Second Grade Absorbs Science Lesson on Matter

Students in second grade are studying matter and its properties, and thinking about how different properties are suited for different purposes. This week, by their rigorous application of scientific method, they examined the property of absorbency and conducted an experiment to determine which of four materials absorbed the most water: cloth, paper towel, writing paper, or aluminum foil. Students formed their hypotheses about which would be most absorbent, and then set out to determine the truth.

Each pair of students was equipped with 50 milliliters of water (carefully measured in a beaker) and pre-cut, identical squares of their materials to ensure that testing conditions were fair–after all, as they learned, any variation can skew the results, rendering the data collected useless. Then students poured the water into a cup and added the testing materials. After allowing one minute to pass, students poured the water into beakers to measure and draw the remainder.

Second grade students concluded that the data revealed that neither paper nor aluminum foil is particularly absorbent, rendering them ineffective at mopping up spills. Furthermore, while it is possible that a certain famous brand of paper towels does live up to its claims of absorbing water most effectively, thus far, cloth is the “quickest picker-upper.”

Kitah Vav "Help Desk" Allows Students to "Phone a Friend"

Kitah Vav students have been transforming their weekly independent assignments into opportunities for collaborative learning with their innovative “help desk.” At the beginning of each week, Rabbi Rubel assigns work in Chumash to be completed by students at their own pace. On Friday, students who have already successfully done the work man a “help desk” where students who missed material, did not fully understand a lesson, or just need a different perspective to finish the assignment can get a little help from their friends. 

While assisting classmates, helpers reinforce their own understanding through teaching others, develop leadership and communication skills, and gain confidence in their abilities. Meanwhile, students on the receiving end benefit from their friends’ prior experience with the material and learn to view challenges as normal parts of the learning process. 

Beyond all this, the most valuable feature of the “help desk” is the supportive classroom community it fosters in Kitah Vav in which academic success is a shared goal, rather than a source of competition. 

Kitah Bet, IDF Soldier Converse in Hebrew

Kitah Bet students were excited to practice their conversational Hebrew with an IDF soldier in Israel…and even more excited by a surprise twist ending to the conversation.

Kitah Bet welcomed Tzofiya Chazoni to their classroom live via Facetime. Knowing that Tzofiya is currently in Israel serving in the IDF, they introduced themselves and told her where they were from in flawless Hebrew, just as they had practiced in Ulpan with Morah Levana Gil. Tzofiya was very impressed by their skill, and spoke to Kitah Bet in Hebrew as well (with English translations) as she responded to their questions. 

Kitah Bet immediately asked Tzofiya what she does for the IDF, and they learned that Tzofiya’s job is to monitor transmissions from space satellites, to make sure that everything looks safe. They had many questions for her about the satellites, wondering whether she had to wear a spacesuit for her job. Tzofiya said that she did not, but that she does have a special space program logo on her uniform. There were some more specific questions about her job, but Tzofiya explained that the answers were military secrets. However, she assured Kitah Bet that the war was going well and that Israel was being kept safe. 

As the call came to an end, Kitah Bet students were surprised and impressed to discover that Tzofiya is Morah Tikva Goldberg’s cousin, and several students felt that was the most exciting part of the presentation. Unprompted, Kitah Bet students thanked Tzofiya for protecting Israel, which made Morah Tikva feel very proud of her students’ excellent conversational skills in both languages. 

Kitah Aleph Hebrew Detectives Are First Rate

Kitah Aleph students have been sharpening their aleph-bet skills, and are aware that differentiating between some look-alike letters can be challenging. To assist them, Morah Shani Kaufman has taught her students a new Hebrew word, בלש (detective). Suddenly, the game was afoot! After carefully selecting a correctly gendered detective badge (a boy is a בלש, a girl is a בלשית), each student printed his or her name on it, chose a magnifying glass (מגדלת), and set out to determine the difference between two nearly identical letters, שׁ and שׂ. 

Kitah Aleph students have learned that if there's a dot on the upper right side of the letter, it's a shin, and must be sounded as "sh." However, if there's a dot on the upper left side, it's a sin, and must be sounded as "s." Students in Kitah Aleph scoured the room for the letters shin and sin, noting every location in which they appeared. These eagle-eyed detectives even caught a typographical error on a purchased Simchat Torah flag that publishers had missed! 

Kitah Aleph students know that it's important to pay attention to detail to become excellent readers of Hebrew. This meticulous approach to learning–combined with the joy of discovery and heightened lesson retention of learning through play–makes the distinction between shin and sin more than just another lesson. For Kitah Aleph, letter detection is elementary!

Nursery Bet Pairs Up Torah and Math in Parshat Noach

This week’s Torah reading is Parshat Noach, and Noach and his tevah (ark) have sailed into Nursery Bet! After reading the story of Noach and the great flood, Nursery Bet students incorporated math into the Torah portion by thinking about the animals that entered the ark, two by two. Nursery Bet learned that the word “pair” means two of the same thing. They went looking for instances of pairs in their classroom, and were surprised to see how many pairs they could count just on their own bodies. 

Nursery Bet students then used a felt board and shapes to match up their own animal pairs, drawing students into the Torah story while making a natural connection to early mathematical thinking.

Parshat Noach in the GrowTorah Garden: More Etrog and Harvesting a Rainbow

Mercaz Academy students learned about the Etrog Composting Program in the GrowTorah garden this week. Several students have already brought in their family etrogim left over from Sukkot celebrations for compost, thus fulfilling the mitzvah of bal tashchit, the prohibition against wasteful destruction. It is particularly important that the etrogim that assisted us in our religious obligations are treated with respect. As compost, they will contribute nutrients to the soil, continuing to serve Hashem’s purposes long after the holiday of Sukkot is over.

Of course, before they went into the composter, students seized the opportunity to smell and sample the etrogim. The older students particularly enjoyed the taste of the fruit, describing it as similar to a lemon, but sweeter, and were surprised by the small proportion of fruit to rind. Mercaz students will continue accepting etrogim for GrowTorah’s compost program through November 6. 

In addition, inspired by this week’s Torah reading of Parshat Noach and Hashem’s rainbow promise, students searched the garden to find all the colors of the rainbow, filling a rainbow chart with their vibrant discoveries. They enjoyed picking and tasting the red cherry tomatoes, were delighted to find an orange squash, and spotted bright yellow tomato blossoms. The color green was everywhere, and students sampled the fresh fennel, swiss chard, basil, and tomato leaves. The garden also offered beautiful blue borage flowers, and purple was provided by pinkish-purple radishes. Students added the color brown with fallen leaves in the garden that they composted, as well as ground cherries in their husks—of which they harvested over 200 for donation! 

Mercaz students’ time in the garden continues to bring joy, learning, and a colorful connection to Hashem’s world.