5th Grade: Leadership Unit

We’ve begun our second main unit of the year, learning about leadership and connecting the mitzvot we’ve learned about to the values we see in our biblical leaders. To introduce the unit, we began with an activity called a Human Knot. This involves everyone in the class reaching across the circle to hold onto different peoples’ hands so that the middle of the circle becomes a web of arms. The goal is to try to untangle the web without letting go of each other’s hands. While students are trying to go over and under each other’s arms to untangle themselves, the teacher calls out the names of a few students at a time, and for the next minute those students are the only ones allowed to speak. This added difficulty, as well as rich material for discussion when we debriefed about the leadership roles each student took on during the activity and the skills necessary to complete the task. Not only did this activity allow us to have a great introductory discussion on leadership qualities, it also helped the class bond as a group to complete a silly and difficult task.

Announcements

1. Closure: There are no Yachad classes on Monday Nov 11 for Veterans Day.
2. Camp Style Havdalah Pool Party, Saturday, Nov 16, 3-5pm.
Families that are already connected to URJ Camps will join with prospective campers and their families for a fun night with havdalah, swimming and camp-style games. We look forward to seeing you there! Register here by Nov. 8th. All welcome; 2nd – 6th grade focused.
3. Save the Dates, Parent-Teacher Check-Ins, Dec 7-14
From Saturday Dec 7- Saturday Dec 11, we will hold opportunities for you to meet with your child’s teacher to hear about how the year has been going. These meetings will generally take place after Yachad classes. Within the next two weeks you will receive an email with further information and the link to sign up for meetings.