Mar 15
Written 100% as dictated by Shteelim – We used the Torah, a Haggadah, and some children’s books to help us figure out the details. When we got stuck on why Moshe took Aaron with him, we got out a Tanach, and read the actual Torah text to see what it said. The 5773 Shteelim …
Feb 14
This week Shteelim has been moving on with the basic story of Purim. Our Purim play has moved on to creating Purim puppets and using them with our Purim theater. The children decided on their own puppet characters and their own words while the Morah (teacher) prompted the Purim narrative. The children were able to fill …
Feb 06
With Purim around the corner, the Shteelimers were eager to dress up in costumes. Sticking with the story, many said they were Queen Esther or Mordechai but one Shteelimer even decided to become Queen Esther’s dog! To prepare for the play with our new costumes and props we set up a dressing room in Pinat …
Feb 22
In Beit Shorashim, learner-directed imaginative play frequently involves kings, queens, princes, and princesses. This week, spurred on by the exciting knowledge that Purim is close at hand, many of the girls spontaneously decided to dress up as “Queen Esther” and “Princess Esther.” After parading royally around the room, they were very pleased to have their …
Dec 12
And boy, are we EXCITED!! We made a set. Here we are building the Temple and a place for the menorah. We drew scenery to project in the background. We made rough drafts and then used permanent markers to draw on transparencies (yes, we found some dusty transparencies in the supply closet!). We made swords …
Dec 12
Today, Nitzanim worked on a *movie for Hanukkah. They all got into character and really took on those roles (some were even Greeks!) in some scenes of the story of the Maccabees. Here is a sneak peak of what you can expect! *The movie will be shown at the Rodfei Tzedek Hanukkah party on Sunday …
Dec 01
In order to engage with the second story of Creation (in Genesis, Chapter 2), the children played “story drama”. One child is the narrator, while the rest are actors. The narrator decides which characters each actor is (e.g. man, woman, animals). Then the narrator tells the second Creation story in his or her own words, …
Oct 31
Kisses, music, dancing, ornate clothing, precious jewelry, and a beautiful house; just some of the ways we show how special the Torah is to us all. In the coming weeks, Beit Shorashim will be exploring the Jewish people’s unique relationship with the Torah through art, dramatic play, storytelling, costume-making, and music. We will learn more …
