The fifth graders have been having a wonderful few weeks of class. Last week, we celebrated Purim, discussed the story behind the holiday, and had a discussion about the motivations behind certain characters in the story. During Hebrew, we played a huge game of Jeopardy where students created their own teams and competed with their classmates to say the most Hebrew words correctly for the most points. The students absolutely loved the fun competition and requested we play again soon.
This past week was the kick-off of our new elective program at TI. For the next two weeks, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, students will be participating in a small group havruta study of the Ha Lachma Anya text, recited during the Passover Seder. After this, students will go to their electives for one hour to apply what they learned in their havruta sessions to art, Legos, cooking, or technology.
In the havruta session this past Tuesday and Wednesday, students discussed the idea of matzah as "the bread of slavery" as well as the idea of matzah as "the bread of freedom". The students took a look at several famous rabbis' interpretations and explained the thoughts in their own words. Several of the students I worked with explained that matzah connects to slavery in that matzah is low and flat just like the social class of the Israelites during the Passover story. The Israelites had no power and worked hard all day doing back-breaking work.
In Tuesday's art elective, students had the chance to reflect on their learning from the havruta session. Students were provided with construction paper, tape, staples, markers, and glue to design an artistic piece that best represented the topic covered. The students' creations were outstanding. So much thought was put into each one of them! A few examples are shown below.
We began discussing the main project we will be working on in the art elective over the next two weeks; a matzah holder. Students will have the opportunity to work with a variety of art materials to best represent the themes covered during havruta study (i.e. matzah as the "bread of slavery", matzah as the "bread of freedom", the difference between the "needy" vs. "hungry", and students' interpretation of the phrase, "Next year in Jerusalem!") This matzah holder, once completed, will be brought home to use as part of the Passover Seder. Can't wait to get started!
Best,
Diana
No comments:
Post a Comment