KITAH VAV (GRADE 6)
Kitah Vav continues to meet on Sundays, and sixth graders come on Wednesday afternoons as well. Sixth grade Hebrew focuses on review and reinforcement of the required prayers, building vocabulary, and prayer knowledge and comprehension, while adding the blessings before and after the Torah and Haftarah readings and the Ashrei to students’ prayer vocabulary.
Students explore how Judaism has evolved from generation to generation, staying a prophetic-ethical religion while both cleaving to tradition and adapting to present realities. They learn to relate current events to Jewish history, and how their lives compare with the lives of those who came before them. Students also study Jewish death and mourning practices. Kitah Vav will have a family field trip to the Temple Emanuel Cemetery.
A highlight of the year is the Kitah Vav Shabbat Adventure, when students lead a Shabbat morning service, including a Torah service, then stay for lunch with parents, and enjoy programming that explores what it means to become b’nai mitzvah.
Books & materials: Hineni 3 with workbook, The Prophets: Speaking Out for Justice, The Jewish History Observer, Mishkan Tefillah. Prayers Mastered (page numbers in parenthesis are in Mishkan Tefillah, our prayerbook): Bircot HaTorah (368), Bircot HaHaftarah (372), Ashrei (338-341), Tallit Blessing (26). Listen to audio recordings of some of these prayers here.
B’NAI MITZVAH YEAR (GRADE 7)
On Wednesday afternoons, our students explore “Tough Questions Jews Ask” in a social and dynamic weekly experience. Seventh grade students do not have formal Hebrew learning, as most are engaged in tutoring towards their B’nai Mitzvah. They partner with our 3rd grade students as those students begin to study Hebrew to share their knowledge and build community. The students also study the Shoah (the Holocaust) in a personal, relevant curriculum in the spring.