Sarah Shay-Davidson

We welcome Sarah Shay-Davidson as our first grade teacher, who will teach both general studies and Jewish studies. Sarah graduated from The Rhode Island School of Design after attending Jewish Day School as a child. She worked in Israel as a textile designer for 15 years. Upon her return to the U.S., she found her true calling to teach in a Jewish Day school. Sarah worked at Kehillah Schechter Academy (KSA) for 7 years where she became an expert in center based learning, personalized instruction and uses educational technology in her classroom. Sarah taught in a multi age class (K-1) and oversaw the Math & Reading Buddies program at KSA. Sarah earned her Hebrew SPED certification at Hebrew College, and recently participated in a week long intensive guided reading workshop at Lesley College. Sarah was also an online educator at Hebrew College and Yeshiva University. She has lead many Professional Development workshops focusing on using technology in the classroom. We are all very excited to be working together!

A STEAMy week in First Grade

March 10, 2016March 10, 2016 by Sarah Shay-Davidson

What a sensational week we had in First grade last week!

Gravity and Sir Isaac Newton’s 3 laws of motion were the theme of our jam-packed week.

The highlight of the week was a special visit from my dear friend Janna Kaplan. She presented a marvelous lesson based on her determination to be an astronaut even though she was female and a Russian Jewish Refusenick. Her life story is fascinating and the work she does as the head of the Zero Gravity Laboratory at Brandeis is inspirational. She was very impressed with our students and asked me to post this:

The kids were beyond amazing. I’m not just saying it because they were cute (they are!). The level of their knowledge and understanding of spaceflight was definitely above grade level! The discussions we had during my presentation, the quality of their questions, and just the avalanche of questions they “pelleted” me with, were all unmistakable signs of that. So were their genuine interest in spaceflight and their ability to sustain attention during a fairly long event (I think it lasted more than one hour!). At the end of the lecture, I want you to know how deeply impressed I was. As a parent myself of (now adult) Jewish day school kids, I know how important it is for parents to know that their kids are actively interested in topics of science and exploration. It is from those curious children that we get our best scientists.

Check out some of the amazing photos from last week, when we also celebrated 100 days of school and tested out the 3 laws of motion by attempting to make marble runs from plastic tubing and marbles…..

We celebrated 100 days of School last week with an assortment of hands-on activities!

We made 100 bead necklaces…

and found out what does 100 drops of water looks like…

and the number 100 popped up in a note about kindness!

Our STEAM RISD/Brown Liaison, Anthony gave a fantastic workshop about animals adaptations that amplified one of the senses.

Above is a STEAM-inspired Lego creation.

Erasure Poetry in First Grade!

January 14, 2016December 19, 2015 by Sarah Shay-Davidson

We are so fortunate to have a amazing group of creative and knowledgable parents at JCDS. Throughout the year, we encourage our parents to come in to teach our students about something they are an expert about. Two weeks ago Joanna came for a visit and the results were magical.

Joanna is our guest blogger this week!

Two Fridays ago, the first graders displayed their impressive talents in creating poetry and art. We started by listening to poems, including “Be Glad Your Nose is On Your Face.” Then we tried out a technique called “erasure,” covering up some of the words and drawing pictures over the page to create new texts and images. The first graders applied their drawing and reading skills to this task. Some circled words they knew or created patterns with words. Many drew pictures and designs. We did the drawing and writing on transparencies over the page so they could be lifted up to see the original beneath. See some of the results below!

-Joanna Brown

Gobble Gobble – Thanksgiving in 1st grade!

November 30, 2015 by Sarah Shay-Davidson

Students enjoyed thinking and writing their own endings for The Great Turkey Race by Steve Metzger.

“Nice job!” “That was great!” were just a couple of the First Grader compliments showing Kavod (respect) for the actors after the performance.

The cherry on the top of this fabulous week was the skits about the Wampanoag villages and Plymouth Plantation that our students performed for each other. This was our first attempt to create a Flat Stanley-inspired world where the characters are all flat and reinforced with paper clips. The characters are moved around using magnets hidden underneath the stage. Soon we will be creating a city using this same technique. Students will think about what makes a city successful and who lives in a city. We will invite Flat Stanley and Flat Stella to enjoy a city created just for them.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

The Blessing of a Scratchy Voice

November 9, 2015 by Sarah Shay-Davidson

Thursday morning is my favorite time of the week. It is always such a pleasure to see my former first grade students join us for T’fillot.

