A surprise art installation is coming!

Shalom!

We have had a fun week in Omanut- we put up our completed projects from the High Holy days around our classroom and on our bulletin board in the hallway and since the students were so excited about a project that we talked about earlier in the semester before my absence, I decided that it would be a great team building experience for all of us to start that project now and not worry about possible rainy or yucky weather- we were going to go for it and problem solve any issue as a group!

As you know, in Omanut we learn about male and female Jewish Artists, and I switch them out every week so there is an even representation. One recent artist was Mel Alexenberg and we examined some of his eclectic work. One project that appealed to us was his installment sending painted and decorated alefbet letters/ a Hebrew message into the desert sky via weather balloons filled with helium-- and we are going to surprise our Temple Isaiah community by making our own interpretation of that work come to life this week. Be on the lookout!

Here is a link to Mel Alexenberg's work. I will be emailing Mr. Alexenberg and sending him pictures of our project once it has happened this week; he lives in Israel and is still creating! The kids (and I!) would love to have him respond, so wish me luck!
http://www.melalexenberg.com

We had extra special Yoga with Miss Kendra on Tuesday and Wednesday this week which the students really responded positively to- it was a relaxing, centering and peaceful time. Hebrew Through Movement is special to see because of everything the kids know and do that they didn't think they did! The smiles of recognition are awesome, and it is so great to see them light up when Yardena or Tammy say "Yoffi!" (Hebrew for: "Good job! Great!")

Looking forward to a wonderful November in our Omanut studio!
Be well,
Heather

Here are some pictures from this week's creative process:

Fall holidays in Omanut

Shalom!

I'm back in the classroom after having surgery in September and was so very happy to see everyone for class and Simchat Torah dancing and fun last night! My Omanut students are wonderful and had done a lot of inspiring and beautiful work from the lesson plans that I had sent in during my absence. Since yesterday was spent catching up and finishing any projects that may not have been complete, we did a lot of talking about what Simchat Torah is exactly and how my last lesson connects to the holiday itself.

The class created their own Torah pictures-- and in their abstract ways, I think it was extremely successful once we started talking about what they would add or write in Torah if given the chance; The art project consisted of a heart surrounded by Torah scrolls.We know that Simchat Torah concludes with the end of the Torah, right back to starting again once it is rolled back up. The conclusion of Torah is marked with the letter Lamed from the word Yisrael. It begins again with the letter Bet in Bereshit; Connected, the lamed and bet spell Lev. It is with your heart and passion that should be put into the Torah, so I thought that this was appropriate in illustrating how special Torah is, and give the kids a lasting impression of what Simchat Torah is. We will be attaching all the pieces that were done for this project on to our bulletin board, so everyone who visits our hallways will know about the love and creativity that are put into Torah.

Here are some examples of work:

We also watched a video about Simchat Torah from Bim Bam, formerly G-dcast.com-- feel free to watch it again with your child and have a conversation about what the night meant to them.

Thank you all for your good wishes and warm welcome back!
See you soon,
Heather