thanksgiving?” and “What is something good you did?” The students provided many excellent answers and examples to further our learning.  We then connected this to the gevuorot prayer and specifically the word “mechaye” which means “the one who causes..” and talked about the good things mentioned in the prayer.
  3. After tefilah we reviewed what we have learned so far – so much! Students obviously practiced reading over their break.
  4. Then we learned a new letter – tzadi – which can be hard to pronounce, but is so important. It gives us words like tzedakah, mitzvah, matzah, and maybe most importantly pizza!
  5. We practiced reading and writing the tzadi both in its regular and final forms, learned a song about different parts of the body in Hebrew.
  6. Aleph, bet, gimmel, daled classes ended in the sanctuary for Hebrew Through Movement with the other classes. Rabbi Prass brought out a hanukkiah, and he explained the difference between that and a menorah. Ask your student what the difference is. We also added on new verbs and vocabulary centered around Chanukah.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Complete the exercises in our latest chapter, and write a page in your machberet with the different tzadi forms – remember, the final is NOT a ‘y’!
  2. Practice reading aloud from your book at least 5-10 minutes a day.

11/20: Today in class we worked on:

  1. Today we started with Rabbi Prass for tefilot and learned about hacarat hatov, looking for the good things in the world around us, and how it so important, perhaps easier, and so very more needed in the world.
  2. We then reviewed the many letters and vowels we have learned so far this year, practicing our writing and using flash cards.
  3. We learned a new vowel this week – the chirik which makes the ‘ee’ sound and can sometimes have a yud with it and sometimes not. We also learned that a heh at the beginning of a word means ‘the’. We practiced reading with our new vowel as a class – great job! Students are very generous and helpful of their classmates when reading.
  4. We then joined the rest of the classes and Rabbi Prass for Hebrew thru Movement, where we continued to learn the Hebrew words for parts of the body, including an all-school “Head, shoulders, knees and toes”

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Please complete the exercises in chapter 5 in your Hebrew book. Continue to read Hebrew aloud for at least 5-10 minutes a day and practice writing the letters you have learned in your machberet. Make a flashcard for the chirik and keep practicing with them.
  2. Have a great Thanksgiving!

11/13: Today in class we worked on:

  1. Today was a busy class.
  2. School began with an all-school Tefillah. Rabbi Prass led a discussion, asking the students how the word awesome can have both positive and negative attributes. Our students presented many thoughtful ideas and understood the complexities of the question.  He then pointed out that the word Hanorah, or Awesome One is in the Avot V’imahot prayer, and teaches us to praise those awesome things which are positive, holy, and beautiful.  We also talked about the word of the week, “eezoon” which means balance, and we shared the good and challenging things in our lives which balance our days.
  3. The reviewed the letters we have learned so far.
  4. We learned a new letter and vowel, and learned that a hey at the beginning of a word means ‘the’. We practiced reading with all of our letters and vowels, including the new ones and worked in our textbooks.
  5. Then we joined the entire Hebrew school for Hebrew thru movement, where we reviewed the words we learned last week, the body part words, by playing “Simon Says” and sharing personal “human tricks” in Hebrew to reinforce these words.
  6. What a great day!

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Continue to read Hebrew aloud for at least 5-10 minutes a day, using your textbook to practice. Complete the exercises in chapter 5.
  2. Practice writing at least one line of heys in your machberet, and complete new flash cards for the hey and segol (eh vowel) and practice with them. Great job!

11/6: Today in class we worked on:

  1. Today was a busy day.
  2. School began with an all school Tefillah and a Rabbi led discussion about who is the stronger person, someone who is kind or someone who is mean. Our students presented many thoughtful ideas and understood the complexities of the question. Rabbi Prass connected this to the prayer in our amidah, the gevurot, which means strength.  It praises the type of strength which helps others, and gives several specifics.
  3. Then we worked on reviewing the letters and vowels we have learned so far. We played a game with our whiteboards with writing the letters, then learned two new ones – yud and hey! We practiced reading and played a bit of Hebrew football – the students are simply amazing and so excited to learn.
  4. We ended the day with Rabbi Prass and Hebrew Thru Movement, where students learned different words for the body and played Hebrew Simon Says.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Continue to read Hebrew aloud at least 10 minutes a day and finish the exercises in chapter 4 with yud and hey. Practice writing another page in your machberet for the new letters.

