Shabbat Shalom Ulpanon Bet Families,
As we continue our journey to Shushan and Purim, the children are expanding their experience of the holiday. We have been adding songs to our Purim repertoire, including: Shir Hamesechot (The Masks Song): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7QLbD7CC9k, Shoshanat Ya’akov (The Rose of Jacob): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o551_OXhSHo, and Ani Purim (I am Purim): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sCEV0RdAt8. The children have been connecting to the Purim story and the rich characters. They have been discussing Queen Esther’s bravery in telling King Achashverosh her secret that she is Jewish and for standing up for her people against Haman Harashah (Evil Haman). They spoke with admiration of Mordechai Hayehudi (Mordechai the Jew) who stood ground and refused to bow down to Haman because “we only bow down to God.” Some of our friends said that they agree with Queen Vashti that “It’s ok to say ‘no’ when we don’t want to do something or when he (King Achashverosh) isn’t being fair.” We learned that like the Torah, the story of Purim is also read from a scroll. This scroll is called the Megillah. The children have been retelling the story on their own and with their friends, utilizing the character and vocabulary cards as props, taking turns to describe and act out the characters. We introduced the four mitzvot of Purim and will continue to talk about them and the ways the children can fulfill them. The mitzvot are:
Emergent Curriculum: During one of our class circle meetings, the children talked about visiting museums with their family and what they enjoyed seeing there. They referred to the Natural History Museum, The Getty and museums they saw on vacation. One child said there were lots of artists at a museum and they were famous; another child responded that “well, we are all artists too because we like to create art.” We told the children that there are many Jewish artists’ work in museums. They expressed interest in learning more about them and we began by introducing them to the oman (artist), Marc Chagall. The children looked at books about Chagall and at pictures of his paintings. They learned that Chagall came from a small kfar (village) in Russia and lived in Paris and the United States, and that he had visited Israel too. They observed the vivid colors and we talked about how Chagall drew the characteristics of his paintings, including:
The children then sat down to create art kmo (like) Chagall. This was a four-step process: They drew in pencil, traced the pencil with a black marker, colored with oil pastels and finished with water colors. The paintings will be hanging in the classroom along with the children’s descriptive words. Next week, we will explore Marc Chagall’s stained-glass window art and continue with a different Jewish or Israeli artist each week. During P.E with coach Danny, the children had a wonderful time warming up with exercises from the It's Your Move!™ activity dice. Each took a turn to roll the dice and to lead their friends in the activity that they rolled: Forward crawling, running, backwards crab walking, rolling, skipping, jumping, galloping and the grapevine. They then practiced their hand-eye coordination and focused on throwing and catching the ball during a game of Silent Ball. They remembered and followed the rules of the game to be silent, throw a good pass, catch the ball if it’s a good throw, and refrain from throwing it back to the friend who passed to them. During S’Torah Time, Rabbi Josh told the story of The Golden Cow (calf). Moses told the Israelites that if they were all going to live together, they would need rules to keep everyone safe and happy. Rules about what we are not allowed to do are very important. There are also very important rules that tell us, ‘Yes’ and what we should do: Listen, show respect to your parents and teachers, keep Shabbat, pray to only one God. Moses went to Mount Sinai to talk to God, and he was gone for a very long time. The Israelites waiting at the bottom of the mountain became scared and worried that he wouldn’t come back to lead them. They then told Aaron, Moses’ brother to build them a golden cow to worship. The children noted that we have one God and that God is all around us. We do not bow or pray to statues or idols. That is one of the rules that we should do. During Music with Ditza, the children marched with hand clappers to the song Hayu Li Naalayim, Yamin u’Smol (I Had Shoes, Right and Left): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eo4_2lCLQI. They danced in a circle, holding a giant rainbow band to the song Bo Nochal Harbeh (Let’s Eat A Lot): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg6P0cEHbyQ, and shook hand pa’amonim (bells) to the song, Boo’oht (Bubbles): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwmod37f6kQ. Important Dates:
Shabbat Shalom! B’vracha, Shoshi and Meirav
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Shoshi Persellin Archives
March 2020
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