Mapmaking and More

Integrating all of the curricular disciplines in meaningful and authentic ways is a central part of the Chicago Jewish Day School curriculum. This holistic approach to learning reflects the real world, which is interactive, and promotes lifelong learning and curiosity. One example of this is the Grade Four General Studies mapping unit. The teachers creatively integrated the areas of Social Studies, Language Arts, Hebrew and Judaic Studies, Technology, and Art.

Using recycled materials, each student made an eco-friendly topographical map of Israel in Art. The students then labeled important sites and cities on the map in both Hebrew and English. Utilizing a variety of resources, each student then researched one of the sites or cities on the map and wrote a five paragraph expository essay on that site or city in Language Arts.

In Technology, once students completed their essays, they created short films summarizing what they had learned about their Israeli city or site. Printed QR barcodes containing the link to the videos were added to each student’s map. At the end of the unit, parents and friends were invited to the school. By using a smartphone or iPad, they were able to scan the QR barcodes, linking the 3D map with student-created multimedia. Technology-savvy CJDS Grade Four students were so excited to share their hard work!

Emily Crane, Shlomit Hoch, Irit Levy, Tamar Shapira, Rachel Treister, Alex Treyger and Heidi Zimmerman • Grade Four Team and Specialists

New Year, New Beginnings

The start of the school year always brings new reasons to celebrate. This year in particular, Chicago Jewish Day School has a lot of new and exciting things to look forward to.

The 2011–2012 school year will be a milestone year for CJDS. We have our largest enrollment to date as we open our doors to 162 students, and we are excited to announce that the Middle School Annex, the ‘Blue House’ next door, directly north of CJDS, will this year be the new home for our growing Middle School. We also look forward to our first Grade Eight traveling to Israel this year and returning to graduate in June 2012. 

Thanks to the generosity of some of our community members, for the first time, we are excited to welcome two Israeli Shlichim into our school this year. These young adults will serve as Israeli ambassadors, assisting in Hebrew and Judaic classes, offering additional opportunities for our students to speak Hebrew, and enriching holiday and Shabbat programs. We are thrilled for them to bring modern Israeli culture and ruach (spirit) into our classrooms!

If you haven’t visited our school in awhile or never have, we invite you to come take a tour of CJDS. 

Wishing you a happy, healthy and sweet new year!
Judy Finkelstein-Taff, Head of School • Jonathan Cope, President

Math Moments

In Kindergarten, the math program emphasis is placed on the learning process. The teachers provide hands-on activities that help students to develop and gain insight into mathematical patterns through the use of concrete materials. The students use technology to strengthen those math skills. Utilizing various computer programs students create graphs, patterns and geometric pictures. In Hebrew and Judaic Studies, the teachers integrate mathematic skills through counting, calendar activities, and building a Hebrew mathematical vocabulary. Throughout the year students develop an understanding of mathematical thinking; language and symbols; numbers and operations; measurement; patterning; geometry; data collection and probability.

For example, in exploring the number 9, students built towers using 2 colors of Unifix cubes to find all the combinations of numbers that equal nine. They transferred their discovery onto paper to reinforce what they had learned.

Building with concrete manipulatives helps to create a visual imprint in the student’s mind which leads to more abstract thinking. By building the Unifix trains the children master the skills of one-to-one correspondence, number writing, patterning, counting forward and backwards and addition. Our interactive approach makes the mathematical world come alive for students.

Penina Berdugo, Levana Freund, Hagit Lewis, Susie Lorge and Alex Schnitzer • Kindergarten Teachers?

100 Days, 100% Participation

Chicago Jewish Day School’s staff and students were thrilled to celebrate the 100th day of school on Monday, February 28. In the lower grades, students were found making 100 piece collages, measuring and weighing groupings of 100 items, writing 100 words or performing 100 physical activities such as jumping jacks and hops. Activities in the older grades centered on math skills related to statistics and probability and Grade 6 and 7 students led the lower grades in 100 Day math games. But it didn’t stop in the classroom — the student council saw the 100th day of school as an opportunity for giving as they organized a school wide Tzedakah drive. Each student was asked to bring 100 cents to be donated to Jewish National Fund (JNF), specifically for the recent tragic fires in Israel. Our goal was to reach 100% participation among our students to reinforce their understanding of the importance of giving Tzedakah.

Just as Tzedakah is an important value that we teach to our students, it is important for our teachers, parents, grandparents and community members to model this as well. One way that our community members do this is by making a donation to CJDS. This year, we are fortunate enough to be the recipient of a challenge grant. This means that every new or increased dollar donated to our school becomes two dollars toward our Annual Campaign! If you haven’t already, we hope that you will consider making a gift to CJDS’ 2010–2011 Annual Campaign. Please see the reverse side for details on how you can make a generous donation to CJDS.

A Journey to Remember

This winter, our Grade Two students learned all about immigration through an experiential exploration of immigration in the United States during the late 1800s into the early 1900s. Students connected their learning by gaining information on their personal family history and gained knowledge of the immigration experience through a variety of resources. In addition to the many books, both fiction and nonfiction, that they read, students had the opportunity to hear many immigration stories first hand as parents, grandparents, and teachers visited the class to share their own family experiences.

The students expanded their learning using the city as their classroom by taking a field trip to the Swedish American Museum. At the museum, they “traveled back” to the late 1800s where they took part in the Swedish experience, starting with their life in Sweden, continuing on through their journey into America. In their writing, the students reflected on why people decided to immigrate, the many different emotions involved with this decision, and the struggles they encountered in the immigration process and adapting to their new lives. To culminate this unit students dressed as if immigrating from the country of one of their ancestors in the late 19th century, and went through a simulated Ellis Island experience with their parents, in which their learning came to life.

Sarah Fox Sparber, Sari Freeman, and Miriam Grussgott • Grade Two Teachers

Taking a Closer Look

In grade three science, we are learning how to observe the world around us, record information, and make predictions based on prior knowledge. In our weather unit, we are broadening our understanding of the world around us by making hypotheses, testing ideas, and gaining new knowledge to understand how things work. We look at daily weather and predict what is to come so we can learn how scientists observe the world around them and make discoveries. Our classroom experiments are linked to real world experiences to uncover facts about air pressure, temperature changes, and the way in which heat effects air.

Our study of weather is a vehicle to learn many new skills including Hebrew language. Weather is brought into the class each day through conversations in English and Hebrew. Using real life experiences, students use their newly learned Hebrew vocabulary in an authentic conversational setting to describe their observations of the temperature and weather.

In my classroom, during science lessons and beyond, I hope students will develop an appreciation for looking beneath the surface, a desire to question why things occur as they do, and an interest in research to discover explanations for the world around them.

Elana Hiller • Grade Three Teacher