In tefillah this week, we have been focusing on learning the words and story behind the prayer, Mah Tovu. The children shared the places that they like to pray. In lower school tefillah, we talked about possible meanings of the words in the prayer: God’s house. The children had wonderful ideas about what this might mean including: the synagogue, the temple in Jerusalem, the whole world, the universe and in each of us. Children spent time illustrating their vision of God’s house.
Math has centered on subtraction. The children have been busy learning different strategies for subtraction. These include: crossing off items in a group and also using a number line to count up or to count down. They also have been practicing using number bonds to help them subtract. We have talked a lot about the contrasts between addition and subtraction. Addition involves putting parts together to find a whole while subtraction involves taking a whole and breaking it into parts. We have begun to work on creating addition and subtraction fact families for a set of three numbers.
Rimon students have been concentrating on mastering the following digraphs: sh, wh, th, ch and ck. We learned that the sound /k/ at the end of a word after a short vowel is most often made by the letters ck. Next week we will be moving onto a unit on bonus letters. Check next week’s blog for more information about bonus letters.
In social studies, we have begun to learn about the holiday of Thanksgiving. We read an introductory story today about the Pilgrims and their voyage to America. Over the next few weeks, we will be thinking a lot about what we are thankful for in our lives.
Did you know that you can use a mirror to bend light? In our science unit on the sun and the stars, we have been examining light. Rimon scientists took flashlights and mirrors into a dark space at school to see if they could make the light move and bend.
Rimon readers have been enjoying listening to and talking about a number of Kevin Henkes’ books. So far we have revisited Chrysanthemum and Wemberly Worried. We also have read A Weekend with Wendell, Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, Lilly’s Big Day and Julius the Baby of the World. Together we have made a chart detailing the characters and setting of each of these books. The children are learning to make text-to-text and text-to-self connections.
Have a peaceful Shabbat! Hamorah Joanne