TaL AM 2

In Tov BaKita the children become familiar with their fellow students, and deepen their acquaintance with the students of the Virtual Class by learning their first and last names. The children welcome two new students to their class: Yehuda, who arrived from Israel, and Nurit, who did not previously study in a Jewish school. The content of this unit is based on the activation of knowledge acquired in Grade 1, and develops independent learners able to assess what they have learned. Memory activation and learning for retention are emphasized as life skills through the utilization of the Keepsake Notebook. Tov BaBayit focuses on the daily routines of the home concerning clothing, cleanliness and proper nutrition, while instilling the mitzvot and customs corresponding to them.

Chagei Tishrei

The Grade 2 Chagei Tishrei unit focuses on the preparations for Rosh Hashana during the month of Elul. The students also learn the Biblical sources of the main mitzvoth of the High Holidays, the historical background of Succot, and the connection between the Four Species and the understanding of the environment in Judaism.

Chanuka

The unit constructs the Chanuka story through songs, picture interpretation, and a variety of other activities. The guided reader expounds on the two miracles and relates the Talmudic source of the holiday, while Yehuda HaGadol VeYehuda HaKatan encourages the children’s emotional involvement in the events. The students expand their study of the holiday’s mitzvot and customs, play riddle games, and write about the miracles of Chanuka in their Keepsake Notebook.

Tu BiShvat

The children learn about different kinds of trees through the Biblical context of the creation of the world, in which G-d created trees of all kinds. The unit also focuses on the blessings we say on the various fruits and their products, and on the Seven Species and their natural habitat in Israel. Through the Almond Tree the students learn how the festival is celebrated in Israel. While studying the unit the children prepare a project on a tree of their choice.

Purim

The children review key concepts studied in Grade 1 and expand their study of the Megila, focusing on the main protagonists and the emotions they experience throughout the story (joy, anger, fear, hatred, sadness). The unit emphasizes the concept Venahafoch Hu by examining the various opposites existing in the Megila and implementing the concept in classroom activities. The children review the mizvot and customs of the holiday, identifying the letter common to all of them, and summarize the knowledge they have amassed in their keepsake notebook.

Pesach

The Grade 2 Pesach unit focuses on “bechol dor vador”: each generation must feel as though they themselves took part in the Exodus from Egypt. The unit addresses the story of the Exodus within the framework of a simulation play – Avadim Hayinu – through which the children re-enact this monumental event, identifying with our forefathers, and feeling as though they themselves participated in the Exodus. In addition, the children receive a Haggadah which builds on knowledge acquired in Grade 1, teaching them how to create a model Seder, and discussing the behaviour that enabled the preservation of the Israelites’ identity, and hence their redemption.

Israel & Jerusalem

The children expand their study of Yom Ha’atzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim, the flag, the anthem and the symbols. The history of Eretz Israel and Am Israel is experienced through the story of the land throughout the ages as told by the map of Israel and Am Israel. Using focus questions the students learn to identify key events, where the People of Israel were at the time, and how the land and the people felt during each of the events. The students’ connection to Jerusalem is intensified through a comparison between the city as it once was and how it is today, and through the writing of prayers – “HaTfila Sheli BaKotel.”

Shavuot

The unit builds on the knowledge acquired in Grade 1, expounding on each of the holiday’s names: Chag Shavuot – concluding the counting of the Omer; Chag HaKazir – emphasizing the holiday’s agricultural aspect; Chag HaBikurim – linking to the Three Pilgrimage Festivals; and Chag Matan Torah – in which the students experience standing at Mount Sinai as though they themselves were in attendance, implementing receiving the Torah in their lives through Torah learning and keeping Mitzvot.

The students learn the content of the parashot through 8 illustrations, furthering their study by listening to the first verse of the parasha, containing its title, as well as selected key verses. They acquire the content of each parasha through riddles and Torah games, linking it to their everyday lives. The children learn to express the message of the parasha as a Dvar Torah they can share with their families at home