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Art Update

Art Update, November 9, 2014

Phyllis Levun-Agostino

Since my last writing, the classes have done a variety of art projects that are related to the holidays, to Jewish artists, and  to the content of their studies in their grade level class.   I hope you have seen their artwork  in Shir Hadash or at home, and have had a chance to talk about these creations and even use those that are meant for special purposes.  I will present what we have done in chronological order.

The 5^th and 6^th grades made beautiful Sukkot Ushpizim Table Setting Panels that hung in the Shir Hadash Sukkah.  The 5^th grade did a table setting with plates for the Jewish ancestral leaders and the 6^th grade did chairs for contemporary Jewish figures of importance.  These large scale group panels were a welcome addition to the Sukkah and taught students about the tradition of inviting Ushpizim (guests) during Sukkot.

Third grade did a Jacob’s Ladder style book for Sukkot with images of the traditional etrog and lulav. They also included a quote from Rabbi Hillel:  “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?  If I am not for others, what am I?  And if not now, when?”   They also did a book for the story of Adam and Eve, thinking about the ideas of responsibility and choice.

Seventh grade did beautiful Shabbat cloth bread covers.  I hope you are using them joyfully.  Today (11/9) we talked about the tradition of saying 100 Blessings Each Day.  Each student then created a pie shaped panel illustrating what they are grateful for, after we had a group discussion and brainstormed categories, examples for thankfulness, and the concepts of blessings and kavanah. (intention and awareness)  These ¼ circles are designed to be arranged in an interesting pattern and will be displayed in the hall.  Please look for these next week.

Grades K-1 did a book with the Story of Creation and also a decorated blank book for keeping in class to use for learning Hebrew words.

Grade 2 also did a decorated blank book for class to use for their new Hebrew words.

Fourth grade learned about the famous Israeli artist Moshe Castel and created a work in his style.  He was famous for large stone like panels, using ground basalt for texture and often using Hebrew letters and mythical writing.  His works often looks like large ancient stone walls with abstract and mysterious writings.  The students used various materials, such as sand and paint and masking tape, to create this textured and ancient looking art.

Fifth grade was studying the 10 Commandments and made a Stained “Glass” ( tissue paper) rendition of the 10 Commandments Tablet.

Sixth grade was studying the Jewish Calendar so we made a large group calendar consisting of 16” circles for each month of the Jewish calendar.  Using a special book to find our original birthdays and their equivalent Jewish Calendar days, we added these dates to the calendar.  Each student also found the Jewish holidays in their Jewish calendar month and included the standard calendar equivalent day.  These calendars will be in their room and can be used and updated throughout the year.  If you would like to know your Jewish Calendar birthday based on your original day of birth, please let me know.  

Seventh Grade News

February 8th 9:15-11:30 Tu B'Shevat Family Education Day

5th, 6th, and 7th Grade Families

Fourth Grade Class News

Hi everyone in Kita Daled! We had a great day at Sunday School last week. We had Israeli Dancing for the second time in a row and the kids really seemed to enjoy it and I have to say, they did quite well! It’s fun to learn these new dances.

Just a quick reminder, please help your children go over the Hebrew letters and sounds five minutes a day. A lot of students are having a hard time moving from the letters to sounding out the Hebrew words in the prayers. I can not stress enough how important it is to practice letter reading and sounds over and over again.   It really is the cornerstone to move forward in learning prayers. I am noticing that the kids are memorizing everything which is good up to a point. Please have them follow along on the paper or in the books with their fingers as they read the words.      

If you need the website again it is www.behrmanhouse.com/students

There is a link to practice the letters as well as practicing the prayers. Please have them practice the letters nightly or a couple of nights a week, if at all possible. Have a great rest of the week!

 

Shalom,Morah Jennifer

Shir Hadash Drash

If you would like to know what's going on in your child's class, please click on the links below.

Gan Yeladim Magazine

Second Grade

Third Grade News

Fourth Grade Class News

Notes from Forouz

Sixth Grade Review

Seventh Grade News

Visiting College Student, Always Shir Hadashnik, David Anes 

Madrichim Meeting/Breakfast

Early MorningYouth Director Planning Session (Carole and Jenny Working Hard)

Devin, Serious about his Hebrew

Links To Fun Stuff

Click Here for Reconstructionist Prayer Practice (you know you need this!)

Looking for some good, meaningful Jewish rock and roll? Click here.

