Sundays, 9:00am-12:00noon; Tuesdays, 4:10pm-6:15pm

Teachers: Joanne Stryer (Hebrew), pod 6, and Dan Noble (Judaics), pod 4

Teachers may be contacted through the Religious School Office 703-425-3237 or religiousschool@olamtikvah.org

Shalom and welcome to Grade 4! We'll post class information and news here, so keep a close eye on this page and check back frequently.  See new photos below from our recent Names Workshop.

Class News - Joanne Stryer, 12/6/07

We have been concentrating on learning the Amidah. So far the class as a whole can do a very nice job chanting the Avot (with the Imahot - the first blessing of the Amidah). At the present time we are working on the second blessing, G’vurot.

Several times this month, we combined the two classes while we studied about Shabbat and Chanukah. The prayer the students learned for Shabbat is Shalom Aleichem. We talked about the meaning of Shabbat and the feelings or emotions that are evoked when we recite the Shabbat blessings. They drew pictures that showed how we bring Shabbat into our homes on Friday night.

For Chanukah, we lit the candles in our room and practiced the Chanukah blessings. Dan Noble’s class made story-board posters showing the whole story of Chanukah. They are very prominently displayed in our rooms. Please stop in and see them. We were also treated to a wonderful concert by Carly Starobin who played Dreydl for us on her violin. Thank you to Carly for sharing with us. If there are any other musicians who would like to entertain us with a Jewish song they have learned, we would love to have them perform for the class.

Parents, I need your help. One of the goals for our class is for each student to read and/or chant the prayers we are learning, beautifully and smoothly, at approximately the same pace as the congregation. In order to do this, they must study aloud, at home for 5 to 10 minutes three or four days each week (See the homework calendar.) Regular practice makes a huge difference in their ability and their comfort level.

For the next couple of weeks we will be working on G’vurot. Each student has the G’vurot pamphlet and they have been assigned to read page 2, lines 1-12. As noted on the homework calendar, they need to read 4 days each week for 7 minutes. They should read the lines at least 6-- times per practice session. Please sign the homework calendars after your child studies. They get a small reward (also known as bribery!!!!) for their hard work.

I enjoy working with your children and want to make sure that they are comfortable chanting or reading from the siddur, and that they have an understanding of what the prayer means.

I also want to urge you to participate in Shabbat Across OT on January 11, 2008. If you were unable to attend the Shabbat workshop with Rabbi Kalender and Marian Gorman, principal, please call the School Office (703-425-3237) for details.  

Scenes from our Names Workshop, January 2008: