The 2014 Sixth Grade

Dear Mazel Parents, 

 The year has been moving so quickly and we are learning so many new things in 6th grade!

  -- This week, we learned 20 new words in vocabulary and how to use them. 

  -- We experience what it means to brainstorm and group ideas for writing reports.

  -- We did some great work in our reading workbooks

   -- We wrote a log on Friday in class, summarizing our previous year, in anticipation for Rosh Hashanah. 

   -- We also started reading and discussing a new fiction story, Candymakers, by Wendy Mass and the kids are super-excited.

      In the next two weeks, your child is writing a personal narrative/descriptive report. Ask him or her about it!

    As always, I am honored to teach your child and if you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me at mendelberlin@gmail.com

M.Berlin

    Welcome Dear Parents,

   Social Studies in 6th Grade Mazel Day School has kicked off tremendously!

   Over the last few weeks, we have been learning the basic Geography of the United States. We learned the names of all 50 States, as well as their capitals. The students are going to have an interactive Bingo Game on U.S. capitals this coming Thursday (October 3rd), with the winner getting an automatic 100% on the Capitals Quiz (October 7th). Needless to say, the students are really pumped to review through a fun-filled Game.

  Next week, we will also begin our theme of the year: How America Became the Nation It Is Today. Sub-topics and projects will be in areas of Manifest Destiny, Immigration, Slavery and Industrialization. As the students do work in these areas, we will, G-d Willing, post updates regarding their progress!

Best Wishes,

Mendel Berlin

   

6th Grade English Itinerary

   Welcome Dear Parents,

It's a new year and the excitement for learning is in the air! The 6th Grade has so many wonderful projects going and I just wanted to share what we have done so far (in two weeks of September) and what the plan is for the upcoming fall season.

In English Language Arts, the class is learning every aspect of the English language: writing, reading, grammar, spelling and vocabulary.

Reading workshop has been a class favorite. We've learned how to identify facts in our reading, as well as how the facts parlay into ideas through which the author builds his/her literary artwork. In writing workshop, we have been practicing simple compositions in class and have a thorough program lined up to help students improve this area of communication.

In grammar class, we have already learned about all sorts of nouns and how to identify and apply them in sentences.

This coming October, students will learn how to research a topic and put together quality writing that gives said research in the clearest and most interesting way.

Vocabulary work is being done daily, with an interactive review game and quiz every few units.

There's a lot more to come, so please stay tuned to this post!

Best Wishes,

Mendel Berlin

Jewish History Class Update

Dear Parents,
It's been a while since you've heard from our Thursday Jewish History class.  Here are some things that have been happening in our class:

First, we concluded our study of the period of Judges by learning about Samuel the Prophet - who can be read more about HERE.

We are now in the midst of a fascinating unit on King David.  We had so many questions about his life and really enjoyed learning about the stories of his youth, his rise to kingdom and overall legacy to the Jewish people.  Here are two very interesting essays about King David's life: David Shepherd and Warrior and David The King.

The students have really been enjoying this class, and often use this period as an opportunity to ask questions about Jewish history in general.  We have had some very interesting discussions on various topics as a result.

We have also been working on a Timeline project.  As a class, we are creating our very own timeline of Jewish history.  The students have been illustrating events and personalities from Jewish history, adding more details as we move along in our studies.  Look out for it hanging in the hallway in the coming week.

For parents who are interested in learning more about Jewish History for their own knowledge, I highly recommend this resource: /http://www.jewishhistory.org/.  You will find a variety of fascinating movies, online classes, crash courses, blogs, books, etc. to explore at your leisure.

Jewish History Class

In our Thursday Jewish History class (which is shared with both fifth and sixth grades together), we've been reviewing some of the major events in the early history of our people. For now, we are focusing on sequencing key events from Avraham, the first Jew, until the destruction of the Second Beis HaMikdosh (Temple). From learning about the weekly Parsha and yearly holidays, the students already have a lot of prior knowledge about these time periods, but don't always know how to place them in historical context. This is something that we will continue to review and work on over the coming weeks.

Here are a few interesting questions that we have discussed. Ask them of your child and see how many they can answer, but first give them a try on your own. Do you know...
- How many millenia of Jewish History are there? (following the Jewish calendar)
- Who first led the Jews in conquering and settling the land of Israel after they left Egypt?
- Who ruled over the Jews before they had kings?
- Who was the first Jewish king?
- Which Jewish king made Jerusalem the capital of Israel?
- Which Jewish king built the first Beis HaMikdosh (Temple)?
- What happened to the 10 "lost" tribes?
- Which Jewish holiday story took place first Purim or Chanukah (this one is tricky!)?
- What were some of the names used throughout of history to refer to the land of Israel?

We will be continuously reviewing and adding these types of Jewish History trivia to our students "database" of knowledge - revisiting and discussing again and again, so that they truly retain the information.

For our next lesson, the students will be discussing the fascinating life stories of: Devorah the Prophetess and Shimshon (Samson). For your reference you can read more about these individuals online.
Devorah the Prophetess
Samson the Mighty

MY GOALS FOR THE CLASS:

Learning about Jewish History helps us understand the Jewish people, because it is the story of how we got to where we are today. Learning about Jewish History helps us understand not only what happened in the past, but also what it means to be a Jewish person now. Learning Jewish History helps us understand how the story of our people is all part of our unique mission: to help make the world a better place.

Over the course of this year, we will go on a journey “traveling” through different time periods of Jewish History – “meeting” people who played an important role in Jewish history, and “experiencing” major events that impacted the nature of our story. Our goal will be to begin the journey in biblical times and then “travel” to the modern-day.

In our class, we will be studying from the books “SAND AND STARS” by Yaffa Ganz. This set is an excellent beginner’s textbook on Jewish History for Young Adults. I highly recommend that you consider purchasing a set of these books for your own home, so that you and your child can learn more about Jewish History together. They can be purchased online (here's a link to the first volume on Amazon) or at most Judaica book shops.

Projects in English and Social Studies

    The year has been moving so quickly and we are learning so many new things in 6th grade!
  This week (October 15th-18th), we are doing roundtable work by having every student bring his/her Research Report Draft for the entire class to read and then comment on.
    This is an activity we believe will foster mature converation and teach students the advantages of working as a unit. Students will be taught to compliment as well as criticize constructively the work of their classmates. We'll keep you updated on the results of this new endeavor.

    In social studies class, Election season is very much in the air. All of our energies are focused on learning about Presidents, their history and the system of voting as it stands today in the United States. The class is encouraged to question and discover, and open debates often take place in the framework of the sessions. We also view clips to help understand concepts we discuss.
     Students have related me how much they look forward to social studies every day because it gives them the much-needed opportunity to express themselves. More exciting projects are on the way, such as each student giving a classroom presentation on an influential President (scheduled currently for late October.)

 I welcome all comments and questions,
Mr. Berlin

Dear Parents and Students,
I am very excited to start a new school year in Mazel!