Spotlight

The boys in the robotics enrichment cohort completed a challenge to gain an understanding of rotary motion. The students discovered that using gears of various sizes impacts the amount of weight a lever is able to lift. Over the next few weeks the boys will use the problem solving skills gained from this and other exercises to brainstorm their own coding and robotics passion projects.

Mrs. Rabinowitz's library class took a deep dive into various types of literature focusing on being sick. It's that time of year when students have to be careful about sharing germs and start missing school because they're sick. The students were enthralled by the book "A Bad Case of Stripes" by David Shannon and chuckled through the poem, "Sick" by Shel Silverstein. After discussing the reading selections the students were able to choose from a number of "Sick Day" activities- like making paper-bag puppet doctors and Sick Day word-searches to reinforce this week's theme!

In STEAM class this week, Kindergarten focused on why we can only see stars at night. By constructing their own star projectors they were able to see how the absence or presence of light makes stars more or less visible. In addition to helping answer a pressing scientific question for our students, the star projectors were also mesmerizing and fun to make.

Is it raining inside? Why are our kindergarteners wearing raincoats inside then? Because it’s Mabul Day! In honor of Parshas Noach the students learned all about how Hashem bought the Flood. They went outside and Morah Dena and Morah Rivkah to recount the exciting story. The students had fun sprinkling water on each other to make their own "Mabul", whetting their appetite to learn more.

In this Month’s Rosh Chodesh Assembly, TDSA bought the rain! Led by Activity Coordinator, Ms. Chana Miriam Haller, the students completed fun challenges as a team- first they used a spoon to transport a “raindrop” across the gym, then they turned umbrellas into golf clubs to get a balloon from one space to another. It’s a lot harder than it looks! After all the rain-based activities in honor of Cheshvan, our PTA presidents helped the students cool off with delicious rainbow ices!

On Wednesday night, TDSA parents braved the nippy fall evening to hear Drs. Maggie Wray and Rebekah Weisman. The two experts shared invaluable strategies to help build our children’s executive functioning skills and help them succeed. The presentation was informative, practical and entertaining. Every parent who attended walked away with actionable steps to help their children succeed. The feedback was incredible and the parents had a great time! Stay tuned for more information about upcoming parent events!

Rabbi Pollack's 5th grade students completed the first perek of Masechtas Brachos this week. To test their knowledge, Rabbi Pollock prepared a challenging scavenger hunt that had the students running all around the Modulars and the MPR finding and interpreting clues. The clues were based on the content they had learned in the first perek of Brachos. It was a fun, in-depth way to test and reinforce the students' knowledge.

Welcome Inbar and Andy! Our students are so excited to get to know our new Shinshinim. Inbar and Andy have been leading Ivrit lessons this past week. They introduced themselves with a fun trivia game and the students had a blast matching the facts to each Shinshin. The Shinshinim are also teaching the students many wonderful things to love about Israel, starting with Israeli Innovations that make lives easier for everyone around the world! We can’t wait to learn more with Inbar and Andy!

Kindergarten has been doing a deep-dive into author Mo Willems. The class has been reading his classic books "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" and the "Elephant and Piggy" Series. In honor of Mr. Willem's, they even learned how to draw some of his famous characters.

On Monday, Rabbi Schusterman came to speak to the Middle School Girls in honor of Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan. He spoke about Rachel Imenui and how the girls can utilize the lessons of her life to enhance their own. This served as a segue to a surprising reveal as the eighth grade students broke out this year's Big Sister-Little Sister Program. Of course, Rabbi Schusterman, was "in" on the surprise.