Alim Second Grade's Blog

Thats’s right, the second grade class is putting G-d on trial for the 10th plague: the killing of all first born, male Egyptians and their animals. Students have submitted their personal positions (either yes, kind of yes/kind of no, or no -it was not okay) and later this week each student will be put on either the prosecution or defense teams. Then, we will spend time developing our arguments, both for and against, before presenting our positions to the judge – haMoreh Jeff.

This is the second year that we’ve turned the second grade class into a law school.  Last year it was a lot of fun, and this is another class with some very strong and thoughtful opinions, so I imagine we will have another excellent debate!

In class, we talked about how it is okay to question anything, even G-d,  in Torah study. Similar to how Abraham challenged G-d’s choice to destroy Sodom, we can also challenge a choice G-d makes – even though G-d has the final say!

We’ll keep you posted as this case develops!

Moreh Jeff and Morah Iris

What a fabulous time we had at 826 Seattle. Each student brought home a published copy of Kidnapped on Horseshoe Road. First, the facilitator helped us brainstorm ideas for plot, character, setting, and conflict ideas. Then, he helped us create a story with the class and stopped at a cliffhanger. A professional illustrator was drawing pictures as the story was being created, so that was fun to see. Finally, each student wrote his/her own ending. The students got to have their pictures taken in real “author poses,” and each story was submitted to “Mr. Geoduck” from “Goeduck Publications” for approval. There was a lot of laughter, fun, and creative juices flowing.

Hello Everyone,

Several of you have asked me if there will be a community going-away event for me. Well, the event will be the May 18th 6:15PM Shabbat service at Temple Beth AM. This is a “camp-style” Shabbat service that I normally lead with my song-leading students from TBA. However, they will be giving me a special honor that night because it will be my last service with them. I have told them that I’m inviting the SJCS community and I hear they bought a cake, so I’m sure there will be an oneg following the service. You are all welcome to attend to pray, celebrate, and reminisce!

My last day at SJCS with the students will be May 25th, and I fly out to Israel on May 30th.

Thank you, to all of you, for helping to create and sustain this vibrant Jewish community.  I would not be so well equipped to embark on the next stage of my Jewish journey without SJCS and all of you.

See you on the 18th!

- Moreh Jeff

I opened the door, out came a person

I opened the person, out came a heart

I opened the heart, out came love

I opened the love, out came a peaceful world —- Shai

I opened the door and out came a newspaper.

I opened the newspaper and out came a book.

I opened the book and out came a fairy.

I opened the fairy and out came a garden.

I opened the garden and out came grass.

I opened the grass and out came a flower.

I opened the flower and out came more flowers.

I opened the flowers and out came a beautiful spring.  —–Ella J.

I opened the door to the library and out came books.

I opened the books and out came a story.

I opened the story and out came an adventure.

I opened the adventure and out came a dragon.

I opened the dragon and out came treasures.

I opened the treasures and out came a map.

I opened the map and out came pirates.

I opened the pirates and out came a ship.

I opened the ship and out came a prisoner.

I opened the prisoner and out came a story.

I opened the story and out came a book.

I closed the book and brought it back to the library. —-Natalie

I opened the garage and out came a car.

I opened the car and out came a person.

I opened the person and out came a brain.

I opened the brain and out came a thought.

I opened the thought and out came words.

I opened the words and out came a poem.  —Chloe

I opened the door, out came a box.

I opened the box, out came bubble wrap.

I opened the bubble wrap, out came bubbles.

I opened the bubbles, out came soap.

I opened the soap, out came water.

I opened the water, out came the ocean.

I opened the ocean, out came lots of sea animals.

I opened the sea animals, out came fish. —Sam K.

I opened a door, out came a cat.

I opened a mouse, out came cheese.

I opened milk, out came a cow.

I opened the cow, out came grass.

I opened grass, out came the world. —Ian

I opened a door and out came a human.

I opened the human and out came matzah.

I opened the matzah and out came history.

I opened history and out came

well

nothing.                                       —Lior

I opened the mailbox and out came an envelope.

I opened the envelope and out came a letter.

I opened the letter and out came words.

I opened the words and out came sentences.

I opened the sentences and out came my beautiful poem. —Ella E.

I opened the door and out came a bear.

I opened the bear and out came honey.

I opened the honey and out came sugar.

I opened the sugar and out came a cupcake.

I opened the cupcake and out came flour.

I opened the flour and out came wheat.

I opened the wheat and out came my world. —Sophia

I opened a book and out came the the temple.

I opened the temple and out came a priest.

I opened the priest and out came a prayer.

I opened the prayer and out came holiness.

I opened holiness and out came a siddur.

I opened a siddur and said, “What a good story!” —Evan

I opened the door and out came a pie.

I opened the pie and out came milk.

I opened the milk and out came a cow.

I opened the cow and out came steak! —Nat

I opened the door and out came a cat.

I opened the cat and out came a mouse.

I opened the mouse and out came Mickey Mouse.

I opened Mickey Mouse and out came Minnie Mouse.

I opened Minnie Mouse and out came Donald Duck.

I opened Donald duck and out came Daffey Duck.

I opened Daffey Duck and out came Goofy.

I opened Goofy and out came Pluto…   —-Ciona

I opened a forest and out came a tree.

I opened a tree and out came wood.

I opened the wood and out came sap.

I opened the sap and out came maple syrup.

I opened maple syrup and out came sugar.

I opened the forest again and out came my beautiful world. —Molly

I opened the door and out came an elephant.