Upcoming School Events

Sunday, January 25--  Religious School

Sunday, February 1--  Religious School--Blood Drive

Sunday, February 8--  Religious School, 5th, 6th and 7th Grade Tu B’Shevat Family Education Day

Friday, February 13- Sunday 15-- Kallah, No Religious School

Sunday, February 22-- Religious School

Sunday, March 1-- Religious School (No Rabbi Eitan)

Sunday, March 8-- Religious School, Purim Family Day, Pancake Breakfast, Carnival

Sunday, March 15-- Religious School, Havayah 

Friday, March 20-- 4th, 5th, 6th Graders Lead Shabbat Services

Sunday, March 22 Passover Family Education

Sunday, April 12-- Religious School, Havayah, Prospective Member Open House

Sunday, April 19-- Religious School, Yom Hashoah Service

Sunday, April 26-- Mitzvah Day 

Sunday, May 3-- Religious School, Havayah, Israel Solidarity Day

Sunday, May 17-- Religious School, Last Day Celebration

Adult Education
Crash Course in Jewish History 11:15 a.m. - 12:25 p.m. Shir Hadash Conference Room

Monday Evenings 8:00 p.m. -10:00 p.m. Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah Class

Tuesday Afternoons 12:00 p.m. -1:00 p.m. Lunch and Learn with Rabbi Eitan

Every Sunday 9:45 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. Torah Study/Modern Jewish Philosophy with Fred Andes

Sixth Grade Review

Dear Parents,  
Today we started our day with a twist. Instead of discussing the Torah portion, the students took a brief quiz to test their Israel Knowledge.  The quiz asked true or false questions like: The first airplane was created in Israel (false), The technology for cell phones was created in Israel (true), Israel is about the size of New Jersey (true), Only Jewish people live in Israel (false)... and more.  This will form the basis of our new unit of study: Experiencing Modern Israel.  The students have some background about the creation of the modern state of Israel so we want to add to the base by learning about arts & culture, the diversity of the nation, the environment, the food along with touching upon the layers of history that have brought us to modern day realities.  There is some on-line learning we can use in the classroom via Google Earth.  Today we also took advantage of the Western Wall webcam to view the real time activity at the Wall. While it was 6:30 p.m. on a Sunday evening  in Israel when we tuned in, the kids were able to see men and women praying at the wall. They could see the different sections for prayer and we were able to discuss who goes to the Wall to pray, why men & women are divided in their prayer sections and more. We will continue to use several sources so the students can get a sense of what Israel looks, feels and tastes like!  (I've already had a request to do an Israeli cooking lesson - which we will work on in a few weeks.)

Since Rabbi Eitan was out of town today, the teen agers led our morning service which included the regular prayers and a lot of extra songs, too!  The teens taught the congregation the tune for the Modeh Ani prayer and we practiced some old favorites like Adon Olam and The Hope. 

After services we had some more time for discussion of our answers to the Israel quiz and we found out that we have a lot to learn!  We also spent some more time learning about each other & our community by sharing the highlights of the week. 

Hebrew brought us to a new set of prayers, the Birchot HaHaftarah - the prayers that are said before & after reading the Haftarah. We spent most of the period learning about the haftarah - a reading from N'vi'im (prophets), the second section of the Bible. The prophets were spokespersons for God - they lived and preached over a period of about 750 years - from about 1250 BCE to 538 BCE. The prophets brought hope to the people in times of despair. When the people strayed from the teachings of the Torah, the prophets helped lead them back to God and the mitzvot. There are 5 blessings that accompany the haftarah reading - one before & 4 after. Each blessing reflects the traditional aspects of our relationship with God. We read through the 1st blessing today but will begin to learn it together next week.  

We concluded our day with art with Phyllis where the class made beautiful Torah scrolls which included their names and the Torah blessings. The concept included the crown of a good name - "There are three crowns. the crown of Torah, the crown of the priesthood, and the crown of royalty. But the crown of a good name excels them all." The class talked about their own names and what the name represents. The kids were asked to include memories of who they were named for on the back of their projects.  I encourage those who did not finish in school, to complete this step at home. (see photos of the kids at art).

Just a note to let you know that I will not be in class next week. We already have a great substitute lined up who will continue the lessons right on schedule. 

For next week: 
1. Practice the prayers we have studied so far as review. We have a prayer competency chart that we will fill out and return to the parents toward the end of the term. 
2. SAVE the DATE: Sunday, February 8th - Family Education Day for 5th - 7th graders.  Come to school with your child & spend the day learning about Tu B'Shevat.  Emily will send more information soon!
3. Registration for Midwest Kallah ends next week.  Contact me with any questions.  (Registration on-line www.shir-hadash.org)

Have a great week!  Carole

Also,  6th graders are invited to the Midwest Regional Kallah - a weekend of Reconstructionist Living in Wisconsin.  Forms are attached or you can register on-line at the Shir Hadash website: www.shir-hadash.org.

