Sing the Songs, Light the Candles, Beat the Drums!

  


Shalom Shiraniks!
The last couple of weeks, we have been gearing up for the Festival of Lights by learning new music, practicing the blessings and creating some Hanukkah poetry of our own.  Check out some of the clever Hanukkah Haiku that the students created:

Spin the s'vivon

Nun, Gimmel, Hay, Shin or Po

Gimmel!  Yay! Winner!

            - by Hazel

It's a learning time

All about the Maccabees

Open the presents

               - by Kami

Latkes good to eat

Freedom is with us today

Hanukkah is fun

        - Sara

Candles are burning

Hanukkah, oh Hanukkah

I'd like some latkes

        - Asher

Eight candles burning

Melted wax on the table

Flames are in the air

        - KJ

Hanukkah is cool

Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah

Driedel is spinning

        - Carly

I spin the dreidel

It spins very, very fast

It lands on Gimmel

 - Toby

Opening presents

Spinning dreidel for gelt

For dinner, latkes

        - Ethan

Latkes are cooking

We sure hope they do not burn

We keep watch on pan

       - Kayla

Latkes are burning

Hanukkah will be cheery

Maccabees winning

        - Aeryn

One candle lighting

Hanukkah is kind of cool

I don't like latkes

        - Max

Candles are burning

Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah

Latkes are yummy

        - Nicole

 We have also had some great drum circles, learned some new tefillah tunes.  With Ben, the students have been working on their Hanukkah music lexicon.  They're getting pretty good at actually singing "Sevivon Sov Sov Sov" while spinning:

And they're doing their best to get their tongues around the complicated Hebrew in Mi Yimalel:

Some of the other tunes that they have learned recently are new tunes to old songs, such as Hinei Matov:

...and a very rhythmic niggun (song with no words) introducing the call to prayer...

And, on top of all that, we have also been honing our drumming skills in our drum circles...

Finally, last week, one of our very talented TA's, Caroline, gave us a special treat when she and three of her choir friends were kind enough to donate their time to teach a lesson to the class.  They answered questions about what it's like to be in a high school chorus, introduced four part harmonies (soprano, alto, tenor and bass),  taught us some new vocal warmup techniques, led us in a round of Hanukkah Oh Hanukkah, and of course, sang beautifully!

Learning a new vocal warmup

Singing "Hanukkah Oh Hanukkah" in rounds 

Beautiful 4 part (SATB) harmonies in the College Park High School Alma Mater

So, it's been a very musical couple of months, and we're looking forward to our Hanukkah Bring a Friend party this Tuesday and Wednesday, when we'll have a crazy retelling of the Hanukkah story, munch some homemade latkes and rock the dreidel while listening to some of the coolest Hanukkah music around.  Chag Sameach!