The Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines - Pre K

1-22-2012

Shalom (שלום) again from Kindergarten,

Another great week. We started our morning off with collecting Tzedaka (צדקה) and saying Boker Tov - בקר טוב to everyone.

After that, we moved on to Hebrew finishing the Shalom Sesame video from the 1980's version. We traveled to Jerusalem to see the Old City, to Caesarea to see the ancient Roman amphitheater and to Haifa to see the port where ships from all over the world come to unload and reload cargo.

We learned how to say “I AM…” so we all practiced saying “ANI and then our names. Ani David!!! While still on the topic of Israel we learned about The Kotel (Wailing Wall) in Jerusalem. The Kotel is the remaining wall from the border of the Temple that was in Jerusalem 2000 years ago. Jews from all over the world come to this spot to pray. Jews also have a tradition leaving letters to G-d in the wall. We looked at a few images and examples of these letters and then wrote our own. These letters are going to be taken to The Kotel for us, by Jennifer Shulman, Mrs. Shulman’s daughter, when she goes to Israel next week. We are even going to get a chance to Skype with Jennifer in a few weeks to hear about her experiences in Israel.

After snack it was time for Torah studies. We have been using a more child friendly Torah lesson series called Teach Me Torah. We completed the Sixth chapter "Rebecca" and talked about how she had shown kindness not to just Abraham’s servant but also the camels. The servant knew that this compassion and kindness was the reason G-d had selected her to be Isaac’s wife. Below are links where you can see these lessons. The completed paper copies were sent home with the students.

http://www.jewishdesmoines.org/jfcs/k/tmt/6-1.jpg

http://www.jewishdesmoines.org/jfcs/k/tmt/6-2.jpg

After our Torah studies time we went to the auditorium to sing some songs with Cantor Shivers. We practiced a couple of the songs and prayers that all of the students will be leading on February 10th at our JFCS Shabbat at Tifereth Israel Synagogue. We sang Henai Ma Tov, Shalom Aleichem to a new tune and practiced the Barchu. When we were done we returned to the classroom to practice reciting the Shemah (שמע) and our positive affirmations while meditating.

Shavuah Tov (שבוע טוב),

Moreh Copeland (מורה קופלנד)

1-15-2012

Shalom (שלום) again from Kindergarten,

It was another great week. We started our morning off with collecting Tzedaka (צדקה) and saying Boker Tov - בקר טוב to everyone.

After that, we moved on to our Torah studies. We have been using a more child friendly Torah lesson series called Teach Me Torah. We completed the Fifth chapter "Abraham" and talked about how even Abraham argued with G-d to try and save the good people in Sodom and Gomorrah. We also learned that a group of 10 people praying is called a “Minyan”.

Below are links where you can see these lessons. The completed paper copies were sent home with the students.

http://www.jewishdesmoines.org/j/jfcs/k/tmt/5-1.jpg

http://www.jewishdesmoines.org/j/jfcs/k/tmt/5-2.jpg

After our Torah studies we talked about how Hebrew is a language and that Israel is where Hebrew is spoken and used every day. We took out our big map of the world and laid it on the floor so everyone could really get a good up-close look at all of the continents. First we found the USA and pinpointed Des Moines. Yes, Des Moines was actually on this map. After that we all pointed out other countries and continents that we recognized as a reference to where we are. We then found Israel, a tiny sliver at the east most point of the Mediterranean Sea. After everyone had a chance to show that they could identify where Des Moines and Israel were and the map we were in dire need of some animal crackers and apple juice. Every week we have been saying the Brachot – Prayers for the snacks we have been eating:

Blessed are You, Hashem, our God, King of the universe, through whose word everything came to be.

Blessed are You, Hashem, our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the tree

While eating our snack we had a Shalom Sesame video from the 1980's version playing in the background. Yitzchak Perlman took us on a quick tour of Israel pointing out the fertile lands in the north and the deserts in the south. We even got to see Bert and Ernie talking in Hebrew. While we were snacking and watching Shalom Sesame the 1st graders came in and watched a few minutes before we all went to visit the Cantor for song time.

In the auditorium with Cantor Shivers, we practiced a couple of the songs and prayers that all of the students will be leading on February 10th at our JFCS Shabbat at Tifereth Israel Synagogue. We sang Henai Ma Tov, Shalom Aleichem to a new tune, and practiced the Barchu. After song time with the cantor, we were invited to participate in the Havdalah portion of Mrs. Shulman’s Mock Shabbat. We even got to sample some Matzah ball soup and Challah.

When we were done we returned to the classroom to practice reciting the Shemah (שמע) and our positive affirmations while meditating.

Shavuah Tov (שבוע טוב),

Moreh Copeland (מורה קופלנד)

1-8-2012

Shalom (שלום) again from Kindergarten,

Another great week starting our morning off with collecting Tzedaka

(צדקה) and saying Boker Tov - בקר טוב to everyone. We also all went around the room and shared what we had done for winter break. One student went to New Jersey and New York and another went to North Carolina. A few others and Moreh Copeland stayed in town and enjoyed the “no snow” winter break in Iowa.