As always, contact me with questions or comments.  Have a great week!

Notes From Forouz

Dear Parents,


Last week students practiced reading Oseh Shalom in their Hebrew books again, and went on to begin reading the Lecha Dodi.

Here is a link where students can practice Oseh Shalom. 

Here is a link to practice Lecha Dodi

Have your son or daughter practice reading a few minutes each day and they be all set for next week.

Substitute teacher Nat brought in challah and more in order to hold a "mock Shabbat" with the class. They seemed to really enjoy celebrating together. Your children are a lovely group of people and it is a pleasure to walk in the room and listen to what they have to say about many things. I know Nat and Rebecca have enjoyed substituting for Forouz. We hope she will return to school this Sunday and I promise to keep you posted.

Natalie and Spencer have stepped it up the past few weeks, good job to them!


Thank you, and don't forget to mark your calendars for the Family Education Day, February 8th.

Thank you,

Emily (for Morah Forouz)

Third Grade News

What a great morning service we had. We used our beautiful Children's Siddur (Prayer Book) so many parents joined their children for a lovely spiritual beginning to our day of learning.  Rabbi Eitan  taught us about the Sh'ma and V'Ahavata prayers and together with the Kindergarten, First and Second Graders we made wonderful paintings about those prayers that will be part of the silent auction at next months Gala honoring Rabbi Eitan's 20 years of service to Shir Hadash. They will be on display at school the next few weeks.

We are making great progress in Hebrew, please remember to practice with your children during the week. It is hard to learn a new language when you only look at it once a week!  Here is a link to an online Alef Bet chart that reads it out loud for you. Remember to start on the right side of the page, the lessons mirror our work books. http://www.behrmanhouse.com/click-and-read-free.

Finally don't forget to join us after school for lunch with K-3rd Grade this coming Sunday, Jan. 23, only $10 per FAMILY. (Let us know if you have any dietary special needs)

B'Shalom,
Morah Lynne

Please remember to send tzedakah and a healthy snack every Sunday.

Kita Bet News

Kita Bet Families,

I hope everyone is having a great week so far! This past Sunday, we focused primarily on reviewing our Hebrew letters! We also got together with the third grade, kindergarten and first grade to talk about prayers we recite during morning services with Rabbi. We read and talked about the meaning of the Shema, Modeh Ani, and the V'Ahavta prayers. We are in the process of making canvas art that represent each of these prayers. These canvas paintings will be auctioned off at February 7th's Gala honoring Rabbi Eitan. I hope to see everyone bidding on our art! :)

See you next Sunday,

Jenny

Please remember to send tzedakah with your child.

Gan Yeladim and Kita Alef News

The Gan Yeladim and Kita Alef News

Our class was all about the Jewish holiday of Tu B' Shevat, Shabbat Shirah, and the Hebrew letter mem.

Tu B' Shevat is a very special holiday just for the trees. Tu B' Shevat literally means the 15th day of Shevat.

This holiday is based on the life cycle of the tree. A birthday for the trees!

It is winter here, but it is spring in Israel. On Tu B' Shevat people come out in droves to plant trees all over Israel. With a bit of help the kids found Israel on the globe. We went on to discuss why trees are so important to us, and listed all the resources we receive from trees.

Trees also provide homes for animals, especially birds.The Shabbat before Tu B' Shevat is Shabbat Shirah, on this Shabbat we thank and feed the birds.

The custom of feeding the birds comes from a story about the week's Torah Portion. Moses instructed the Jewish people to collect a double portion of Manna ( a bread like substance) on Fridays because none would fall on Shabbat. A few people with a grudge against Moses spread some extra manna on Shabbat, to make the people think Moses had lied to them. The birds came and ate the manna, foiling the plot.

 We discussed the difference between a domestic and wild animal, and thought of some great ways to care for all animals. 

God created animals, and we decided that it is up to us to help take care of them. 

We all agreed that feeding birds and caring for animals is a mitzvah!

We made some home made birdseed treats to feed the birds. 

The kids will bring them home next week, not sure if the end result will be exactly what we wanted.

We had fun making them!

The kids completed a page for their My Jewish Year books about Shabbat Shirah.

We worked on our Hebrew worksheets.

The letter of the day was mem, we made mems out of m&ms.

At the end of the day the kids had 15 minutes of free play with the 2nd grade.

It was a great day!!