Omanut in October

Shalom, everyone!
Omanut has been busy this month....We have worked on a project all about Simchat Torah, and are now studying Genesis and the first days of creation. I have read from The Explorer's Bible and we have watched several amazing short videos from G-dcast.com all about Genesis that have really brought out questions, creativity and humor.
For our Simchat Torah project, all the students were able to collaborate on a painting which will be the framework for the construction & tissue paper  'heart and torah scroll' work that was created based on my lesson. The heart and torah scrolls were made because the combination of the last letter of the last word in Torah ( Lamed from the word Yisrael) and the first letter of the first word when we re-roll the Torah ( Bet in Bereshit)  on Simchat Torah, spell Lev  heart) and it is your heart and passion  that should be out into Torah...which brought us to that creative, and a bit abstract presentation of learning about Simchat Torah. The painting and surrounding work will be put up in the hallway on our bulletin board; I encourage you to look at it, and hopefully that will start a conversation with your child/children.
I have also started "Jewish Artist of the Week", in which I will present an artist, give background information, and a short presentation of their work. Everyone will then have a sketch prompt connected to that artist and by the time JQuest commences for 2016, I am sure we will have learned about many Jewish artists who will have inspired us.
This week, we learned about Yitzchok Moully, a Rabbi and artist who does beautiful, bold colored paintings with strong Jewish images. The students loved him! Check out his work at: www.MoullyArt.com 

We love singing with Maya!

I love this class so much and hope that your children are enjoying it and learning new things about themselves, each other and, of course- God, Torah and Israel with excellent art thrown in for good measure!

B'Shalom,

Heather

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!