Goo Goo for Ga Ga!

Shalom Shiraniks!

While we attend sessions both on Sundays and during the week, the weekday JQuest sessions always have the added benefit of hafsakah, or recess.  For many of us, this is a time to have fun hanging out with the other 5th and 6th graders, play a little soccer or football, sit on the lawn and chat with friends, or get creative with sidewalk chalk.  

However, the big attraction for every hafsakah is the GAGA PIT!  That's where, despite the dust and teachers (well, mainly me) annoyingly insisting that they follow the rules and not jump over the side, the kids demonstrate their skills and compete for bragging rights. Although there is a winner every time (until I whistle for us to go back to class), there are no losers, as Temple Isaiah has the best gaga pit around!  Here are a few photos of some of our hafsakot sessions over the last few weeks. 

GA GA GO!

 

 

 

Field Trip News!!! Parents Please Read!

Shalom Shiraniks!!

Here is a note from Charna about the upcoming Gold Country field trip.  I am hoping that all of you will be able to attend, as it is well worth the trip!  We will spend the day in Columbia State Historical Park, learning about the Jewish families who lived there and the origins of Northern California's Jewish community.  This trip is an integral part of our learning in 5th/6th grade, and I hope that you and your children will join us!

 Please read below and contact Daniella to sign up a.s.a.p.  

Shalom!

-Erin

Dear 5th & 6th Grade Families,

 

As you may have heard, all 5th & 6th grade JQuest families will have the opportunity to experience a day of fun and learning in the Gold Country this fall. What does this have to do with our curricula in Shira, Edot, and Y'tzira? At some point this year, all three tracks will learn about the history of the Jews of the United States, including our own Bay Area Jewish community. This community traces back its origin to Gold Rush days. The Jews who came to northern California from Germany, France and Poland in the 1840's and 1850's were brave pioneers who fled social and religious persecution and poor economic conditions, hoping to find a welcoming and prosperous home in the New World.  

 

To help bring our local Jewish history to life as part of this unit of study, we are chartering a coach (the motorized, air-conditioned version!) to take us to Sonora and Columbia State Historical Park for a full day of activities on Sunday, November 11th. We will leave Temple Isaiah at 9 a.m. and return around 7:30 p.m. Since this is planned as a family event, siblings in JQuest will be excused from their own classes that day to participate.  Please note that every child must have an adult chaperone on the trip. We will picnic at the Rotary Creek Park upon arrival in Sonora, and then continue on to Columbia State Historical Park where we will have a docent-led tour of Jewish Columbia, as well as free time to explore its Main Street on our own. We'll round out our day with a visit to the Sonora Pioneer Jewish Cemetery where we will learn how these pioneers maintained their Jewish identities in spite of the many hardships they had to endure. There will be movies on the bus relating to the theme of the trip, along with other activities geared toward further enriching our understanding of the Jewish experience in the American West.

 

The price per person for this trip is $40.00, which includes the cost of the bus seat and the fee for the docent tour of the Park. If your family elects to drive on its own, the cost will only be $10.00 per person for the docent tour. There are scholarships available, upon request. Seats on the bus will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. If your family wishes to join us after the seats have been filled, I will keep a waiting list, in case of cancellations. For those families opting to drive on their own, I will provide detailed driving directions and schedules, so you can meet us at the above-mentioned sites. In past years, some families have taken the opportunity to spend an entire weekend in the area.  

 

Please let Daniella know AS SOON AS POSSIBLE if your family can join us for this unique experience. We can only reserve the bus seats for you when we receive a check, made out to "Temple Isaiah," for the full amount for however many seats you would like to reserve. If you cancel after October 31st, we will not be able to refund your money.  

 

Please bring or mail your check to Daniella Forney in the JQuest office. Be sure to note on the memo portion of your check "Gold Rush Trip." Please be sure to respond even if you cannot join us (we want to be sure we hear from all the families, to be sure we haven't missed anyone).

 

Feel free to contact Charna by e-mail (charna@schakow.com), if you have any questions about the trip.

 

L'Shalom (To Peace),

Charna (Coordinator of the Gold Rush Field Trip)

Food, Glorious Food!

Shalom Shiraniks,
This week's blog entry is written by the Shiraniks (you guys) themselves (yourselves).  Enjoy!