Last week was especially wonderful. Unfortunately, the curse of a teacher is the occasional loss of her voice. Students confidently took on the responsibility of leading the prayers without any help from their scratchy-voiced teacher. I was kvelling!

With extra time remaining for the period, I shared that my daughter will finish her service in the Israeli Army. The 2nd grade often asks about my daughter since meeting her last year during a furlough. This sparked an incredible conversation about our connections to Israel. One thing led to another and we were unfurling my enormous Israeli flag. Twenty six sets of hands held on to the edge of the flag. We sang the Israeli national anthem, the Hatikvah. It was a truly magical moment which I was able to capture! Have I mentioned lately how proud I am to be a teacher in this school? So proud!

Enjoy!

An Egg-cellent Egg-spiriment

November 9, 2015 by Sarah Shay-Davidson

After extensive focus on the anatomy of teeth, we concluded our All About Me Unit, with the our first experiment of the year.

Students wondered what would happen to the white egg if it was soaked in Coke. They wondered what might happen if they soaked a white egg in water. Many of their predictions were very creative. “I predict that the egg will explode!” or “I predict that the egg will get mushy,” or “The egg will get spotted.” There is nothing better than hearing a gasp of amazement from a first grader. They were all surprised to see the dark brown egg emerge from the caramel colored soda.

“What happened to the egg in water?” “I bet it got bigger!”

Here is our Israel emissary, Gilor showing the students how to spell the Hebrew word for egg.

First grade showing pride in their work!

Fun Friday in Math

October 26, 2015 by Sarah Shay-Davidson

“Can I work on my Math Board Game during quiet time?”

“When can I make a Math Machine?”

“Can I make more math cards?”

This is just a sampling of questions that are asked during the week in anticipation for Fun Friday in Math. Students work at their own pace to create a math board game or pack of cards based on math skills of the week. Each game must be given a name, and a written set of directions. Students are discovering that writing directions is not as easy as it seems to be! Each game will be laminated so they will be sturdy enough to be played with over and over again in class and at home. Hmm…imagine a homework assignment to play the game with their parents or siblings. Now that is what I would call Homefun instead of Homework!

Our next Fun Friday project will be to create their own Math Machines out of gallon sized milk cartons brought from home. The beauty of this activity is that once made, students can add new cards based on the skills introduced each week.

What a fun way to show what each student has learned in math! $Math machine$

Dem Bones Dem Bones…………

October 5, 2015 by Sarah Shay-Davidson

The best part about teaching both Judaic Studies and General Studies is that I can connect two of my favorite units into one: Sukkot and the human skeleton. There are many ways to teach about the Lulav and the Etrog. The most popular school of thought is by waving the Lulav and Etrog in all directions, we are reminded that God is everywhere. Another interpretation is through relating each part of the Lulav and Etrog to different parts of our bodies. The Hadas (myrtle) leaves are shaped like an eye. The Arava (willow) leaves are shaped like lips. The Etrog reminds us of our heart. Finally, the Lulav reminds us of our spine (we stand straight and tall, proud to be Jews.) There’s the connection to the human skeleton!

In Science,we examined X-rays of the skeleton, and put the X-rays together to form a complete skeleton (we named it Adam). We wondered what was opaque or translucent, then watched a little video of a song about how our bones fit together.

Then we traced the outlines of our bodies on huge pieces of paper. Armed with a magic marker and a black and white copy of a labeled skeleton, students took over the first grade hallway and drew themselves as skeletons. One student asked if his phalanges (fingers) could hold his favorite baseball card!

Sukkoth in 1st grade

October 5, 2015 by Sarah Shay-Davidson

Reader’s Theatre puppet shows are taken very seriously in First Grade. It is a wonderful way to assess many skills such as reading, writing, communication and most importantly, how students work together as a group! In the beginning of the year, it is important to scaffold the plays according to the abilities of the class. Our first puppet show was based loosely on a book called Bubbe Isabella And The Sukkot Cake written by Kelly Terwilliger. First, students listened to the story, then, as a group, re-told the story collaboratively in their own words. Then, they re-told the story again but changed it by adding their own animal characters. This is a wonderful story because it is based on repetitive phrases which build upon each other. The format lent itself beautifully to create script which accommodated 14 first grader parts perfectly!

