We are currently seeking a TikkunXDesign Fellow and a Garden Fellow. Both part-time positions are under the supervision of our school’s TikkunXDesign Director, Tiferet Rose. Please click on the job descriptions below for more information. Send Resume and cover letter to trose@jcdsri.com by July 1st.
Naomi Stein
Music fills our school for Zimriyah
In the weeks leading up to Zimriyah, the halls of the Jewish Community Day School fill with singing. Zimriyah is a musical celebration of Hebrew language and Israel that is much beloved by JCDSRI students. Part of the school’s Hebrew curriculum, the music includes traditional and modern songs, religious songs, and also modern Israeli songs. The theme for this year’s festival was a tribute to Israel and a celebration of Israel’s 70th birthday. As part of the preparation for the festival, 70 facts about Israel were incorporated into our school’s curriculum.
Discussing the power of Zimriyah, JCDSRI Head of School, Andrea Katzman, explains: “Singing is considered a “best practice” in education. It is one of the most effective ways for children to develop sound awareness (critical for learning how to read successfully). After all, songs are filled with rhymes, alliteration and patterns – they invite children to play with the sounds of language, rhythm, and celebrate melodic creations. Singing also allows our students to communicate their feelings and thoughts in expressive and creative ways.”
Weaving song into the school’s Judaic curriculum is a meaningful way to develop students’ Jewish identity within a joyful, festive program. Katzman continues: “Our community’s songs give us access to shared memories and help us to imagine new worlds. They contain blessings and sparks of light.” A line in one of the songs from Zimriyah sums it up best and reflects the immense power of song: “let us sing together with one heart.”
A new loft in third grade
May 18th was a very exciting day for the JCDSRI third grade class (popularly known as Thirdopolis). The day included the culmination of a year-long TikkunXDesign project that focused on their “Grow Room,” a quiet alcove within the classroom. The Grow Room was initially conceived as a space where both children and plants would grow – children would “grow” their social/emotional skills surrounded by plants under a set of grow lights. Students would be responsible for caring for the plants and learned how to track their growth by taking scientific measurements. At the same time, the alcove would provide a calming space for conflict resolution and for students to take a break if they felt the need to “recharge.” The idea for the Grow Room was based on our school’s approach to social/emotional learning, as well as on studies that show that being surrounded by green growing things can contribute to a calm state of mind.
Much of the year in TikkunXDesign was spent applying the Design Process to improving the Grow Room. Our TikkunXDesign Director, Tiferet Rose, and third graders brainstormed, conducted interviews, built several different models — all the while making sure that their ideas reflected the purpose of the space. In the end, three different improvements were chosen: a loft addition, new bean bag chairs and a curtain to make the space more private.
Enter Brown University student Katya Scocimara who worked with Thirdopolis during our school’s STEAM Splash event. Katya had a wonderful experience teaching our students about Biomimicry and expressed interest in completing her final project for her engineering Design Studio at JCDSRI. Given Katya’s interests and background, Thirdopolis’ grow room emerged as the best fit for all involved.
After an initial idea-sharing session with third graders, Katya and her team were able to design, build and install a loft in only three short weeks. This month, Thirdopolis eagerly welcomed the loft and newly designed Grow Room into their classroom. Final touches will soon be added: a mural, pulley system and welcome sign. Third grade teacher, Joe Mirsky, led the Thirdopolans through a process to lay ground rules for the new space, to keep it safe, fair and fun, so students can continue to use it responsibly throughout their busy days.
This project is a wonderful example of the dynamic collaboration between classroom teachers, TikkunXDesign and our school’s Brown/RISD partners. Third grade students are very excited about the loft. While acknowledging how much help they received both from Katya and their teachers, they also have a clear sense of ownership over the entire process — and therefore the space itself.
Celebrating Israel!
Our school-wide celebration of Israel’s Independence Day was very active and kef (fun)! In honor of Israel’s 70th birthday, students played Israeli games and participated in Israeli folk dancing during recess. Students “visited” a variety of places in Israel as they traveled around school participating in different stations. We had an all-school trivia competition, Jewperdy, in Jerusalem. They also visited Jaffa, where children were challenged to an orange-picking/sorting relay, and Tel Aviv, where our artists created graffiti on the city’s “walls.” Finally, students created their own mosaics similar to those found in the Israeli city of Tzipori.
Each class collaboratively wrote a thoughtful poem reflecting their Hopes and Dreams for Israel. The poems were shared at an all-school Yon Ha’atzmaut assembly. Here is third grade’s class poem:
FOR YOU ISRAEL כיתה ג HOPES . . .
YOU ALWAYS REMAIN A PEACEFUL COUNTRY.
FOR YOU ISRAEL כיתה ג HOPES . . .
YOU WILL BE AN EXAMPLE FOR THE WORLD.
FOR YOU ISRAEL כיתה ג HOPES . . .
YOU WILL HAVE NO MORE WARS WITH OTHER COUNTRIES.
