Sukkot projects in Omanut

Shalom!
We are just completing Sukkot, and had a few art projects connected to that wonderful Jewish holiday. Hebrew Through Movement and Music with Maya are being met with smiling faces and big voices/ movement-- a great start to a cohesive JQuest year! We shook the lulav and etrog and danced!
I showed the Omanut class a few different websites this week to encourage their creativity and meet the multiple learning modalities of all students... some were musically focused (like the g-dcast.com video about Sukkot) while others just opened their eyes to the different designs that a sukkah could be! Don't be surprised if your son or daughter want more of a voice in constructing your family sukkah next year! :) We worked on painting water colors on canvas and multi media designs with tissue paper and other papers to decorate your personal sukkah or the classroom; some of your children may have brought their creations home already.

Here are some websites that we visited; the sukkah design competitions are amazing!

http://www.sukkahcity.com

Thank you, here's to another great week!
Heather

Building community and starting a new year in Omanut

Hi everyone!
Wow, we had a great time getting to know one another last Sunday! In class, we talked about what makes art "Jewish Art", who some famous Jewish artists are, and what symbols we identify with Judaism that are used in different kinds of Judaica, while giving a brief overview of the projects we will be doing this year, and what we will be learning. Time flew by as we met and noshed on yummy breakfast in the Social Hall, talked to the e-Scapegoat from G_dcast.com, and prayed together during Tefillah. We will be lucky to have Hebrew Through Movement with Tammy and Yardena, and Music with Maya in addition to all our artistic fun. It's going to be a terrific year!

This week we will be doing a project surrounding Sukkot and talking about that holiday in particular. Do you have a sukkah set up in your backyard? If so, your kids will be coming home with a piece of art to decorate your space!
Chag Sameach,
Heather

Shalom! It's a new year!

Hi everyone! 

We are about to embark on a new year for JQuest tomorrow and I am so very excited to start!

Room 205 - The Omanut classroom and our studio space- is ready and waiting for the smiling faces who will be embarking on another amazing year learning about God, Torah and Israel through the lens of Art. We have wonderful Avodah TA's to help this year and I will be adding them to the "Teaching Staff" page as soon as the year is underway.

While we didn't get to see the amazing "Night Begins the Day" exhibit at the Contemporary Jewish Museum a few week ago (unfortunately it closes tomorrow on 9/20/15)  I wanted to share the CJM site where you can watch a short video about what we missed--  our Torah stories focus on Genesis this year and the exhibit is all about that! Enjoy, I'd love to hear what you think of the video! 

There's more to come...Looking forward to a fantastic year!

L'Shalom, 

Heather 

Night Begins the Day: Rethinking Time, Space and Beauty

Omanut and Torah

Shalom!
We have been doing a lot of work covering the stories of Exodus in the Torah after the High Holidays concluded and everyone has been super creative telling the story of Moses individually in "comic book" form, as well as working together as a group to paint their interpretation of the Plagues of Egypt.

Music with Joel is always fun, as is Hebew Through Movement with Tammy and Yardena. Below are some pictures, please enjoy!

All the best,
Heather




Working on our comic book entries about the life of Moses

Starting the collaborative Exodus painting

Hard at work! :)

Heather and Sarah, Avodah TA

Outside enjoying some Hafsakah!

Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and what it means to be in the Days of Awe...

Shalom,

We are fortunate to be able to teach curriculum that it integral to being Jewish, and this year we are getting to experience the High Holidays and talk about what it means to us as Jews, as artists, as people. The students of Omanut have had a lot to contribute during our conversations so far this year, and it wasn't any different as we continued to discuss the High Holidays.



Rosh Hashanah, the celebration of the Jewish New Year, is the beginning of the Days of Awe, which concludes with Yom Kippur - our day of Atonement- when we are 'sealed' once again into the Book of Life. In order to make this a bit more concrete for the students, we examined it in different ways.
We sketched what our favorite memories have been (most love apples and honey and are all about having a "sweet New Year"!), what special memories we have had surrounded by our family, friends, havurah, and at the synagogue; and after many of them witnessed G-dcast's ScapeGoat in the foyer of the Sanctuary on Yom Kippur, they were eager to design and paint their wishes for the new year, what they wished to do better, and what inspires them to create a painting that is an interpretation of AWE! Is it beautiful? A little bit scary? Surprising?

Shown below are some selections of the paintings that the Omanut students have done this week.
Wishing you and those you love the very best! I look forward to seeing many of you on Tuesday evening, October 7th, for our Back to School Night.
g'mar chatimah tovah,
Heather

This video is a great one, and brought out a lot of inspired discussion and artwork in our class!
The Maccabeats, "Book of Good Life"

And now... Our paintings that gave the Omanut students a feeling of AWE... some worked individually, some worked in groups. They all learned from one another, and then wrote a few lines about what their painting was about and why. Enjoy!