Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Phyllis's Art Journal






Hello Parents,

I want to introduce myself and welcome you to the new school year. I look forward to your interest and involvement in our Jewish art journey and I am always interested in your feedback.  My name is Phyllis Levun-Agostino and I have been teaching art at Shir Hadash since 2009.  My fabulous madrichim this year are Alek Kopulsky, who is a senior in high school and has been working with me since 2010, and Julia Mostow, who is a freshman in high school and has been working with me since 2013.  Please stop in the kitchen/art room to say hello and see what we’re doing.

On September 14th the students in grade K-1 and grade 4 had art class.  We created a collage/painting for Rosh Hashanah 5775, which included images of apples and honey, pomegranates, a shofar, Jewish stars, a birthday cake and the numbers.  The 4th grade students also wrote wishes for the New Year.  Before making the collage we talked about the customs and reasons for these objects in the Jewish New Year and we brainstormed ideas for wishes.  After making the collage, the students added their unique painterly touch to create a beautiful Rosh Hashanah piece of art.

On September 21st, the students in 2nd grade and 5th grade had art.  The 2nd grade students made a Rosh Hashanah collage painting as described above.


The 5th grade students learned about the custom of inviting Ushpizin (guests) for the holiday of Sukkot.  It is traditional to invite the 7 patriarchs of the Jewish people to our sukkah for inspiration and wisdom and this tradition has grown to include the matriarchs and other people who inspire us.  We talked about this tradition and the names of people we would like to invite, including the patriarchs and matriarchs.  The students were given information about the patriarchs and matriarchs and then created beautiful plates and table settings for their guests.  These plates/settings will be assembled onto a large paper tablecloth and my madrichim will finish the tablecloth with decorations for Sukkot.  This will then be laminated and hung in our sukkah.  Please look for this in the sukkah and if you would like to add names of inspirational guests to include in our sukkah, please let me know and we will add a (paper) chair for your guest.  My email is plevuna@gmail.com

L'shana Tova,

Morah Phyllis

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