Freedom School 10/3 Rosh Hashanah Class Recaps
K-1 with Katherine
The students and I met in our area, where I asked those who had gotten there earlier to draw something that reminds them of the new year. For those who didn’t want to do this/had gotten bored, I asked them to help me roll small pebbles out of pieces of clay for a later activity. We talked a little about what Rosh Hashanah is and why we were together on a school day. After the first recess, we got started tracing out one of the students, as a “day of creation” activity. I asked them to fill in attributes of what they would want to see in a good person or friend. They seemed to find this activity enjoyable. Once the paper person had been filled in, we took the clay marbles and I had each student choose 3, then drop them in a large tub of water. As they did this I explained tashlich, saying that normally they would do this at a river or beach. I asked them to feel free to name or not name something they wanted to wash away in the new year. A few students mentioned they knew what this was and they’d be doing it at the beach later, which was great to see! That filled up our individual class time together, after which we went together down to the next recess.
2-3 with Samantha
4-5 with Rachel
On Rosh Hashanah, the 4th and 5th grade cohort began our time together with our version of Tashlich – we used a small kiddie pool to toss pieces of paper into. We learned that Rosh Hashanah is considered the world’s birthday, so naturally we became party planners! The students broke into groups to plan a Rosh Hashanah birthday party celebrating the world and the new year. They had a ton of fun with props, skits, and decorations.
6th with Jaime
On Rosh Hashanah, the 6th grade scholars began to tackle the question: what makes a good person? We explored characteristics like humility, loving-kindness, justice, and more. We also enjoyed each other's company with storytelling games. The students were also great leaders during our whole-school Rosh Hashanah puzzle!