HSRS Announcements (Hodaahot הוֹדָוֹת) New Information What an amazing first Wednesday and Sunday of class. The students were excited to be together, had great participation, and wonderful behavior. A few reminders:
The temperatures vary GREATLY in the buildings. It is always a smart idea to send a sweatshirt/sweater/jacket. Plus, we will be going outside most days/evenings.
We also encourage students to bring water bottles to each session plus Tzedakah.
Finally, with the number of students attending, it is important that you parking your car so we don't cause a Drake back-up at drop off and please exit your vehicle to pick up your child so we aren't having students roaming the parking lot.
Previous Sent Information If you haven't responded to the August 18 or 19 email, please do so. A reply confirms you are added to the correct listserve.
Important Dates & Upcoming Events September 1- NO HSRS September 13- Shabbat Jr at 5:30pm at Har Shalom September 21- 6th/7th grade Havdalah from 5:30-7:30pm September 22- NO HSRS for 6th/7th grades October 2- NO HSRS, Erev Rosh Hashana October 16- NO HSRS, Sukkot October 19- S'mores Havdalah and SOCKtober Event from 6-7:30pm October 23- NO HSRS, Sukkot October 26- 7th grade-led Shabbat Serviceat 10:15am, oneg to follow October 27- NO HSRS for 7th grade October 27- B'nai Mitzvah Orientation for 6th grade families and those wanting a refresher from 12-1pm.
BBYO & Teen Things Teen of the Week! Each week, we will be recognizing one of our amazing teen volunteers who went above and beyond to help in the class. Up first, NORA LAUB! Nora was very helpful and gave many compliments to her hard-working kindergarteners. She is going to be a great addition to the classroom.
Synagogue & Community News
From Our Teachers Beresheet (Preschool) Morah Kyla will see you in November!!
Kitah Gan (Kindergarten) from Morah JoJo Hello all! We focused on setting up our classroom. We started with going over the cotton ball jar and different ways to earn shekels. The kids then helped create their own rules list, deciding what we should be careful about while in the classroom. We also talked about Tzedakah and our curriculum for the year. Then we had to take a quick aleph bet yoga break, everyone did fantastic. After a snack recess, we went back to decorate our shekel bags. Everyone had to use their full creativity to make sure we don’t lose our shekels before the class Shuk. We finished the day with coloring pictures for the classroom. We wanted to make that space ours and beautiful. Everyone did amazing, see you all next week.
Kitah Alef (First Grade) from Morah Laura It was so much fun to be together in Shirah this morning. The students loved singing, dancing and being with “Shirah Josh”. Many students even volunteered to lead some of the songs. When we came back to our classroom, we played the name game and learned all of our madrachims’ names too. We learned about our classroom and also discussed why we were here and what we would be doing. The students brainstormed lots of good rules and we all signed our Brit. We learned about tzedaka and then off to centers. Aiden helped all of the students learn the letter "aleph". Hailey, Ceci and Lilah had a messy job of helping the children swirl paint into shaving cream and then dip the boxes into the mixture. Finally, they use pieces of cardboard to scrape off the extra shaving cream, and I hope your family will enjoy using this new tzedakah box. After everyone had fun, we settled down for a nice story about a class, saving for gifts to bring to an old neighbor. It worked out very well for students to bring a small bag/backpack to carry home their library book, water bottle, Hebrew letter paper, and their Tzedaka paper. Please return all library books each week.
Kitah Bet (Second Grade) from Morah Anne Hello Kita Bet! I had a great morning, kicking off religious school and meeting your children. I think we are going to have a fun and amazing year. 😊 We spent the morning organizing our supplies and space. We spent some time getting to know each other through a few games and activities and then we explored the synagogue with a rather difficult scavenger hunt. The morning flew by and I am very much looking forward to the next time we are together! Shavua Tov- Have a great week!
Kitah Gimmel (Third Grade) from Morah Robin Wednesday- On our first school day we did a lot of introductions to get to know each other. We played “We are One” where we get in a circle and wrap yarn around each of our wrists in succession while we introduce ourself and the students that came before us. At the end, we say we are all unique, but we all have something in common, “We are all Jews”!. We also went through the curriculum for the year, and we created our classroom Brit Kehillah – classroom rules – which everyone signs in agreement. Overall, a wonderful group of students, a great first day!!!
Sunday- After Shira, we first watched a video of the Genesis story of Creation. This led us right into Shabbat – the 7th day, the day of rest. We had a big discussion about Shabbat – blessings, the foods, traditions, - and the four mitzvot of Shabbat – 1) remember, 2) observe, 3) delight in, and 4) honor Shabbat. Then we read an adorable story “ Shabbat Schnoodle”. The madrichim played a few games of Hebrew hangman and then we were off to snack/break. After our break, we made Shabbat candles out of beeswax paper, and we made candle holders by decorating glass jars with tissue paper, and filling them with colored sand (to hold the candles upright). At the end of class, the madrichim led the students in Hebrew Yoga. Shavua Tov- Have a wonderful week!
Kitah Dalet (Fourth Grade) from Morah Merav Wednesday from Morah Merav- We went over the Aleph Bet, which we will keep doing. We learned a few new Hebrew words which we will keep practicing. We continued decorating our shekel envelopes. We played a memory game and learned a little about each other. A fun first day of Hebrew School.