FOR YOU ISRAEL כיתה ג HOPES . . .
YOU WILL ALWAYS HAVE A STRONG HEALTHY ARMY.
STEAM Splash 2018
Two days of workshops focusing on STEAM delighted and engaged our students during April’s STEAM Splash days. Our partners at BROWN/RISD KinderSTEAM as well as parents and community friends led a variety of hands-on projects. Students explored many subjects including, mammals, bio-mimicry, aquaponics, vegetable printing, slime, science magic, extracting DNA from fruit and much more. STEAM Splash is part of our school’s broader TikkunXDesign program focusing on STEAM skills and mindsets such as innovation, collaboration, empathy, perseverance and problem solving in order to help improve our community and the world at large.
The stories that bind us together
After a delightful morning watching JCDSRI kindergarteners theatrically reinterpret the Passover story and observing third graders refer to ancient Jewish texts as they create original (and delicious!) recipes for charoset, I return to my office. In the quiet, I reflect on the central role storytelling plays in our students experiences – and in defining and sustaining Jewish life. Stories are foundational to our learning at JCDSRI – and no more so than during our preparation for Passover. Beginning in Kindergarten, each of our students contributes to her/his personal Haggadah – the book that serves as a guide for our seder meals. The pages created by the children reflect the Haggadah’s demand that “in each generation, each person is obligated to see himself or herself [lirot et atzmo] as though he or she personally came forth from Egypt.”
In retelling the story – in their own ways – our students imagine what once was and what might become. They are provided with a structure in which to place their hopes, fears, and dreams. Hannah Arendt reminds us that the power of storytelling lies in its capacity to “reveal meaning without committing the error of defining it.” In each retelling, we discover new understandings – as when one of our youngest students explains that Pharaoh was incapable of showing compassion to the Jewish people because he never personally experienced love. Or when a fifth grader thoughtfully considers the differences (and similarities) between physical and spiritual slavery – and the impact of injustice on people today.
Indeed, our rabbis have always insisted that halachah (Jewish law – with its defined path and structure) is incomplete without aggadah (literally “telling” or “story” – a form that is expansive, aspirational and imaginative ). As Rav A.J. Heschel wrote in Between God and Man, “aggadah deals with the whole of life . . . [it] introduces us to the realm that lies beyond the range of expression . . . and tells us how to participate in the eternal drama.” I am reminded that stories shape us as individuals and as a Jewish people.
We tell stories as an act of transformation. We tell our history in order to see ourselves in that time and place . . . and then to move beyond its limits. We use stories to make a difference in the world: to broaden our perspective, to embolden us to take actions previously unconsidered, and to expand our capacity to see, act and feel differently. The stories we tell help us to feel connected to those who lived many generations before us and also with those who will live many generation after us.
Stories have the capacity to bind us together. During this season of rebirth and renewal, I hope we all create the space and time to tell – and listen to – each other’s stories.
Andrea
Indoor snow!
Our Pre-K students have been excited about snow this winter. They even experimented with it! They brought some snow in to the classroom from outside and made predictions about what would happen to it. Students dictated their predictions in their science journals. The next morning they entered the class excited to see how their experiment worked and if their predictions were correct. What they found was some water and wood chips remaining in the cup. All of the children agreed that the snow had melted.
Eager to play with snow inside the classroom where it’s nice and warm, our teachers declared, “let’s make our own snow!” By mixing baking soda with shaving cream, students were able to build and adorn table-top snow-people.
Excited about writing in first grade
How do you get your first grade class excited to practice writing?Ms. Bour knows the secret! Because when she transitions with her students to writing, they cheer every time. That’s because they are writing their very own comic books. They started with a story map to organize their stories. They have been practicing writing dialogue and they have been collaborating with Mr. Mirsky in art class to illustrate their comics. They even invited their fifth grade buddies to help them edit and revise their work. We cannot wait to read their creative stories!
March is Read-With-Me month
March is Read-With-Me month! Ms. Silva, our dedicated 4th grade teacher and school librarian, has organized JCDSRI’s first annual Read-With-Me month! Our goal during the month of March is to demonstrate for students that reading and learning is a lifelong adventure. From March 1st until the 28th, we will welcome readers of all ages to join our community and share their favorite books with us. We are thrilled that among our many guests will be local politicians, business leaders, alumni, student athletes, family members and friends of our school.
Purim at JCDSRI is a festive and busy day!
Our school-wide Purim celebration was filled with costume parades, games, hamantaschen baking and more! Leading up to Purim, students studied the holiday story from Megillat Esther (the Scroll of Esther) and each class decorated its door with a scene from the story. Students filmed themselves acting out the scene from their classroom door. On Purim, children visited each other’s classes and upon entering were treated to the student-made videos that brought the Purim story to life.
Older students chanted from the Book of Esther for the whole community. In the afternoon, we assembled bags with toiletries for people in need and everyone exchanged Mishloach Manot, goody-filled bags, to complete the celebration!
