During our read-aloud portion of our classes, we explored a unit about our feathered friends.  Our younger classes enjoyed a recently acquired title to our collection called Birds by Kevin Henkes.  The text in this book perfectly conveys the young narrator's fascination with the birds in her environment and the child voice resonated with our youngest preschool classes. Another favorite was Let's Look at Animal Feathers by Wendy Perkins.  Did you know that the thing that makes birds different from other animals is.....their feathers?  No other animal has them!  (Other animals lay eggs.  Other animals have wings.)  Our older classes enjoyed Beaks! By Sneed B. Collard III.  Hearing about the habits of birds and how their beaks' composition allows them to eat proved to be truly fascinating for our second- and third-grade students. The lively style facilitated rich discussion, while teaching the students the scientific facts of these feathered friends. In Ostriches and Other Flightless Birds by Caroline Arnold, our fourth-graders learned that ostriches can run faster than any other two-legged animals.  These and other fun facts about flightless birds wowed students and the great photos in this book truly enhanced the clear, informative text.  Stay tuned for more on how to find books (a cool smartboard lesson on the subject is coming up!) and in the meantime...check out a great book and READ for the fun of it!   

It began with an observation, an observation of the implementation of Manhattan Day School's Balanced Literacy Program. News traveled to the Hillel Hebrew Academy of Los Angeles, California. Mrs. Melzer received a phone call from, Mrs. Elizabeth Glass, Director of Curriculum Development at Hillel Hebrew Academy. I was asked to take the call. Hillel Hebrew Academy heard of our outstanding success using the Balanced Literacy Framework and expressed assistance in modeling our program.

An after school conference call was set up by Mrs. Glass together with their Pre-School , Kindergarten and Elementary staff.  Also in attendance was the Dean of the school, Rabbi Sufrin. As soon as I heard Rabbi Sufrin's voice and he heard my name, it was old home week. I worked under Rabbi Sufrin for 15 years at the Hebrew Academy in Miami Beach, Florida. Following a few "catch-up" moments, it was down to business.  Following a description of the various components of Balanced Literacy and how it fits into our day, the staff at Hillel Hebrew Academy were amazed at our ability to differentiate the reading and writing to meet the needs of our students.  They were impressed with the genres of literature our students are exposed to and the reading strategies our students are taught, even in the younger grades.

I emphasized that the goal of the reader's workshop and the writer's workshop instruction is the gradual release of responsibility from teacher to student, which is the heart of Balanced Literacy.  I summed up the coast to coast conference with a quote from Fletcher and Portalupi (1998) "The writing you get out of your students can only be as good as the classroom literature that surrounds and sustains it."  Here at MDS, we are fortunate to have an administration and staff who work hand in hand to create an environment which nurtures success and encourages a contagious excitement to learn and ask.

            Our exchange of information is still on-going. Here is an e-mail I received following our initial conference: "Our staff was very excited after speaking with you. They decided to divide up and investigate the different areas you mentioned today during our conference.  We will take your advice and start off with one step at a time. The important note is that we see how your school handles 25 students in a class and still manages to differentiate at numerous levels.  Thank you so very much for both your expertise and your time. Your dedication lit a fire in our hearts and gave us the courage to try something new."

Yaakov Davidowitz: In mid-January, Ms. Tanz announced that we had another book report; we were all very disappointed.  Then Ms. Tanz said that we would be writing a sequel and making our own advertisement; we were very happy when she said that.

Max Leviton and Noam Steinerman: The fifth graders developed ideas for a mystery sequel of a book they read.  They then wrote a report about the sequel and made an advertisement or commercial.  The advertisements were done on posters, tri-fold boards, and even powerpoint.

Avi Berkowitz, Max Srulowitz, and Max Herskowitz: We loved watching the videos and seeing the posters.  Some really cool ones were Monkey Madness, Hiss, the Heat from Tartarus, Chasing JFK's Killer, Room 2, and Clue of the Corn.  We all had a lot of fun presenting our reports, which turned out great!  David Bauman, Alexander Knapp, and Meir Lesches: The sequels were so well done it was as if the books were real ones from Barnes and Noble.  Everyone had a blast.  This was the best book report, because it was fun to share our ideas and we were all creative.  We hope you will visit room 317 to see our posters!