We invited our Fifth Grade buddies and the Fourth grade to be our first audience ( First grade have so many siblings in Fourth Grade!). After the performance, we celebrated Kabbalat Shabbat, ate Challah and drank grape juice. The kids sat together and read from our extensive library. The atmosphere in the room was magical. There is nothing better than observing our older students totally engrossed in reading to our younger students.

As the year progresses, the students will take on more complicated speaking parts and write their own scripts. The culmination of our work on Reader’s Theatre puppet shows will be based on Caps For Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina in Hebrew. It will be a collaborative production with our wonderful Art teacher, Jennifer Antes.

First Grade Shofar Blowers

September 25, 2015 by Sarah Shay-Davidson

We rang in the New Year to the blast of a Shofar. For some of our students, it was their first time!

We counted pomegranate seeds! The final amount was 703 exactly. (I say exactly because we even counted the stray seeds that found their way to the floor.)

Each student was given a segment of the pomegranate to count, then had to record the data. It was hard work to add up all the data, but it was worth it. The pomegranate symbolically represents the 613 Mitzvot (good deeds) that we are expected to fulfill. There is actually research that supports this theory.

http://parsha.blogspot.com/2007/09/613-seeds-in-pomegranate.html

We measured ourselves. It will be interesting to see how tall they will be at the end of the year.

We are learning our first song for the Zimriyah which happens to be about wishing our loved ones Shana Tova! (Happy New Year!)

What a wonderful way to begin the New year!

Jonah Is Really A First Grader

September 24, 2015September 24, 2015 by Sarah Shay-Davidson

The story of Jonah and the whale is traditionally read during the afternoon service of Yom Kippur. The choices Jonah made remind me of many age-developmental traits of a first grader. What a wonderful story full of imagery and important messages!

Our story begins with Jonah running in the opposite direction when God asked him to deliver a message of dire consequences to the people of Nineveh. Jonah buys a ticket to sail away, far from his responsibilities. Perhaps Jonah felt that the task was too hard for him? Sometimes, it is hard to follow directions, especially when you are not sure that you will be successful.

Then, God sends an enormous storm to rage against the boat. The captain finds Jonah asleep and shakes him awake. Ever try to wake an exhausted first grader? – not an easy task! Jonah tells the sailors to throw him overboard because he is the cause of the storm. The sailors are appalled but do as he says.

The sea instantly becomes calm again. God sends a whale to swallow our friend Jonah. Jonah is in the whale for 3 days. Jonah understands the error of his ways, prays and promises to do his job. Jonah is spit out onto the shore near the town of Nineveh.

God reminds Jonah of his responsibilities and this time, Jonah chooses to do as he is told. In the town, he delivers his message and is shocked and annoyed that, since the king and the townspeople are truly sorry for their behavior, God forgives them. Jonah walks away furious and sits on a bench outside of the city. Perhaps Jonah is thinking, “It is not fair! Why did I get punished for 3 days, and they didn’t get punished at all!”

God grows a vine which provides shade for Jonah. His rage slowly disappears, as he is happy to be out of the hot sun. The next day, God sends a worm to eat the vine. Jonah is miserably hot again. He is on full sensory overload.

God points out that Jonah seems to be more upset about the loss of his shade than the destruction of an entire town of people. God reminds Jonah that the people of Nineveh “didn’t know their right from their left” and were truly sorry by showing their repentance through their actions.

We call this T’shuvah in Judaism. Teshuvah is what we do to “fix our mistakes.” Yom Kippur is about second chances, asking for forgiveness and meaning it. Everyone makes mistakes, just like Jonah and the people of Nineveh. God gave them another chance to try again to make good choices. Being a first grader can sometimes be hard, but these social and emotional developments are part of the whole wonderful package that are our six and seven year old children.

Here’s to second chances, beginning the New Year with a clean slate and joy in our hearts.

גמר חתימה טובה

(May you be inscribed (in the Book of Life) for Good)