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Sept. 11, 2019
These last few weeks the Grade 8 class has been discussing ideas of what to learn this school year. One idea that came up was bonding with Hillel Lodge residents. We thought this was a great idea to show some Gemilut Hasadim to the elderly people. We got a list of hobbies that each resident wrote down on a piece of paper and based on that, we chose the resident who had hobbies that we were interested in, so it would be a good match to promote bonding and a shared interest. Our next step is to go meet with the residents and chat with them. The Grade 8 class is very excited to get to hear some of the amazing stories of these elderly people. They have lived through a lot so it will be a great learning experience for us and even for them to hear each other’s stories. They will also feel valued by the younger generation taking an interest in their past.
Another idea we had was to have a debate. We have had some class experiences with debates in the past and we thought it would be fun to do another one. The topic that we chose for this debate is the school dress code. We have some mixed opinions about the school dress code so it will be great to hear each other’s opinions when we debate this topic.
Since we are the Grade 8 class, the most responsible grade in the school, each week we would teach a few things about Israel to the younger grades. Some examples are: One student from Grade 8 would write a small Torah portion and read it out to the younger grades. Another student would make a word search relating to Israel and the younger kids would try and solve it. Another student would write a small fact about Israel, sharing their knowledge to educate other students.
Before the start of a Jewish Studies period, Dr. Marcovitz would give us ten minutes to write a sentence or two about an Israeli article. This is a fast and fun way to learn about what’s going on in Israel right now.
Kiera Vered