Sunday from Morah Merav- We colored and shared with each other about our week. We started to work on our kitah Brit. We continued to work on our Aleph Bet. Not everyone is in the same place. I will work with your students to meet them at their skill level. We are lucky to have 2 amazing Madrichot in our class on Sundays. Thank you for your help Norah and Zelda! We all look forward to working with your students, improving their Hebrew and finding new challenges for them to achieve. Please send an extra layer with your student. The air conditioning in our kitah works really well. An extra layer will also be great for our outdoor breaks as the Colorado weather changes. Thank you for sharing your students with me. I’m excited for a great year ahead with this beautiful group. Yay Kitah Dalet!
Kitah Hay (Fifth Grade) Wednesday from Morah Lauren and Morah Sophie- On Wednesday, Kita Hay had a relaxing day for back to school. We did some introductions and shared something from out summers. Then created a class b’rit, or agreement, for how we are going to achieve our goals this year. The students were so happy to be back together!
Sunday from Morah Lauren- Kita Hay on Sunday started with Shira Josh, then set up the class, made bracelets, talked about Hebrew and had a long recess catching up with friends.
Sunday from Morah Sophie- On Sunday, we did an introduction to the Torah portion of our curriculum this year. We discussed what kinds of information would be found in the Torah and what would not. We also did a word search that contained all of the names of the prophets. We will be learning about each of them this year!
Kitah Vav (Sixth Grade) Wednesday from Morah Debbie- Hi everyone, I had the pleasure of subbing for Kitah Vav on Wednesday. We spent some time getting to know each other and catch up on our summers. Please remind your students to bring Tzedakah each week. We then had a great discussion about what to include in our Classroom B'rit (our behavior agreement). The students did an amazing job of creating a B'rit full of positive action. Finally, we reviewed our Hebrew letters by translating a page of Hebrish writing (English words written with Hebrew letters). Kitah Vav is off to a great start!
Sunday from Rabbi Finestone- After reviewing the class brit and playing a getting to know you game, we started our day with Hebrew! We spent some time reviewing the letters and the vowels, and then each student did two lines of reading practice on page 2; Our newest student successfully practiced identifying and pronouncing all of the Hebrew letters. I then shared some of the origins of the Hebrew letters with the class. After break, we worked on the start of our Jewish Life Cycles unit. We completed the “what we know” column about Jewish life cycles, and we also completed the “what we want to know” column of the chart. We also had a lively discussion about what a lifecycle meant.
Kitah Zayin (Seventh Grade) Wednesday from Rabbi Finestone- During the first half of class, the students each put together a jigsaw puzzle made up of animals in the shape of Hebrew letters. It was a fun way to review the letters, the sounds, and the order of the Hebrew alphabet. After break, we looked at the first of many ethical dilemmas. This one involved a man who is giving testimony in court, who is asked to takeoff his kipah by the judge. He refused. What would be the right thing to do? After much debate, the students were evenly split between keeping his kipah on and not testifying, or taking it off and giving testimony. We then looked at Jewish law, which clearly states that we are commanded to give testimony for justice, but wearing a key is only a custom. The man should therefore takeoff his kipah and give the needed testimony. We expanded this to the general obligation of always speaking up and speaking out if you have information about any wrong activity. Please remind your student to bring Tzedakah to class.
Sunday from Morah Michelle- Wow! What a great group of kids! We had a great first day of Sunday School and I am really looking forward to the rest of this year. Our first day was spent doing a few "getting to know you" activities, learning about Jewish symbols like the menorah, chai, and the tree of life, doing chalk drawings of those symbols outside, and discussing the fun things we have to look forward to this year. I will see everyone in two weeks!
From Our Specials News from the Sifriyah (Library) Reading challenge: It's simple!! Read a book, get a prize! Picture books get 1 prize, chapter books and novels get more/bigger prizes. Read the equivalent of 9 picture books and receive a $5 gift card to Target!! Reading Har Shalom Library books preferred, but any book with Jewish content counts! So PJ Library, PJ Our Way, public library and school library books--just tell me the title and a little bit about the book so I know you read it.
Madrichim: This year, I'm happy to have the help of Jacob and Bondi who will help me with keeping track of the reading challenge, Zelda who will help me with organizing juvenile and teen Holocaust books and Zia who will be an all-purpose helper with library programs. I'm looking forward to working with all of you!
Sunday was a busy day in the library--the 2nd graders had a scavenger hunt and we found an entire shelf of holiday books!!
News from Shira (Sunday Morning Song Session) Shira Josh is back. Thanks for bringing your energy and even teaching us a new song about Shabbat!
News from Tefillah (Wednesday Evening Prayer Session) From Deb Singer: I am excited to be teaching Tefillah and tutoring Liturgical Hebrew at Har Shalom this year! We have recently relocated to Fort Collins from Iowa City to live closer to our son and his family, and were thrilled to find such an active and welcoming congregation! In Iowa City I taught Hebrew School, Sunday School, Jewish Music, and B’nai Mitzvah tutoring for many years. Before moving to Iowa City for an MSW/Master of Social Work, I grew up in Hartford, CT and earned my BA in Religious Studies (focusing of Hebrew texts) from Trinity College. A lifelong learner, I also hold degrees in Music Theory, Dance, and French. I love working with children and bring my guitar to local preschools for music and movement sessions, as well as offering private and group guitar lessons in the Fort Collins community. I look forward to sharing the beauty of the Shabbat liturgy with your children. In our Wednesday evening sessions, we will learn the words and melodies for components of the Saturday morning service and, if time allows, do the same for the Friday evening service. As we learn, we will discuss the meaning of the texts and how they are relevant today. All the best as we start a new school year!
