October 9, 2024 by
Jewish learning and the arts: how do they go hand in hand? How can they enhance one another? Below, we are featuring two Grade 5 Judaics projects from this fall that explore this connection. They are two of many examples of the ongoing work at MILTON to enhance interdisciplinary learning in our school curricula.
“Ki Anu Amecha” art project
Last month, Grade 5 Judaics teacher Jael Goldstein, along with Judaic Studied Learning Specialist Jen Margolis, led students in a deep dive of the Yom Kippur piyyut (poem-prayer) “Ki Anu Amecha,” or “We Are Your People.” This prayer uses different metaphors to illustrate the relationship between humans and God, like “we are your dear ones; you are our beloved,” “we are your flock; you are our shepherd,” and “we are your inheritance; you are our destiny.”
Students first analyzed “Ki Anu Amecha,” categorizing each line or metaphor as depicting a relationship where God is more powerful, humans are more powerful, or humans and God are partners. Next, students selected one of these three relationships and developed their own metaphors illustrating it. Each class also chose two colors for their artwork—one representing God and one representing us.
Students then created artistic interpretations of their metaphors, and the artwork was displayed in the hallways. At Back to School Night, parents wrote down what they noticed and wondered about their students’ projects. This was shared with students as they wrote their artist statements, where they had to clearly articulate their metaphors and the thinking behind them.
On display, the artwork represented a wide variety of ways of conceptualizing humans’ relationships to God.
One student illustrated humans as a cookbook and God as cornbread being prepared in a bowl—the instructions in the book were split between both yellow (God) and blue (us).
Another student depicted humans as a person walking through a forest, and God as both the trees around them and their map.
A third student chose a piano metaphor, with God as the piano’s body and humans as the keys.
Another depicted God as a tree and humans as fruit growing from it.
Even students who chose similar images varied in their thinking. For example, four students depicted stars and the sky. Two illustrated God as the sky and humans as stars, one illustrated both humans and God as stars, and one illustrated God as a telescope and humans as stars and sky.
“Cognitively, engaging in arts integration helps students make connections that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to make,” Goldstein said. “If I had just asked students to write a metaphor for the activity, rather than engaging in the full art project, I think it’s quite unlikely that they would have produced such thoughtful ideas. Making art is inherently an act of interpretation and personal meaning-making…I’ve seen students light up when doing arts-based activities in Judaics in a way that I don’t necessarily otherwise see.”
Kinesthetic Midrash
Goldstein and North Campus music teacher Rabbi Mat Tonti have also been collaborating for several years to implement a “Kinesthetic Midrash” curriculum in Grade 5 Judaics. In 2023, they received a grant from the Covenant Foundation to further develop the program. In this program, students set Torah text to rhythm and movement, creating collaborative class performances.
In September, Grade 5 students completed their first of what will hopefully be several Kinesthetic Midrash units. They began by studying one pasuk, or verse—Shemot 1:7.
And the Israelites were fruitful, they swarmed, they increased, they grew strong, very much; the land was filled with them.
This pasuk is important; it leads to Egypt’s new Pharaoh feeling threatened by the Israelites’ strength and, famously, enslaving them. It also rhymes, making it catchy to recite.
Next, students learned to recite the pasuk in rhythm and were introduced to various movements and formations for project inspiration. They practiced moving in unison, staggered, or individually; in small groups, a circle, or a line; and softly, boldly, sharply, smoothly, quickly, or slowly. Finally, groups of students created timed rhythmic movements depicting important verbs from the pasuk: growing, strengthening, and scattering.
In the next lessons, students split into groups representing either Israelites or Egyptians and developed movements depicting how each group might feel about the events of the pasuk. They combined their movements into a class dance sequence, and after a few rehearsal sessions, presented their final products to their teachers. Watch the video of their performances below:
Goldstein says that Kinesthetic Midrash enhances student comprehension of, and engagement with, Jewish texts that might not happen otherwise.
“Adding in movement allows students to think more deeply about the words—what’s actually happening here?” she said. “Also, a student might be turned off from the idea of memorizing a pasuk in Hebrew. But put it to rhythm and give them a creative opportunity, and they are both more excited and more likely to actually pay attention to and memorize the words. There’s a reason why Dr. Seuss is so memorable.”
When asked what surprised her about the project, Goldstein responded, “Seeing how the kids worked together, and how they applied [new] skills about movement composition…How they self-advocated for more rehearsal time before making the final video. How receptive they were to this very new form of Judaics, music, and movement integration. I’m not sure they had had a learning experience quite like this before!”
