Preparing for Passover and Learning about Marc Chagall (artist)

Dear Parents, 

We introduced Passover holiday this week by reading: The Matzah Man, The Little Red Hen and the Passover Matzah, and My Very Own Haggadah.  We then had a discussion about Passover.  Passover is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt, which begins on April 5th at sundown and ends on April 13th at sundown.  

Some of the Passover traditions and rituals are:

~  The Passover Seder (which means order) is a ritual feast.

~  The main symbols at the Seder meal are four cups of wine, matzo bread, and the bitter herbs.

~  Haggadah, collection of Jewish prayers and readings written to accompany the Passover seder.

~  Afikoman, a piece broken off from a matzo during a seder and put aside to be eaten at the end of the meal.                                    

We then decided to create our very own Haggadah.  

First the children decorated  the cover with the Princess capturing baby Moses in the River Nile.  Some of the other pages included are:

 ~ Two candlesticks

~  Four cups of wine

~  Afikoman bag

~  Seder plate 

~  Traditional Passover songs

The children certainly worked hard on this project. We are all so proud of all their accomplishments and we are sure you will agree.  We hope you will use their Haggadah at your Passover Seder.

We also have been practicing our Passover songs.  Some of the  songs we have learned were:  "Where is Baby Moses," "Dayenu," and "Let My People Go."

We also learned about the artist Marc Chagall.  Marc Chagall was born in 1887 in Russia and was raised in a large Jewish family.  He discovered his love for art while was he was a boy at school.   Chagall is known for modern, colorful, abstract, dreamlike, whimsical art.  He was a painter, book illustrator, and a stained glass artist. He created art based on village life in Russia and painted animals, people, homes and experiences from daily life.  Love was a major theme in his works and painted his wife Bella in many paintings. He believed that love was stronger than gravity, which is why his subjects are floating in his work. 

Here are some of his famous works:

Hadassah Hospital Synagogue, Israel Peace Window 1962

 

United Nations Building, NY 1964

I and the Village, 1911

The Promenade 1918

Inspired by Chagall’s stained glass art, we made our own version. First we had a discussion about what brings us happiness and joy. The children mentioned their family, friends, pets, and things from nature, such as rainbows and the sun. They were asked to draw a picture of what they described onto clear plastic film.  We then cut out pieces of cellophane and glued them to the back of their pictures. This project is still a work in progress, but they look amazing so far. 

We celebrated Tehila and Louis's 4th birthdays this week. Thank you to both families for reading a special story and for the delicious cupcakes! 

                            Happy 4th birthday Tehila! 

 

                                             

                                                               

                                                          

                        

Happy 4th birthday Louis! 

The Newton Fire Department visited our school on Tuesday. They gave us a tour of the inside of their truck, it was so exciting!  

On Thursday, Stacey created a Matzah factory in our school.  The children had so much fun learning about Passover and then making their own matzah from scratch.  First they took the berries off of the wheat, then ground them into small pieces, added flour and water and finally rolled them flat. We then baked them in the oven.  Mmm..was it good!   Our hard work was well worth it! 

Have a great weekend!

Love, Bonne & Denise