Hello and Happy February! As the new month begins we started a new chapter of learning at Makom Community! We had our Hebrew Intensive week. We focused exclusively on Hebrew reading. Though our students know lots of Hebrew words and use them conversationally, this was an exciting way for them to focus on reading and writing skills. During snacktime learning we practiced with giant cut-out letters and read words together. We discussed the importance of Hebrew and examined the Torah text from Genesis in three different translations “And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. They shall rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the cattle, the whole earth, and all the creeping things that creep on the earth.” After seeing how different the three translations were, our students understood that each translation is an interpretation. They now have a great sense of the value of studying text in Hebrew and creating their own understanding instead of just taking in someone else’s interpretation.
In Shulchanot Avodah, we had a variety of ways to play and practice with our Hebrew skills. We sang along to the aleph-bet song on YouTube while arranging the letters in order. This was a good vocal warm-up for our T’Filah! We practiced writing by tracing letters in both our notebooks and on the iPad. We also got to draw with the white boards and even write in Hebrew with shaving cream! To move our bodies around, we had Hebrew relay races. All in all, last week was a really helpful and fun way to focus on our Hebrew reading!
