Shivat Haminim for Sukkot
Week #2. I am still taking it slowly, giving myself time to "learn the ropes."My plan is to start in full swing only after the holidays. This pre-holiday period gives me a perfect opportunity to test the waters and experiment.
Sukkot is obviously a great time for Jewish art work. The sukkah needs to get decorated! Last year, in a moment of artistic excitement, I stayed up all night painting the "shivat haminim" with acrylics on posterboard for our Sukkah and since then I have fallen in love with their images.
The "shivat haminim" are a favorite for Jewish artists because they are beautiful and colorful. I showed them lots of artistic versions, including stained glass windows in order to connect to last week's lesson. They were really awed by how beautiful the representations were.
I knew that I wanted my students to do some version of what I had done for their own sukkah but I was very worried that I was being overly ambitious. I worried that asking them to do seven different pieces was too overwhelming, I worried that asking them to draw the species by themselves was too challenging, I worried about which medium to use that wouldn't be intimidating and messy. But, I kept pushing myself to not take the easy way out, to have them (and me) work hard, to challenge them (and me).
I finally settled on using "pandot" (oil pastels) because they are easy and vibrant. I chose a method that I definitely would not repeat because of how ridiculously time-consuming it was for me - I cut carton cards, hole-punched them, and connected them with twine and beads. Beautiful product but insane.
I first did the project with the first-graders and it was hard for them. I realized quickly that they are so used to saying "I don't know how," "I can't," "help me." They are not used to working hard or being challenged. The teachers in the class immediately asked if I had stencils or coloring pages for them. Again, I tried to push myself and them and explained that they could draw a pomegranate - that it is a simply a circle with three triangles on top. Some of them ultimately did it on their own, many of them were helped by me or one of the other teachers, and some of them did not complete the project. I was smarter with the second graders and started off by asking them what they can say instead of "I don't know how" or "I can't" like "I can try" and "I can learn." I think that this combined with them being an older group helped and I was amazed by the beauty of their work. Some of them added backgrounds and borders which really made the images pop.
