6th Grade Shabbaton, we can all be heros!

During the Shabbat before vacation, the 6th grade had their annual grade-wide Shabbaton. Ahead of the Shabbaton, the students created center pieces and Havdalah bsamim as well as watched a video about what it means to be a “hero.”  The Shabbaton began with an inspiring Kabbalat Shabbat during which the 6th graders erupted into spontaneous singing and dancing as we welcomed in the Shabbat queen!  After Tefillah, the students participated in Chavrutah learning as they studied Jewish sources on what it means to be heroic.  Students then brought their ruach to dinner, divrei torah, paper bag dramatics, and finally the much-anticipated teacher skit.  Mrs. Benjamin, Rabbi Koslowe, Rabbi Hagler, Rabbi Wasser, Mrs. Troodler, Ms. Peyser, Ms. Chanales, Mrs. Shapiro, Morah Shira, Rabbi Kurtz, and Mrs. Solomon all joined in the Shabbaton with their families Friday night.  The theme of what it means to be a hero and how students can be everyday heroes was intertwined through each activity, story and learning session.  Students returned Shabbat afternoon for more learning, activities, zemirot and a special story by Rabbi Hagler.  We were joined by Akiva, Ezra, Shabbi, Yehoshua, and Ahmos, all wonderful alumni who helped waiter and provide help with the programming.  We were graciously hosted by Cong. Rinat Yisrael.  

Below are two students’ favorite memories and moments from the shabbaton in their own words:

One of my favorite things about the shabbaton was that no one felt uncomfortable, or insecure. No one was allowed to create drama, or leave any one out. When we sat down at our tables for the two meals (both shabbos dinners) we were encouraged to branch out and sit with people that we don't normally sit with so often. We were encouraged to make sure that everyone had a place to sit and that everybody was included in all of the activities. 
- Yonina


Overall, I think that this year's 6th grade shabbaton was awesome. For me, the highlight of the shabbaton was getting up and saying a dvar torah that my father (and yes, I do look up to him for advice) didn't understand. And not just that, Everyone that gave me feedback told me that it was either "Amazing", "Beyond words", "Outstanding", or "D.J.! You are a budding Tzadik!"
- DJ 

Morah Shira - 8G

As 8G gets ready to learn about the Rambam's ikarei emunah, principles of faith, they were hard at work learning about the Rambam's life. Students chose events in the Rambam's life that they felt most contributed to him being the person of legacy and chochmah that he is for us. They also chose a corresponding ikar emunah that the Rambam exemplified through the way that he lived his life. The presentations of these masterpieces were inspiring and showed tremendous insight. All are invited to room 525 to admire and be inspired by these remarkable works of art.

Spelling Bee 2014! - Mrs. Margi Saks

Spelling Bee - slideshows

The Yeshivat Noam Annual Spelling Bee is an event many look forward to all year. This year was no exception. The brilliance of these young spellers is astounding. As we moved from words of Latin origin, to German, to Arabic, to Italian and Spanish, it was very difficult to get any student out on a misspelled word. After an hour of play, half of the students were still standing. Round after round we went until finally it came down to two spellers, Talia  in Sixth Grade and Rami  in fifth grade. For a while, we thought we would run out of words. The word was impetuous. Talia immediately realized she had misspelled the word and fortunately for Rami, he did not. Rami Gertler was crowned Spelling Champion of Yeshivat Noam and goes on to the next round, facing all school winners from North Jersey. Good luck Rami!!!

7th Grade Dissects Hearts!

As a culmination to their unit of study on the body systems the students in 7th grade worked in groups to dissect animal hearts. 

7th Grade English- Mrs. Blum

As a follow up to our reading of The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, the 7th grade boys are reading excerpts of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. We are drawing comparisons to Hinton's text; just like there are Socs and Greasers, there are Capulets and Montagues. The groups in both texts have had a rivalry for so long that no one even really knows what the rivalry is about anymore... Our discussions are focusing on the internal and external conflicts the characters are facing. We are supplementing our reading with You Tube videos to help us understand the plot and visualize the scenes. We were quite surprised to find that Shakespeare gave away the whole story in his prologue! We were also astounded that Juliet is only 13 years old... The boys are enjoying reading their lines in Shakespeare's language which, we have found, is quite different from the English we use today. It has been a real "thespian" experience and a wonderful introduction to Shakespeare.

Ooblek and Dry Ice- Ms. Chanales and 6th Grade Science

The sixth graders recently completed a unit on the states of matter, during which they participated in two activities that are annual highlights of science class. First, students whipped up some Oobleck (with all due respect to Dr. Seuss and Bartholomew).  This combination of corn starch and water is a strange substance. Punch it and you hurt your hand, but let your hand rest on top of it and your hand will slowly sink in.  You can form it into a ball, but when you release the pressure, the oobeck oozes and flows.  Hit with a baseball bat (you may not want to try this one at home) and it shatters into little tiny pieces which then drip down like rain.  This substance acts as a solid under pressure, but is otherwise a liquid.  It's a special class of materials called non-Newtonian fluids and figuring out what makes them act as solids and what makes them act as liquids is the secret to escaping quicksand!

Students also experimented with another intriguing substance - Dry Ice, aka solid carbon dioxide.  Normally when solids heat up, they melt into liquids, but dry ice does no such thing.  It turns directly from its very cold solid form to its gas form, "disappearing" as you watch it. This process is called sublimation. Rewatch the Wizard of Oz and discover that the Wicked Witch of the West's final words were inaccurate - she's not melting at all. But, I guess "I'm melting!" is somehow catchier than "I'm sublimating!" 

Ooblek and Dry Ice - slideshows

Jewish History in a Flash comes to Yeshivat Noam 7th Grade!

 

Our social studies curriculum at Yeshivat Noam in the Middle School includes both secular and Jewish history from the beginnings of history in 6th grade to modern times in 8th grade.  We believe that history is more meaningful to our students when they understand their own Jewish history/ heritage in the context of broader history.

Ronnie Halibard from Jewish History in a Flash came to present to the 7th grade. 

The Events presentation of Jewish History in a Flash puts all the events of Jewish history into time context, providing the students with a clear and simple summary of our nation's past in a time line format.  Students left with a timeline book mark that summarized the presentation.  Students stayed through lunch to spend time with Ronnie and continue the discussion of Jewish History.  Ronnie was beyond impressed with our students and their extensive knowledge about Jewish History, he made sure to tell Ms. Peyser, Rabbi Hellman, and Mrs. Kurtz what a wonderful job they have done in their history curriculums and teaching students about our past.  To learn more about his programs please visit the following link: http://www.jhflash.com/