Written by session one:

   We made potato kugel last week, and a lot of Shiraniks enjoyed it. It was savory and salty. It had cheese, potatoes, salt and pepper, onions, eggs, flour, baking soda, and oil. The gluten-free table had the majority of the same things, except for the flour. There were a lot of jobs, including; fetching the ingredients, grating the potatoes, mixing the ingredients, and squeezing the juice out of the potatoes with a paper towel. After we grated the potatoes, it was cool and surprising to watch them turn pink. We had so much fun making kugel that we can't wait for the next cooking session!

Written by session two:
We learn to cook Jewish foods because it's a connection to our religion and culture, and a way to express our Jewish heritage in our everyday life. For example, Jewish recipes teach us what our ancestors did. Another reason is we can learn about our Jewish cultures and foods. Also, we can celebrate different holidays and eat the foods of those holidays. Learning to cook Jewish foods also helps us bond with our relatives. It also enables us to learn the ingredients and why they were used. For example, potatoes were very common in the areas where Ashkenazi Jews lived in Eastern Europe, and the potato kugel that we cooked is an Ashkenazi recipe. In conclusion, we learn to cook Jewish foods so we can cook them when we are older.

Here is a link to a slideshow created by Edot teacher Neal M.:

JQuest Cooks Potato Kugel

Music With Ben!

Shalom, Shiraniks!

Each lesson, twice a week, we have a wonderful music session with our songleader, Ben Kramarz. He brings us new tunes that relate to the holidays, middot, or other aspects of our curriculum, as well as revisiting old favorites with a new twist.  With each new song, the students increase their musical repertoire and gain new ways to connect to their Jewish identity.   This week's contribution:  the Hebrew verses to the Tree of Life song.  Shiraniks -try to watch this video and read the transliterated Hebrew below to learn the new verse before next Sunday!

Eitz chayim hi lamachazikim bah, v'tom'cheha m'ushar.  (repeat) 

Shalom, shalom! Shalom, shalom! Shalom, shalom!  Shalom shalom!

The Recipe for Music

Shalom Shiraniks!
This week marks the beginning of our unit on the music of the Ashkenazi Jews.  We will be learning about the history of the Jews of Eastern Europe, and how their experiences and how the various cultures which they encountered over the centuries helped them to create the unique sounds of the sacred and secular music coming from that part of the Diaspora.

However, before we can talk about Ashkenazi music, we need to determine what makes music Jewish.  And before we can do that, we need to learn about what makes music actually musical.

The students began the unit by expressing what they currently think Jewish music actually is.  The answered the questions, "Where do we hear Jewish music?  Who makes it?  What does it sound like?  How does it make me feel?" before creating preliminary posters expressing what they think Jewish music is.

 


Then, we began to learn about the actual elements of music.  This is really an exciting activity for everyone.  It's pretty empowering to learn how to be a "music critic," and to be able to use the tools that enable you to decipher any composition!

The elements we have covered are RHYTHM, MELODY, HARMONY, TONALITY, DYNAMICS, TEMPO, TEXTURE and GENRE.   We examined examples of each, and the students then wrote their own definitions of Jewish music, integrating their newfound musical knowledge with what we have been learning about the middot (Jewish values), holidays and musical genres.  Here are a few examples of the students' ideas about the elements of Jewish music:

"Jewish music is a genre of music that is usually based on Jewish culture or values."
"You can hear Jewish music in every language."
"Jewish music can cross over with any other genre of music.  Jewish music is worldwide."
"Jewish music is often religious, but can be secular."
"Jewish music brings people together."
"Jewish music usually has values hidden in the lyrics."
"Jewish music is made by Jews."
"You don't have to be Jewish to write Jewish music."
"Jewish music could be prayers, shofar or songs."
"Jewish music is sung all over the world, sometimes in prayers."
"There are many different languages Jewish music can be written in, for example, Hebrew, Yiddish, English, Korean, Creole, etc."

Overall, we had a very good class discussion about what makes Jewish music Jewish.  Throughout the year, we will use the musical criticism techniques that we learned this week in order to evaluate various musical compositions.

In the meantime, during hafsakah, the students are working on their gaga skills in the popular gaga pit!

Sukkahs, Song and Simcha!

Shalom Shiraniks!

Once again, it's time to welcome our new and returning students to another great year in Shira!

