In English Language Arts, our fourth and fifth graders are wrapping up a unit on poetry by creating a poem on Parshat Vayeishev. In a flurry of inspiration, students write simultaneously on a google document and vote on decisions to add or omit lines of poetry. The final product is truly a piece of beautiful collaborative writing. This is a great example where general studies and Judaic instruction integrate to form a solid lesson.
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Chanukah Gifts in Memory of Esther Schreiber OBM
A beautiful initiative was organized by some alumni of Slater Torah Academy where members of the community and friends of Esther Schreiber OBM contributed towards Chanukah gifts for the children of Slater Torah Academy. Just last year, Esther lovingly wrapped gifts for her granddaughter Lilly's preschool class for Chanukah. She loved giving to the children and especially on her favorite holiday, Chanukah. Each child received a Happy Chanukah hat and a Chanukah treat. Thank you to all who organized and participated towards these special presents!
Student Teaching in Middle School
Addressing multiple reading, writing, speaking, and listening standards for learning, our middle school students take turns teaching the class a randomly selected grammar concept.
Prior to teaching, each student is responsible for preparing the lesson presentation, opportunities for students to practice the grammar skill, and an assessment. All students in the “audience” must complete a feedback rubric for each “teacher’s” lesson in addition to completing the lesson assessment.
Model Menorah Contest
Here's a trivia question for you! What do uno playing cards, peace symbols, colored chalk sand, duct tape and spoons have to do with Chanukah?
They are all unique and creative 3-D modalities that STA Elementary students have used to fashion their Model Menorahs this year. Annually, STA Elementary holds a Model Menorah Contest and students in grades 1- 8 are encouraged to use STEAM techniques to create interesting, themed menorahs. Each year, students impress us with their designs and this year, no less! We have many wonderful contest entries that were submitted, including, Tzedakah box menorah, Israeli flag menorah, Clay menorah, Blocks Menorah, Peace symbols menorah, and more! Judges will rate the menorahs based on the requirements, which include, independent work, creativity, uniqueness, theme message, and if the menorah is Kosher for use. We are excited to see which entry will win 1st place in the entire school and who will be the winners from each class! The messages of each menorah are very uplifting. As the entrant with the UNO playing cards menorah wrote on the menorah's theme sign:
Let's 'UNOite' as one (Uno!) and share the light! Happy Chanukah!
Fire Safety Learning
In the Chickadees class, we have been studying fire safety in connection with our study about Chanukah. We acted out a real fire scenario in a fun way by playing a dramatic play game. We dressed up as firefighters and used red, orange and yellow balls to represent the fire. We each had a spray bottle to spray the balls to put out the fire. We practiced stop, drop and roll and talked about always having an adult help us when we are using fire. We took a class visit to see the fire extinguishers in the school.