I opened the elephant and out came a lion.

I opened the lion and out came a tiger.

I opened the tiger and out came a deer.

I opened the deer and out came grass.

I opened the grass and out came a lake.

I opened the lake and out came fish.

I opened the fish and out came krill.

I opened krill and out came the ocean. —Noah

The current math unit we are studying is rich in vocabulary and hand’s on activities related to measurement. Here are a few things we’ve been doing:

• Students learned about linear measurements by measuring the lengths of objects around the room using meter sticks.

• Students learned about perimeter by measuring the distance around sides of boxes.

• Students learned about area by drawing rectangles on centimeter grid paper.

• Students chose different items around the room to measure and had to figure out which tool and unit would be the most appropriate (rulers, yardsticks, meter sticks, tape measure, etc.).

I am so excited to be back to finish out the year in 2nd grade.  Just in this first week I am already astounded by all of the growth that I have observed.  It looks like there was a lot of learning that happened while I was upstairs.  We have had a very busy week this week.  Below are some of the highlights.

Poetry: We dove into the sea of poetry wonders this week and the kids are already swimming!  Every student has their very own poetry notebook in which they can write their obervations of seemingly ordinary objects using extraordinary language.  As we move forward, we will teach specific poetry strategies and methods, but for many kids these seem to be inherent!

Science: Who knew that soil was made up of humus, clay, and sand?  Well, a lot of Alim students did!  By observing closely, we also discovered that contrary to what one might think, of those three elements, sand has the largest particles.  In science we are working on writing about our observations using scientific language, which looks a lot different than poetry.

Literacy: Mr. Popper’s Penguins is our current literary focus.  The entire class is reading this popular story together!  Students read in small groups of two or three, work independently on their comprehension packets, and participate in literacy discussions with either the whole or in small groups.  Because some of the vocabulary in this story can be challenging, we have already started working on how to understand words using contextual clues.

Math: If you took the two pieces of the same sized paper and made two different cylinders – one by rolling the paper vertically and the other by rolling the paper horizontally – would the two cylinders have the same capacity?  Alim students discovered that in fact, they will not!  The cylinder created by rolling the paper horizontally has a greater capacity.  Students also explored concepts related to area and weight this week, along with practicing finding the total distance of different routes on a map.

Here are some pictures from the week:

Best,

Morah Gabrielle

Layers of the temperate forest with Alim students!

Morah Debbie and Morah Andrea

Looking for equivalent fractions

The title of this week’s blog comes from a poem I read to the class entitled This We Know by Ted Perry, who studied Chief Sealth. As we continue our study of the rain forest, this class is becoming very passionate about the issues that are not only impacting the rain forests themselves, but also the people who live there. We will also be looking at ways that people are trying to save the rain forests.

Excited about winning the round (we all had a chance)!

Most students have finished researching their animals. We are revising and editing our rough drafts (just like Writer’s Workshop), and we are working on our exhibits for the museum.  I am now looking at either March 27th (if we can get the exhibits done by then), or the first week after the Passover break for possible museum dates.  Stay tuned.

Our field trip to the zoo is next Wednesday, March 21st. We will be leaving the school at 10:00 and returning at about 1:00. Jana will provide a sack lunch for those students who ordered lunches, and please send a lunch (and drink) if you did not order a lunch. Car groups have been arranged. Your child’s driver will contact you ahead of time as to whether a booster seat is needed to bring to school on that day. Have your child wear comfortable shoes and dress in layers. Lately, we have to be ready for any type of weather!

Comparing Fractions

Enjoy the pictures of some math games we’ve been doing this week on fractions.

Please let us know if you have any questions, thanks.

dclement@scjs.net

ayee@sjcs.net

These poems are so amazing, I had to post the rest. Enjoy!

R ainy

A nd

I ncredible

N o cutting down trees or killing

F lowers

O utside

R aining

E ndangered

S pecies and

T hat sort of stuff

—Jack

R ain

A nimals

I n different parts of the rain forest

N octurnal and diurnal animals

F

O

R ain

E

S

T anager (Western)

—Nat

R ed eyed tree frogs climb through the trees

A s the Anaconda slithers on the ground

I nsects crawling around on the leaves and some of them

N obody has ever seen

F lowers blooming everywhere

O n the fascinating leaves

R esplendent Quetazal nibbles on fruits and if you’re very careful, you can see an

E lephant stomping around, looking eagerly for

S ome water to drink. Isn’t it so amazing to know that so many things happen in the

T rees?

—Ella J.

R attle Snakes

A nimals

I guanas

N o igloos

F orget about injuries

O utside

R abbits

E scaping

S corpians

T emperate and tropical

—Lior

R acing with the jaguars

A nd

I guanas hanging out

N ow the jaguar has one

F lailing his arms up is a monkey

O o oo oo the monkey says

R are animals hear in this spot

E lephants stampeding all around

S nakes slithering side to side

T rails of tapirs and that is the end

—Ella E.

R ed leaves

A nimals

I guanas

N ests

F lowers and frogs

O rangutans

R eptiles

E lephants

S wamps

T rees

—Noah 

R a t

A nt

I guana

N ewt

F rog

O wl

R abbit

E agle

S nake

T oucan

—Sophia

R esting frogs

A nd

I guanas too

N ice W ings

F abulous butterflies

O orangutans swing from vine to vine

R apid calls of all the birds

E ndless pats of raindrops are

S ounding in the

T rees

—Mariah