10/30: Today in class we worked on:

  1. School began with an all-school Tefillah and a Rabbi led discussion asking the learners how they tell time.  They had an amazing variety of answers.  We then learned how Jewish prayer also helps us tell time including in our Gevurot prayer where the words change during the summer and the winter.
  2. Today we learned 2 new letters and a new vowel! Students learned lamed & dalet, and cholom (oh) vowel, and practiced reading them with the previously learned letters – such a great job they did!
  3. Had the opportunity to see the Torah up close with Rabbi Prass! Kitah aleph & Bet joined Rabbi Prass in the sanctuary for a discussion on Simchat Torah, and coming close to inspect the Torah scroll and ask questions about it. Students even got to see some of the letters they have learned written in the Torah!  Finally, the students had an opportunity to taste a piece of the Etrog.
  4. Great job!

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Finish the exercises in our new chapter.
  2. Practice reading Hebrew aloud at least 10 minutes a day.
  3. Write one new page in your machberet of the new letters.
  4. Practice with your flash cards we made – both the letters and the new word ones.

10/9: Today in class we worked on:

  1. Today we reviewed all six letters and three Hebrew vowels we have learned.
  2. We practiced writing with individual dry erase boards, we filled out flash cards to practice our letters, and practiced reading parts of Chapter 1 and 2 in our Hebrew books.
  3. We had a special tefillah with Rabbi Prass about the 1 year anniversary of October 7th, watching beautiful music videos showing the peace that Israel works to achieve for us all

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Read Hebrew aloud for at least 5 minutes a day.
  2. Be sure to complete all the exercises in Chapters 1 and 2 if any are not done.
  3. Practice writing 2 lines for each letter you have learned in your Machberet, and practice your letters using your flash cards. We will learn new letters next week!!

9/25: Today in class we worked on:

  1. We started with an all- school Tefillah led by Rabbi Prass.  We discussed What is something precious you were given? And how do you ‘handle it differently’ knowing it is precious? Why is Jewish prayer/t’fillah a gift? We also heard the shofar in celebration of the Jewish month of Elul.
  2. We then learned three new Hebrew letters!
  3. Aleph and bet joined Rabbi Prass outside for Hebrew through Movement
  4. We then spent some time writing our new letters in chalk on the sidewalk.
  5. We went inside and practiced reading and writing our new letters together – students did an amazing job!

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Practice reading Hebrew out loud at least 5 minutes a day.
  2. Finish the first 3 pages in your Hebrew book if you have not.
  3. Practice writing each of the six letters you have learned in your Machberet – one line per letter at least.
  4. You can practice your reading with this link if you need help in your pronunciation. https://www.behrmanhouse.com/abq/abq.html

9/18: Today in class we worked on:

  1. We had a great day today.
  2. Participated in an all school Tefillah led by Rabbi Prass.  We shared ‘noises’ that distract us and things that help us quiet and focus our brains.  We talked about how t’fillah is one Jewish language/tool for quieting and focus.
  3. We identified how everyone was feeling and learned new Hebrew words for that.
  4. Then we joined Rabbi Prass and kitah bet outside for Hebrew through Movement and for hearing the sound of the shofar for Elul.
  5. We came back inside and reviewed the Hebrew letters and vowels we learned last week bypracticing reading aloud and playing Hebrew football.
  6. We created our own flash cards with our index cards (if you haven’t brought some, please do for the next class). Students are to practice identifying the letters, vowels, and sounds with the flash cards at home during the week.
  7. Great job!

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Practice reading Hebrew aloud at least 5 minutes each day using your textbook and flashcards. Complete the last page of chapter 1 by coloring in the identified spaces as directed.
  2. We have a special webpage to help us with our reading! You can click at the following link and click on our current chapter to read along and hear how certain sounds are formed. https://www.behrmanhouse.com/abq/abq.html

9/11: Today in class we worked on:

  1. What a wonderful first day of class!
  2. We began with an al- school assembly.  The 2 older grades (daled & hey) shared 3 things that are helpful to learn Hebrew and 3 things that used to make them nervous about learning Hebrew.  We also lit a yizkor candle to remember the victims of 9/11.  We also sounded the shofar in celebration of this month of Elul.
  3. We learned 3 Hebrew letters, learned that some letters like to put on different clothes at the end of a word (kinda like our parents who change out of work clothes at the end of the day!) and only show up at the end of a word.
  4. We learned three vowels and learned that vowels often appear below the letters in Hebrew.
  5. We practiced reading and combining our letters and vowels. And we practiced writing our letters.
  6. Students also received a Machberet (notebook) to practice writing their Hebrew, which has a list of all the Hebrew letters and vowels on the back.
  7. We ended the session with all school assembly to do Hebrew Thru Movement.  Our kitah hey students helped lead it.  Parents were invited for this first session so they could meet the teachers. It was great to see so many parents and to have perfect attendance at Hebrew school!
  8. Thank you for a great day!

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Complete the last 2 pages in chapter 1 of your Hebrew Book. Practice reading the words in Chapter one out loud at least 10 minutes a day.
  2. Please bring some index cards to class going forward so we can make flash cards as we learn the letters and vowels.