Gimel – Third Year – Tuesday (Kerman)

12/17: 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 reviewed their homework. We reviewed the ‘double duty dot’ (cholam & shin/sin) reviewed what a shoresh is, and practiced reading aloud.
  3. We worked on the next chapter of the V’Ahavta, at least the first 2 sentences, as well as meaning.
  4. The entire school gathered in the main area for a festive Hanukkah dinner and end of semester celebration of pizza. A good time was had by all.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Review reading the v’ahavta

12/10: Today in class we worked on:

  1. Hello Gimmel Parents, Moreh Kerman reporting to you about our terrific Gimmel Class.
  2. 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.
  3.  Upon returning to class, the students each took their Hebrew Alphabet assessment. The results showed that each student is making progress.
  4. We then reviewed the homework and began studying the Shema.
  5. We then played a quick round of Jewish Trivia.
  6. 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. Review pg.14…all,  pg. 18. all, pg. 23. 1-4. Pages 25-25 all and pg. 26 line 1&2

12/3: Today in class we worked on:

  1. Hello Gimmel Parents, Moreh Kerman reporting to you about our terrific Gimmel Class.
  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. Upon returning to class, we reviewed the Hebrew Alphabet and began to work with our Flashcards. We are not only reading each word but defining them as well. We then read and discussed our homework.
  4. Lastly, we played a short round of Jewish Trivia.
  5. We concluded by joining the entire school for Hebrew thru Movment led by Rabbi Prass where we added on new verbs and vocabulary centered around Chanukah.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Every student wrote out the homework for the week on a sheet of paper. I would appreciate it if you would sign that assignment sheet
  2. Homework:
  3. Continue reviewing the Hebrew Alphabet…   pg, 13… 1-4, pg. 14… all pg. 18… all,  and pg. 23…1-4…

11/19: Today in class we worked on:

  1. Hello Gimmel Parents, Moreh Kerman reporting to you about our terrific Gimmel Class.
  2. School began with Tefillah and with Rabbi Bellows leading the all-school t’fillah. We discussed several prayers and sang Hatikvah.
  3.  Upon returning to class, we reviewed the Hebrew Alphabet and began to work with our Flashcards. We are not only reading each word but defining it as well.
  4. We then discussed our homework.
  5. Lastly, we played a ten-minute round of Jewish Trivia.
  6. We then joined Rabbi Bellows for our Hebrew Thru Movement experience which was led by the students.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Every student wrote out the homework for the week on a sheet of paper.I would appreciate it if you would sign that assignment sheet
  2. Continue reviewing the Hebrew Alphabet…
  3. Page 10…1 -5, pg.13 lines 5-9, pg.14 all and pg.18-all
  4. My family and I want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

11/12: Today in class we worked on:

  1. Hello Gimmel Parents, Moreh Kerman reporting to you about our terrific Gimmel 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 Awesone 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.  After returning to class, we began working on a new group of flashcards. These words were more sophisticated than the previous set we have been using. Our students accepted this challenge and did an excellent job.  
  4. Next, we spent the majority of the time reading and practicing one review prayer and two new prayers.
  5. Lastly, we played a short round of Jewish Trivia.
  6. 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.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Review pages 4 & 5 all Hebrew, page 10 -all page. 11 – 1&2 and 5 and 6,
  2. Page 13 lines 6,7,8,9  page 14 all and page 18 lines 1&2
  3. Every student wrote out the homework for the week on a sheet of paper. I would appreciate it if you would sign that card if you see this post.

11/5: Today in class we worked on:

  1. Hello Gimmel Parents, Moreh Kerman reporting to you about our terrific Gimmel Class.
  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. Rabbi Prass also connected this to the word(s) of the week “derech eretz”, and how our political climate is one demonstration of how we need more “derech eretz” Ask your student to explain it to you.
  3.  After returning to class, we reviewed the Hebrew Alphabet quiz from last week. The results were quite good.
  4. We then worked with our Flashcards, and reviewed our homework.
  5. Next, we moved on to two new prayers in our text. Our students did an excellent job of sightreading those prayers.
  6. Lastly, we played a five-minute round of Jewish Trivia
  7. Then we joined the entire school for Hebrew Thru Movement led by Rabbi Prass and Ben G. Rabbi Prass introduced some new Ivrit vocabulary for body parts.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Every student wrote out the homework for the week on a sheet of paper.
  2. I would appreciate it if you would sign that card if you see this post.
  3. Continue reviewing the Hebrew Alphabet…
  4.  Page 16 both lines, pg. 18 lines 1 & 2, pg. 13 all 9 lines…

10/29: Today in class we worked on:

  1. Hello Gimmel Parents, Moreh Kerman reporting to you about our terrific Gimmel Class.
  2. School began with an all-school Tefillah and the Rabbi led a 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.
  3. After returning to class, we reviewed Simchat Torah.
  4. We then worked on sight reading our flashcards.
  5. Next, Kitah Gimmel & Kitah Daled 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. Finally, the students had an opportunity to taste a piece of the Etrog. Most of our students like its taste. ( to my surprise)
  6. Upon returning to class, we reviewed our homework from last week, and moved on to a new topic in our text. Finally, we spent the last five minutes of class playing our trivia game and reviewing this week’s homework.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Every student wrote out the homework for the week on a sheet of paper. I would appreciate it if you would sign that card if you see this post.
  2. Continue reviewing the Hebrew Alphabet
  3. Please Study: page 13, lines 1,2,3, & 5… page 14 complete the English matching exercise…

10/22: Today in class we worked on:

  1. Hello Gimmel Parents, Moreh. Kerman reporting to you about our terrific  Gimmel Class.
  2. We enjoyed all-school T’Fillah with Rabbi Prass.  He showed us his ‘collection’ of an etrog from CBA over the last 18 Sukkot.  We also talked about the sounds and sights of sukkot from day 1 – day 8.
  3. After returning to class, we continued a brief conversation about Sukkot and then worked on sight reading our flashcards.
  4. Students participated with the Daled class outside to enjoy Hebrew Through Movement.  There we talked about what we can do and feel with our eyes, mouths backs, and heart.  We shook the etrog/lulav and the teaching that they symbolism the human heart, eyes, mouth, and spine.
  5. Upon returning to class, we reviewed our homework from last week, and moved on to a new topic in our text.
  6. Finally, we spent the last five minutes of class playing our trivia game and reviewing this week’s homework.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Continue reviewing the Hebrew Alphabet
  2. Read the top of page 11, and then read lines 1,2 and 5 on page 11 as well
  3. Complete page 12
  4. Read lines 1,2,3, on page 13

Every student wrote out the homework for the week on a sheet of paper. I would appreciate it if you would sign that card if you see this post.

10/15: Today in class we worked on:

  1. Hello Gimmel Parents, Mr. Kerman reporting to you about our awesome Gimmel Class.
  2. Today, the students gathered in the sanctuary with Rabbi Prass for tefillah.  We talked about WHY we need to find some moments for joy.  We connected this to our upcoming holiday of Sukkot, which is called our time of joy.
  3. After returning to class, I shared the graded Hebrew Alphabet scores with our students.
  4. We agreed that an essential part of our homework profile is to continue studying the alphabet and vowels.
  5. We then worked on our flashcards
  6. Gimmel and Daled went outside for Hebrew Thru Movement.
  7. We worked on reading The Barchu and several pages associated with that prayer in our textbook.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Every student wrote out the homework for the week on an index card. I would appreciate it if you would sign that card if you see this post.
  2. Page 4… lines 1 & 2
  3. Page 5…  review vocabulary meanings
  4. Page 7… review page 7 all
  5. Page 10…lines 1 and 5 only
  6. Page 11… lines 1 and 3

10/8: Today in class we worked on:

  1. Hello Gimmel Parents, Moreh Kerman reporting to you about our awesome Gimmel Class.
  2. We began in an all-school t’fillah with Rabbi Prass during which we honored the memories of the 1200 people killed in the Hamas terror attack in Israel on Oct 7, 2023 and prayed for the release of the 100+ hostages still being held in Gaza.  We listened to songs of hope, emphasizing the resilience of the Jewish people.
  3. Back in class, we reviewed the Hebrew Alphabet and practiced our reading.
  4. We also discussed Yom Kippur. We also read and discussed a poem about Kol Nidre.
  5. Also, each class member took an evaluation on the Hebrew Alphabet. Rabbi Prass will be providing you the results after all our students have taken the test.
  6. My family and I want to wish you all Shana Tova!  May we all be inscribed in the Book of Life for a healthy and joyous 5785. L’Shalom, Moreh Paul Kerman

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Continue to review the Alphabet and Vowels
  2. Review pages 1- 10
  3. Try to read lines 1&2 on the bottom of page 11

9/24: Today in class we worked on:

  1. Hello Gimmel Parents, Mr. Kerman reporting to you about our incredible Gimmel Class. 
  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 are still in review mode, and spent our time studying the Hebrew alphabet, discussing Rosh Hashanah, creating percentage formulas designed to improve the world, reading a prayer, playing Jewish trivia, and working with our Flashcards.
  4. Also, each student received a Hebrew Alphabet study sheet which they need to work with as part of their homework.
  5. We ended class with the entire Hebrew school coming together for Hebrew Through Movement led by Rabbi Prass, and one of our own Daled students, Ben G.  We also heard the calls of the Shofar in celebration of Elul, the month leading up to Rosh Hashanah and the other High Holy Days.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Our homework for the next two weeks is:
    • Studying the Hebrew Alphabet and Vowels
    • Reviewing pages 1-10 in our text. The students have circled the exercises they need to study.
  2. My family and I want to wish you all Shana Tova!  May we all be inscribed in the Book of Life for a healthy and joyous 5785.

9/17: Today in class we worked on:

  1. Hello Gimmel Parents, Moreh. Kerman reporting to you about our incredible Gimmel Class. What an awesome group of learners!
  2. We began with an all school assembly.  The 2 older grades (daled & gimmel) shared 3 things that are helpful to learn Hebrew and 3 things that used to make them nervous about learning Hebrew. 
  3. We are in review mode, and spent our time discussing the Hebrew alphabet, trying to read a new prayer, playing Jewish trivia, and working with our Flashcards. Also, each student received a Hebrew Alphabet study sheet which they need to work with as part of their homework.
  4. Our review mode should last two more weeks and will serve to get everyone “up op speed” so we can begin studying the meat of our curriculum. Of course, we will constantly review to make sure that everyone is comfortable with our pace. No worries!
  5. We ended the session with all school assembly to do Hebrew Thru Movement.  Our kitah daled 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 almost perfect attendance at Hebrew school! We also sounded the shofar in celebration of this month of Elul.

Homework to be completed by next class:

  1. Our homework this week is:
  2. Studying the Hebrew Alphabet and Vowels
  3. Practicing lines 1 & 2 on page 4 (bottom)
  4. Page 5 matching
  5. Page 8 True or False
  6. Thank you for sending us your amazing children…