Although I had to miss our first two sessions due to prior family commitments, the class got off to a good start during the High Holy Days, getting to know each other a bit, and learning about the High Holy Days and Sukkot.

Thank you to Alison Waterman, who so adeptly taught my first two sessions for me! She led the classes in the "Lulav Shake" song and taught them the blessing over shaking the lulav and what the holiday of Sukkot means.

One of the main aspects of that particular lesson dealt with the middot, (values) and mitzvot (commandments) associated with Sukkot.  The students learned that during the holiday, we are commanded to eat, sleep and celebrate in the sukkah, as well as invite others to do so with us.  They worked diligently to express their own creative ways to interpret the values of Sukkot:  Giving Thanks, Showing Hospitality, Creating Community, Living Modestly, Getting in Touch with Nature, Uniting Past and Present and Being Happy.

SIMCHAT TORAH!!
This is the season of simcha!  We are commanded to be joyful during Sukkot and on Simchat Torah, and our class started off the new year right, with plenty of song and simcha!  Last Sunday, we came to class in the afternoon in order to participate in the synagogue's Simchat Torah service.  Before the service, we discussed the meaning of simcha (joy) for the Torah, and learned a couple of new songs to express that joy.  Then we went to the service, where we saw the Torah unrolled and heard the end and beginning of the Torah read aloud.  We finished the evening with loads of simcha, song and dance, hosted by a local DJ.

And it's a Wrap!

Shalom Shiraniks!

Well, we did it!  We created another amazing Shira music video to be proud of!  This year's parody, to the song "Thunder" by Imagine Dragons, is a proud addition to the growing collection of Shira music videos.  So, without further ado...I present "Freedom!", the official 2018 Shira Music Video!

And no Shira music video would be complete without a Blooper Reel! 

We also wrapped up a fun-filled musical year in which you accomplished quite a bit!  If you've forgotten, here's a rundown of some of this year's activities:

• Learning the elements of music (melody, rhythm, harmony, tonality, texture, tempo and dynamics) and becoming musical critics, evaluating various forms of Jewish music throughout history, and eventually creating their own definition of Jewish music
• Comparing and contrasting the “Jewish” elements of various versions of individual musical compositions and styles, such as klezmer, Israeli pop and traditional Reform liturgical melodies
• Learning the history of Hava Nagila and creating a parody of Hava of their own.
• Watching, evaluating and discussing various films, videos and websites about Jewish music throughout history, including Hava Nagila, the history of Sephardic music and the songs of the Israeli halutzim (pioneers)
• Making connections with fellow students during  weekday hafsakah (recess) 
• Writing a lyrical ballad that might have been sung in the Temple in Jerusalem
• Learning about and listening to recreations of the instruments that would have been used in the First and Second Temples
• Using phone apps to create original music and lyrics to our own Jewish music
• Writing, singing and videotaping performances of parody songs about the Temple (This year’s tune: The Brady Bunch theme song) 
• Evaluating the Psalms of King David, and finding modern “psalms” that represent various musical styles on YouTube
• Learning how to navigate the Tanach through a musical “Torah Treasure Hunt” 
• Studying the various middot (Jewish values), creating a “Jewpardy” game about the middot to share with the other students , and finding examples of middot in contemporary music
• Learning to identify the nusach (tune) for each holiday and singing songs associated with the holidays
• Collecting tzedaka for the 6th grade fund (We raised over $200 this year!)
• Watching and evaluating dozens of Jewish music videos from around the world
• Studying the culture, history, and music of the Sephardim and the Mizrahi Jews of the Middle East through various in-class activities.
• Learning Sephardi, Mizrahi and Israeli dances and teaching them to others
• Singing our own niggunim (words without songs) in Voicestra style
• Learning two or three new songs a week in music sessions with Ben, our song leader 
• Learning how to use a djembe drum, and playing the drums during weekly drum circles
• Learning about the Zionist movement and the early state of Israel through the early Israeli “pioneer” songs
• Learning how to make a music video, including all aspects of production (choosing a song to parody, writing the lyrics, rehearsing the song, experiencing a professional recording session, storyboarding, acting, lip syncing, directing, green screen technology, and editing)
• Meeting and performing with well-known Jewish songwriter/performer Rick Recht!

It's been quite a year.  I'll be uploading some more videos and photos from the year's activities over the next couple of weeks, so be sure to check back for updates!  Have a great summer! - Erin