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Archive for ז׳ בשבט ה׳תשע״ב (January 31, 2012)
Connecting Through Art
For the past few weeks, the SK students have been working hard to complete their mini-creation books in art class. As we have spent a great deal of time learning about the 7 days of creation, the students immersed themselves in this reflective piece at the end of our unit. Through art, the students represented each of the things that God created on each day of creation and grappled with the challenge of representing “light” (Day 1) and “Shabbat” (Day 7) through art.
Once these books were complete, the SK students had an amazing opportunity to connect with the Grade 3 class to share with them all that they had learned about the 7 days of creation. Putting on their teacher hats, the SK students showed off their books and explained what was created on each day and how they chose to represent each one in their mini-creation book.
Here are some photos from that exciting morning:
Adapted Folk Tales
Following in the oral tradition of Folk Tales, our Grade Four class retold stories orally to their classmates. With the tables covered in colourful scarves and the gentle music of Chopin in the background, our candle-lit classroom had quite a remarkably folk tale environment.
Each student’s task was to retell a folk tale to the class with a focus on memorizing all the important parts, re-telling the events in the correct order, speaking with clarity, and using expression in their story-telling. The students each assumed the identity of a character related to their story, whether it was the protagonist, antagonist, a minor character, or even someone who may have lived in that time period.
Here are some pictures from our folk tale day.
The push and pull of immigration
The grade 3 class has been working on understanding all of the factors that make people move from one place to another.
They’ve learned about first Canadians and new Canadians and have discovered what life was like for pioneers.
Today, we got to speak with Morah Danya’s brother about what made him decide to move to Israel this past summer. We practiced our interview skills in our conversation over Skype.
Grade Eight Diversity Trip
Check out these amazing photos of the Grade 8 students on a diversity trip to Fairmount Public School in Scarborough. As part of their Generative Topic on human rights- the Grade eights continued their series of cultural exchanges with middle school students in the TDSB.
The students presented to them urban design projects that would make their school and neighbourhood more sustainable and in turn our students conducted surveys gathering data for their data management unit. As well, we were treated to a beautiful, albeit foggy hike to the heights of the Scarborough Bluffs right in the school’s backyard where deer and fox roam in a high traffic wildlife zone. One of those experiences that will truly not be forgotten!
Moreh Eli
Rabbi Heschel’s yarzheit
Last Friday, the 18th of Tevet was the 39th yarzheit of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, zichrono livracha, after whom our school is named. Rabbi Heschel was a profound Jewish thinker – a theologian, poet, and essayist whose work inspired Jews and non-Jews alike.
Heschel was a tireless civil rights activist who joined Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King on his march for freedom from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in March 21, 1965. Appropriately, Heschel’s yarzheit falls in the week between parshat Shemot and parshat Va’eira, the narratives which describe the exodus of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. These narratives have reminded Jews for centuries of our obligation to struggle for the freedom of others. This year, Heschel’s yarzheit falls just three days before Martin Luther King Day. King once remarked to Heschel that his inspiration for the Civil Rights movement came from these very Exodus texts.
This week I had the privilege of attending the Jewish Day School Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Being here, so close to where Heschel walked alongside Dr. King and other civil rights activists, reminds me of the transformative power of our tradition, and of our obligation to follow in the footsteps of Jewish leaders like Abraham Joshua Heschel. To read more about A.J. Heschel, see this short biography written by his daughter Dr. Susannah Heschel.
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