The Rashi School | Classroom Blog

Spotlight on the Lower School Show

2023-10-31T12:31:00.005-04:00

This year I have had the opportunity to work with the lower school students on their wonderful After School fall show, The Twelve Dancing Princesses. I am the Production Assistant for the show. As somebody who has worked with Bonny in the Rashi School Theater Program for a very long time, I love seeing all the students show their love for theater every Monday. It brings me so much joy when I get to work with them and give them acting advice, the helpful tips and tricks that I was taught when I was younger by the student leader helping out. I love being able to work with the students and gain closer bonds with them as both a regular student and a role model.

I choose to work with these students because I know how fun and exciting drama can be especially when you are a part of a younger age group. I feel like the older you get the more awkward or ¨embarrassing” certain shows and roles can be, which can affect your acting because it might be a little out of your comfort zone. This particular group of students are so ready for any acting challenge and will even include their own little personality traits into some of these characters. They use their friendship with their fellow peers to experiment with new actions and movements on the stage. They are all so supportive of each other and I love being able to watch them build new skills on stage.

Submitted by Stella Solomon, Production Assistant, Class of '25

This past year I came back to Rashi to help with theater program in order to complete my volunteer Service hours for High School. Originally I started working with the Middle School Afterschool program for one day a week and by the end of the year I was working both days in Middle School as well as the Lower School Program. I enjoy being part of the program because of the people such as Bonny and Abbie as well as the happy memories of being in the program myself since third grade. This a great learning experience for me working with younger students because I like working with kids and hope to be working with kids in the future.

As the production stage manager for the Lower and Middle School shows, I have been typing up the staging notes for both shows. Students are able to refer to these notes when they miss a rehearsal as well as having a resource if they have forgotten what they are supposed to do in a specific scene. These notes are also used by the lighting and sound technicians as they are designing the show so that they know where the actors will be standing on the stage. I enjoy working with the actors, but I also enjoy doing the behind the scenes work as well.

Submitted by Alyssa Gondelman, Production Stage Manager, Class of '21

Spotlight on the Middle School Fall Play

2023-10-18T13:21:00.006-04:00

The Middle School After School Drama Elective will be presenting "The Trumpet of the Swan" in November and the students are hard at work staging, designing, creating and learning many theater skills that can be used during the performance process. The following information has been submitted by our Grade 8 Student Officers who are members of the International Thespian Society (ITS) in the Rashi Middle School Theater Program.

As we get ready for our Fall show, we’d like to share a little bit about how we’ve been preparing for it in the tech booth. The lighting system is mostly up and running again as it was taken down at the end of last year for lighting maintenance. We’ve been working to arrange it in a way that is comfortable for the technicians in the Tech Booth to be able to program the lights for the show. We’ve also been gathering and designing the sound cues, and we’re getting ready to program them into the soundboard.
Ari I - ITS President - Class of '24

In the Rashi Theater, the set designers have been hard at work. In the past weeks, we have created and tackled our first design challenge, which was to create the red rocks for "Red Rock Lake," the home of the swans. With the help of Abbie, we worked to form an idea of what we wanted to build, then started to form it with various materials and tools. We also had to build a raised platform for actors to stand on. The tech team worked together with impact drivers to create a platform and add legs so it could stand. The next step with the platform was to paint it. We learned how to properly paint sets with texture and got the platform looking very nice. There will be more upcoming set pieces to design and build. With the help of our amazing Technical Director, Abbie, we will have a glorious show to present.