After that, we moved on to our Torah studies. We have started using a more child friendly Torah lesson series called Teach Me Torah. We completed the fourth chapter "The Tower of Babel" and talked about how the people had let the tower become their main focus in life as opposed to taking care of each other.

Below are links where you can see these lessons. The completed paper copies were sent home with the students.

http://www.jewishdesmoines.org/j/jfcs/k/tmt/4-1.jpg

http://www.jewishdesmoines.org/j/jfcs/k/tmt/4-2.jpg

After our Torah studies, which took a bigger portion of our day, we moved on to our Hebrew Alef to Tav activity books. We spent a majority of our time catching everyone up so we were all on the same Hebrew letter chapter. A few of the students even finished their books and will be bringing them home when the rest of the class completes theirs.

Around 11:10 we went to the auditorium to sing some songs and prayer. We just got on the stage and sang our Alef-Bet, Shalom Cheverim and Henai Ma Tov songs that we had learned earlier in the year.

At the end of class we had a quick Alef – Bet writing review on our transparencies then moved over to the floor to practice reciting the Shemah (שמע) and our positive affirmations while meditating to finish out the day.

Shavuah Tov (שבוע טוב),

Moreh Copeland (מורה קופלנד)

12-18-2011

Shalom (שלום) again from Kindergarten,

Another great week starting our morning off with collecting Tzedaka (צדקה) and saying Boker Tov - בקר טוב to everyone. After that we moved on to a review of the Chanukah story about Judah and the Maccabees returning to the temple and not having enough oil to let the Or Tamid - Everlasting Light be lit. There was originally only one day’s worth of oil to be used until more could be found. However, the miracle was that this small amount of oil actually lasted for eight days.

After the review, we learned to play Dreidel. Insted of money we each started off with 10 pencils. Everyone would start the round by putting on in and then each person got to spin the Dreidel. Now this was no ordinary dreidel. This was a GIANT dreidel --The size of a beach ball. We had to stand in a huge circle to be able to play. As we played we learned about the 4 letters on the dreidel. NUN GIMMEL HAY SHIN and not just how many pencils you got or had to put in on each letter but also that each letter is part of the sentence, nes gadol hayah sham, A great miracle happened there.

After our game of dreidel, we startd the JFCS Parent Chanukah Present craft. The special craft was a pair of decorated 3D phot frames with included a picture of your child. We had a lot of fun making and decorating this surprise gift that we took home in gift bags. A big thank you to Lyanna and Janelle who worked extra hard to get this project ready for the whole school so everyone could participate.

At 11:00 we went to the auditorium to sing some Chanukah songs with Cantor Shivers and to light the JFCS Chanukia.
After that we went to Bookey Lodge to enjoy delicious Latkas and Doughnuts.

Happy Channuka!!!!!!!

    Shavuah Tov (שבוע טוב),
    Moreh Copeland (מורה קופלנד)

12-11-2011

Shalom (שלום) again from Kindergarten,

Another great week starting our morning off with collecting Tzedaka (צדקה) and saying Boker Tov - בקר טוב to everyone. After that we moved on to our Torah studies. We have started using a more child friendly Torah lesson series called Teach Me Torah. We completed the third chapter "Noah's Ark" Below are links where you can see these lessons. The completed paper copies were sent home with the students.

http://www.jewishdesmoines.org/j/jfcs/k/tmt/3-1.jpg
http://www.jewishdesmoines.org/j/jfcs/k/tmt/3-2.jpg

After our Torah studies we moved on to The Chanukah episode of Shalom Sesame. In this episode we heard the Chanukah story about Judah and the Maccabees returning to the temple and not having enough oil to let the Or Tamid - Everlasting Light, be lit. There was only enough oil to last one day until more could be found. However, the miracle was that this small amount of oil actually lasted for eight days. We learned what the letters on the Dreidel mean and the difference between a Menorah and a Chanukia. Below are links to the accompanying lessons to the video. Please take a look and see what else we learned:

http://www.jewishdesmoines.org/j/jfcs/k/ss/channukah1.pdf
http://www.jewishdesmoines.org/j/jfcs/k/ss/channukah2.pdf
http://www.jewishdesmoines.org/j/jfcs/k/ss/channukah3.pdf
http://www.jewishdesmoines.org/j/jfcs/k/ss/channukah4.pdf
http://www.jewishdesmoines.org/j/jfcs/k/ss/channukah5.pdf

Around 11:10 we went to the auditorium to sing some Chanukah songs with Cantor Shivers.
When we were done we went back to the classroom and moved over to the floor to practice reciting the Shemah (שמע) and our positive affirmations while meditating.

    Shavuah Tov (שבוע טוב),
    Moreh Copeland (מורה קופלנד)

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