Human Number Line

Our 7th and 8th grade first day math activity was a super way to start the year and ease the students back into thinking about the world of numbers.  Just imagine an entire class walking around the room with an assigned number (that they don’t know) on their backs.  The students were asked to question friends to identify their own number and then line themselves up into a number line. The only guidelines were that the students could ask maximum of 3 “yes or no” questions to a particular student. If the student could not identify the number, the students moved on to the next classmate and asked a second set of 3 questions. “Am I a decimal?”, “Can I be divided into two equal parts?”, “Am I a prime number?”, “Does my equation have a square root?”, and “Oh! I have an exponent?” were just some of the questions we heard. Once they found the value of their number, they used the information to line up from left to right showing least to greatest... just like a human number line! This activity helped the students “reboot” their math vocabulary, reviewed place value with decimals, used critical thinking skills to narrow the span of reasonable answers, and reintroduced operations with positive and negative integers. Yup, all that in just one day!

Mrs. Sheinfeld and Mrs. Bloom

 

 

 

6th Grade Orientation 2013

Today was the first day of 6th grade! To help transition the students to our middle school the sixth graders had a full day orientation. During the orientation they participated in activities to get them acclimated to middle school such as : * Reading and practicing their schedule * Organizing and setting up their lockers * Advisory * Big brother/ Big sister activity with the 8th grade * Writing a letter to themselves that will be mailed when they complete middle school * Limud Torah * Blue Rules (a review of the middle school rules, procedures, and protocols). 6th graders left the day with smiles, looking confident and comfortable and ready to start with their first “real” day of middle school tomorrow.

Summer Science Photo Assignment 2013

Science is all around us - from the mechanical alarm clock waking us up in the morning to the moon illuminating the night sky, from the different slides and swings at a playground to the rolling hills of Israel. Good scientists look around them, notice what is happening, and wonder ‘why’ and ‘how’ and ‘what if’. Your job this summer was to notice the physical and natural world around you and to capture your observations or questions with a photo. And, with that, we are excited to bring you - the summer science photo assignment.... Looking forward to a great year! Ms. Chanales, Mrs. Sehgal, Mr. Kogut

The Day Before School Started....................

See what happened the day before school when new students came to visit and a photobooth was put up in the lobby!

21st Century Teaching

Teachers as Learners

Teachers as Learners - Summer 2013

“Great teachers help create great students. In fact, research shows that an inspiring and informed teacher is the most important school-related factor influencing student achievement.” (://www.edutopia.org/teacher-development-introduction).

Many of our teachers opted to spend their summer “vacation” developing and refining their teaching by participating in professional development.  Below are some of the highlights:

Morah Shira Greenspan - MS Chumash, Navi, and Halacha

Morah Shira completed her Masters in Jewish Education at Azrieli. The classes she took over the summer were Teaching Prophets, Teaching Bible, and a workshop in child abuse identification.

A quote from Morah Shira about her experience:

“The Teaching Prophets class (with Dr. Shawn Zelig Aster of Bar Ilan) was exceptional. I am so happy for my students that I took this class because it will surely take my teaching to a whole new level.”

Mrs. Barbara Sehgal - MS Science

Mrs. Sehgal participated in a seminar that took place over the course of  four days.  It was called JP Morgan Chase STEM and the Common Core Summer Institute, and was  held in the New York Hall of Science.

This workshop was designed with a focus on literacy skills through non-fiction texts for science content. This curriculum was created in accordance with the STEM standards for the common core in Middle School.  Fun, hands-on activities were also developed and shared at this seminar.

A quote from Mrs. Sehgal about the seminar:

“It helped me to create fun hands-on activities that teach the standard content taught in my class. I hope that by incorporating these strategies my students will gain a better understanding of the science content and improve their science based literacy skills.”

Rabbi Jeremy Hellman - MS Social Studies

Rabbi Hellman participated in a four day seminar that was run by Facing HIstory called Holocaust and Human Behavior Seminar for Jewish Educators.  The seminar presented unique ways to teach about the Holocaust and other tragic events in our past and present.

A quote from Rabbi Hellman about his experience:

“The seminar provided great source material and innovative ways to present Holocaust information to middle school students. I look forward to incorporating their material with my own curriculum. The workshop demonstrated great group projects that can enhance our classroom.”

Mrs. Jessica Tabak - MS Support

Mrs. Tabak took part in a 4 -week course offered by YU called Blended Boot Camp.  The goal of the course was to introduce the concept of blended learning as well as to provide online resources to enable teacher to begin creating blended learning environments.

A quote from Mrs. Tabak:

“I am looking forward to finding new and innovative ways to use technology to meet the needs of our students.”

Mrs. Sari Sheinfeld and Ms. Deena Bloom - MS Math

Mrs. Sheinfeld and Mrs. Bloom took part in two professional development opportunities this summer. The first, sponsored by CIJE and hosted by Ma’ayanot, was called SmartNotebook Tool Kit Boot Camp. At this workshop, participants learned to utilize a variety of applications and tools so that students can better interface with SmartBoards through a variety of new interactive, engaging, self-guided, self checking and collaborative activities. These tools were presented as an additional way for student to take ownership of their math learning in both small and large group activities.   

Mrs. Bloom and Mrs. Sheinfeld  were also invited to participate in the Professional Resources in Science and Math Summer Institute (PRISM) at Montclair State University as a result of a grant that Yeshivat Noam was awarded for professional development for math educators. This two-week intensive program delved into the scope and sequence of the new government Common Core standards for education. During this 70-hour seminar, they were among 56 New Jersey math educators who were learning and working through ways to not only adopt the content of the new standards, but also exploring ways to develop and enhance their own pedagogical practices ,and ways to examine and address student thinking and common student misconceptions in math. Learning through practical everyday applications, experience, and community connections were also explored during the program. Mrs. Bloom and Mrs. Sheinfeld prepared and presented a number multi-media projects and lessons, and cannot wait to share them with their students!

Middle School Welcome Packet

simplebooklet.com

Click Here to open the Welcome Packet as a PDF that you can print.