This Week at Yavneh Academy

November 30, 2023 |18 Kislev 5784 | וישלח

We continue to daven to Hashem for the safety of Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael. May peace and tranquility be restored quickly.

Early Childhood Department

The Yavneh Academy Early Childhood classes focused on uncovering the holiday of Thanksgiving - the big idea of giving thanks. This idea is part of our classroom culture all year, and is especially highlighted at this time of year. During Tefillah, time is spent reflecting, sharing and appreciating what Hashem gives us and what we are thankful for both at school and in our lives. Meaningful discussions have risen stemming from this important concept.

The ECD classes joined together to have a hearty, and delicious feast where each class contributed by bringing a food that they made together as a class. At the feasts, as a community, we took time to thank the many people who help us day in and day out at Yavneh. Each class made cards and a gift for the people they chose to thank. These members of the greater Yavneh community joined our feasts and we were able to publicly thank them. We were grateful to be able to do something special for the people that help us!

PHOTO GALLERY

Chanukah is in the air in Ganon Gimmel! We have been busy learning, spinning, painting, and sorting all things Chanukah. From candle matching games, to dreidel spin art, the yeladim are so excited for the upcoming chag! You can catch us in the hallways singing songs like “I have a little dreidel,” and “Chanukah oh Chanukah!” Wishing everyone a Chag Urim Sameach!.

Gan Gimmel students have been exploring light as a kickoff to Chanukah learning. They learned about the beautiful nature of lighting Chanukah candles as they observed how much light one candle can share while never losing its own light in the process. Students became scientists as they explored with flashlights using various opaque, transparent, and translucent objects. They have incorporated some of these different objects as inspiration to create their own beautiful Chanukiyot.

SEL UPDATE

During our SEL sessions, the Gan students are learning about The Zones of Regulation, which categorizes our emotions, behaviors and energy levels into 4 colored “zones” (Red, Yellow, Green, Blue). This part of the curriculum is the foundation for the students emotional control and self-regulation skills. As part of this unit, the students played balancing games that helped reinforce important social skills, such as turn-taking, following game rules and regulating their bodies as they balanced and built in small groups. The students had a blast!

Lower School

After learning about our rights and responsibilities as US citizens and community members, the grade 2 students learned about Mr. Kaplan's role as a councilperson in Teaneck. Mr. Kaplan explained that everyone in the community can create a positive change, even kids, by speaking to their representatives. The students loved hearing about the way that Mr. Kaplan has made a difference and helped our community. We are so grateful for the fantastic presentation and the opportunity to ask questions.

First graders celebrated the 50th day of school! They traveled back in time to the 1950s, and had a blast exploring the decade! The students learned about jukeboxes, records, sock hops, and drive-in theaters! They had a blast dancing the Hand Jive and Twist, and playing fun math games counting up to 50!

Recently in 5C we finished learning about Moshe at the Burning Bush. Each pair of students were assigned two pesukim and were tasked with creating a diorama encapsulating the essence of their assigned pesukim. Additionally, the students were challenged to create a thematic comic strip based on their assigned content. This engaging activity fostered creativity and a deeper understanding of the subject matter. The finished products were amazing and showcased the students' creative talents.

After wrapping up our social studies unit on the Age of Exploration, 5C and 5D used their knowledge of the European Explorers to fuel thier understanding of the Thirteen Colonies. While comparing and contrasting the earliest settlements of Roanoke, Jamestown, and Plymouth, the classes discussed the challenges the settlers faced, and how in life, failure and making mistakes leads to growth. They also focused on the geography of the colonies and the unique attributes of each region. They enjoyed learning the content in a variety of ways, using station rotations, working with partners, and participating in whole class discussions.

First graders were excited to create a Mini Balloon Parade for Thanksgiving with the magic of green screen!

We were so excited to celebrate sheva brachot in school with Morah Aviva and Michael. Mazal tov!!!

Middle School

Sixth grade students researched different aspects of Mesopotamian daily life. Students selected a research project from a choice board and learned how to conduct research. Each project choice had a customized graphic organizer to help the students focus their research. Students who researched food created restaurant menus and filmed cooking demonstrations that showcased their dishes. The "Builders" group researched temples, homes and farms and built detailed models complete with the Mesopotamian farmers and priests. Some students opted to research Mesopotamian art and created art galleries with replicas of ancient artwork. A fourth project option allowed students to create advertising campaigns that highlighted the reasons why someone might want to move to Mesopotamia. The students wrote house and job listings, commercials and designed digital marketing materials that incorporated their research. All students enhanced their physical projects with a microbit project they made in technology class. In our sixth-grade Social Studies Tech Week, students explored the wonders of Mesopotamia and took a hands-on approach to bring history into the 21st century. Each student created a physical model of Mesopotamia, but with a modern twist – integrating a BBC Microbit, a small programmable device into their project.

Through coding sessions, students made their Microbits shine with LED lights, play sounds, record voices, and respond to sensors. The classroom came alive with excitement as our coding historians presented their projects, providing a fantastic opportunity for collaborative learning. This project showcased the creative and technical skills of our sixth graders. It was a week where our students discovered the magic that happens when the past meets the present through the lens of history and technology.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, the Yavneh Academy student council and 6th grade class representatives visited to the local Paramus police station to bring pies, challah, and thank you letters from Yavneh students. They went to show appreciation, but the kind police officers then gave a tour of the facility, which included jail cells, police cars, and the police call center. The students thanked the brave police officers and had a great time in the process.

Thank you to Mrs. Mindy Stein, Yavneh parent and grandparent, for speaking to our 7th and 8th grade students this morning about her recent trip to Israel. Mrs. Stein helped give our students a perspective on the feeling of achdut that pervades Israel and showed them how their efforts to show support of Israel are so appreciated by our chayalim.

The 8th grade learned about the mitzvah of taking challah as part of the 8th grade gemarah curriculum. They discussed why we still perform this mitzvah today even though we no longer have a Beit Hamikdash. The challah bake included tefillot for the hostages and for those chayalim still fighting in Gaza.

As part of their Operation Respect empathy unit in Advisory, seventh graders coordinated a campaign to help the residents of the Hackensack homeless shelter. After engaging in lessons in their Advisory class regarding empathy skills and a true understanding of the plight of the homeless, students ran a sale of hats, gloves and scarves at lunch for donations to the residents of the Hackensack homeless shelter. The items were packaged by the students with meaningful notes from Yavneh which will be delivered to the shelter.

The seventh graders also videoed a performance which will be shown to the residents. The students spoke about the importance of hope, continuing to dream and believing that better days are coming. Before the presentation it was impressed upon the students the Kiddush Hashem that they are doing by this project. We also imparted the importance of focusing on giving especially near Thanksgiving as we encouraged them to stop and consider how thankful they should be for all they have in their lives and not take it for granted.

Our Israel Advocacy Group has been hard at work over the last few weeks. Our first unit covered our ancient connection to the land of Israel and the proof of the Jewish presence throughout history. Students worked in groups to analyze texts, and investigate different artifacts spanning thousands of years. When they completed their research we created a timeline showcasing a few key moments in history. Each of these events showed that the Jewish people were in what is now Israel, and at some points had sovereignty over the country. Some of our Israel Advocacy Group stood with their creation after it was posted.

Our second unit covered Zionism. Students discussed the modern Zionist movement, its leader Theodor Herzl and what zionism means to each of us.