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| Salvador Dali's "The Sacrament of the Last Supper" (1955) is one of the paintings we will see on our tour of the National Gallery, tentatively planned for November. |
Our theme for the year is “The Life and Times of Jesus.” Our aim is to explore, through literature, the Old and New Testaments and other media who Jesus was, what he came from and how his teachings fit with the moment in history at which he lived.
We’ll start with an overview of Biblical history based on the Hebrew Bible. We will study the two historic Temples in Jerusalem, including building (and sacking) one out of gingerbread. We’ll recreate a first-century village in Palestine based on The Bronze Bow, a young peoples’ novel about a young boy living at the time of Jesus. We’ll also study some of Jesus’s teachings in the New Testament, and find parallels in the Old Testament. The Bible that we are using, The Message, is a newer, very modern translation that we think you will enjoy. (One of the cover blurbs is from Bono of U2.) Students should have already received The Bronze Bow, and we plan to pass out The Message on the first day of class. We will also take part in Gatherings (by presenting the nativity play at holiday time), and a community service project.
We’re also planning a field trip to the National Gallery of Art to look at images of Jesus in art. We know that families’ schedules get very busy in the fall and especially the spring, so we’d like to propose Sunday, November 7th as the day for the field trip. We can leave IFFP from the Gathering and begin our tour at about 11 am, finishing about noon when we can have lunch in the wonderful café in the underground atrium connecting the East and West Wings. Please let me know if this date works for you so that we can begin planning for it.
This is Melissa’s and my second year teaching the fifth grade. We have been IFFP members since 2008. Melissa was raised Catholic in Pennsylvania, and I grew up Jewish here in the Washington area. (My family went to Temple Sinai and I have known Rabbi White since around the time of my bar mitzvah.) Our daughter Maeve will be in first grade at IFFP this year, and our son Dylan will be in the threes class.
To cut down on e-mail proliferation, you can feel free to contact me at any time if you would like to discuss the class. You can reach me at adam.korengold@hotmail.com or on my mobile on 703.862.5769. I also use Facebook frequently and you can “friend” me at www.facebook.com/akorengold. I am also quite active on Twitter, including on interfaith issues, and you can follow me at www.twitter.com/akorengold. (I’m a big fan of social media and look forward to sharing ideas!)
I will also be posting my weekly updates here with links and pictures, and would welcome comments from you (and from the students in the class)!
Again, welcome to you and your children! We look forward to a great year and to seeing you on the first day of Sunday school, September 12th.
Adam,
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I am new to the whole BLOG rage, but it is wonderful to have this recourse from you! Thanks! - Susan P.
Thanks, Susan! We had a great class yeterday and I look forward to sharing more. Blogs are very addictive, I will warn you. But I promise not to talk about what I had for breakfast before class!
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