          Here are some reponses from the girls: Samantha Mongan and Rachel Mitchell: The fifth grade girls created wonderful sequels for their mystery book reports.  The sequels were filled with crimes and robbers.  Some had good robbers who were just trying to protect an item or person.  Sadly, some people had bad reasons for committing crimes.  Rachelli Zomberg: Some of the names of the sequels are The Mystery of the Missing Sister, by Nechama Melohn, The Mysterious Wedding, by Rachelli Zomberg, and The Clue After Death, by Lexi Leitner.  Some of us made powerpoints, articles, posters, business cards, and book marks.  Danielle Ben David, Rachel Lubitz, and Yonina Segal: Everyone thought of such clever titles for their sequels.  We had a lot of fun sharing our ideas.  We would like to thank Ms. Tanz for assigning this wonderful book report to us and we hope to do it again! 

 

(a) 13 years old (Sanhedrin 69b). (b) (1) Hashem called Betzalel by name to build the Mishkan because there was no other capable of doing it (ibn Ezra). (2) When Moshe was on Har Sinai, Hashem showed him Sefer Ha'adam (the Book of Adam), which lists the leaders of every future generation; Moshe saw that He had named Betzalel to build the Mishkan from the time of creation (Shemot Raba). (3) Betzalel stands for "be-tzeil keil" (in Hashem's shadow); he knew exactly how Hashem wanted Mishkan built; (4) Betzalel knew the art of combining the letters with which heaven and earth were created; the building of the Mishkan was like creating the universe, and Betzalel understood its secret; (c) Hashem first asked Moshe, and Moshe asked Bnei Yisrael to consider appointing Betzalel to build the Mishkan, and they agreed (Berachot 55a).  

 

(a) Hashem did not want Moshe to take the eirev rav with Bnei Yisrael from Mitzrayim.  When he insisted on taking them out to bring them closer to Hashem, Hashem agreed. The eirev rav demanded that Aharon make a god as a leader to substitute for Moshe, and they worshipped the eigel (Abarbanel). (b) When Hashem appeared at matan Torah, Bnei Yisrael saw the 4 faces of the Divine Chariot - a cow, man, lion and eagle; since the eirev rav would not worship a carnivore, an abomination to the Mitzrim, they selected the creature which was not carnivorous - the calf (Shemot Raba).

 

(a) Because of the tumah (impurity) caused by the eigel, Hashem did not want to speak to Moshe in Bnei Yisrael's camp at this time (Rashbam). (b) (1) Moshe moved his tent on 18 Tamuz, the day after breaking the luchot, until Rosh Chodesh Nisan, when the Mishkan was dedicated as the new ohel mo-ed (Ramban). (2) Moshe moved his tent on 11 Tishrei, the day after returning from Sinai with the 2nd luchot, until Rosh Chodesh Nisan, the period in which the Mishkan was constructed (Rashi).

 

(a) To tell us that Hashem has the same compassion before a person sins, as He has after he sins and repents; (b) Hashem joins chesed (mercy) to emet, to delay punishment, even if, based on truth, a person deserves instant punishment; (c) if a person's merits equal his sins, Hashem deceases the sins' weight so the scales tip in his favor (Rosh Hashana 17b).

 

(a) After matan Torah, Hashem elevated Bnei Yisrael above the power of the Malach ha-Mavet; since Bnei Yisrael no longer were subject to dying, they were no longer subject to death's tuma; after the cheit ha-eigel, death and its tuma returned to Bnei Yisrael. Hashem designated the para aduma to represent the eigel's mother, which "cleans up" the tuma caused by her "child", the eigel (Tiferet Tzion). (b) (1) It had to be red because red represents sin (Yeshayahu 1:18), and the cow takes the calf's sin and cleanses it; (2) the cow had to be temima (perfect) because Bnei Yisrael were in a state of perfection before the cheit ha-eigel, and an unblemished cow is used to help return Bnei Yisrael to perfection; (3) the cow could never have a yoke on it  to atone for Bnei Yisrael's throwing off Hashem's yoke by worshipping the eigel; (4) the 3 items mixed with the cow's ashes - eitz erez (cedar wood), eizov (hyssop) and shenie tola'at (crimson wool) - allude to the 3,000 people who died on account of the eigel; (5) just as the cheit ha-eigel would be transmitted in the sins of all future generations, the para aduma is a chukat olam (an eternal decree); (6) just as Moshe purified Bnei Yisrael using the eigel's ashes, the para aduma's ashes remove Bnei Yisrael's tuma (Rabeinu Bechaya). (c) 9 - the 10th will be prepared by the Mashiach (Rambam - Para 3:5).