Levi L. - ITS Vice President - Class of '24

Aviv N. - Rashi Festival Coordinator - Class of '24

At Rashi, MS Drama is offered After School and you work with Bonny the Stage Director. You can come in once or twice a week for acting, but those who come in twice a week are more likely to get a bigger part. An eighth grade actor said, “Theater is like one big chaotic family. There are the new kids, and the experienced eighth graders.” A sixth grade actor said, “It’s really awesome to be able to do something like this, because although we take it seriously, we also have an opportunity to make new friends.” The theater program at Rashi is interesting, because everyone gets a chance to act, or work behind the scenes, but when you act, you become so close with the other actors, and you can form lifelong friendships.
Chloe P. - ITS Trip and Alumni Coordinator - Class of '24

For the past few months, the actors have been working vigorously to put on a show for the Rashi community. This year the Middle School students and a couple of Grade 5 students are performing "The Trumpet of the Swan." This year there is a smaller number of students in Drama, but despite that our group of actors have been stronger than ever. We recently finished blocking, or staging, Act One of our play and we are currently working on blocking Act Two as well as helping tech with projects. The amazing thing about our small cast and crew is that we are all like a family. For example if some cast members are not in a scene they immediately ask a crew member if they could help. A grade 6 student this year said "I love drama because of the “close and loving community.”
Davey G. - ITS secretary, Class of '24

As you can see from the testimonials of our Grade 8 officers they are off to a great start in the performance process. Both the cast and crew work together in warm-ups and acting exercises as the students will have an opportunity later in the year to be in a different show. The progression of these skills help them to become confident actors and designers and strong leaders in the program.

Submitted by Bonny and the Grade 8 ITS Officers

Behind the scenes of the Rashi Theater Program

2023-10-03T14:06:00.002-04:00

The Rashi Theater Program is off to a great start for the 2023-24 season. Along with grade level plays that happen throughout the school year, we have a very busy elective program. In the Middle School, the students are working hard both in-school and after-school on the production of "he Trumpet of the Swan. After-school there are 27 students, in Grades 5-8, that are working on both the staging of the show as well as the technical production.

Twelve Dancing Princess Cast

The After School Drama elective for Lower School will present, Twelve Dancing Princesses in December. There are already 24 students, in Grades 3-5, on Mondays, busy working on staging. The Middle School students, in Grades 6-8, support the show during their electives programs.

MS Afterschool Technical Elective

The Tuesday Middle School elective is working on props and costumes for The Trumpet of the Swan. They use the Design Thinking Protocol to understand the needs of the show. Students researched the fashion of the 1970s and applied their findings to various parts in the show like working class and school children. The Friday Design elective chose to focus on scenic painting for the production. Students consult the director and the technical director to design scenic shots for the set and then take their designs and bring them to life on stage. The in-school electives are supported by the After School technical students that design the lights, sound and scenery for the current production. The After School students will become many of the crew heads for each of the technical areas of production. Both the in-school and after-school students contribute to the construction of the set.

Our Middle School Grade 8 Theater Officers are hard at work planning out the season. They hope to have a few theater trips this year, including a show in Boston, as well as some of the Local High School productions. They started to discuss the process for the Middle School Theater Festival in May---for which Rashi will be one of the host sites this year---as well as some potential theater advocacy opportunities.

Kabbalat Shabbat Grade 8 Tech Team

Our Middle School students are also part of the technical team which runs the weekly Lower School Kabbalat Shabbat. These students set up the stage for the service. They also run the lights and sound from the tech booth and support Rabbi Clevenger, Rabbi Emily, and Rabbi Plumb as needed. The Grade 8 team worked hard through the month of September to adapt to changes in the Kabbalat Shabbat programing this year, including a change in location for the Middle School, and they set the tone for the Grade 7 and Grade 6 students to join them in the booth and understand how important the "unseen" work is to successfully run services, programs, or theatrical performances in the theater space.

Submitted by Bonny Parlee and Abbie Sockett

Rashi Student Playwrights

2023-06-07T13:04:00.006-04:00

Rehearsal for Grade 2 play

As part of the Rashi Theater Program students learn the skill of playwriting. This process starts in Grade 2 with their work, "Diary of a Rashi Second Grader." In this process the students learn about monologues and dialogues and how to write in the basic playwriting format. In Grade 2, the diary entries become their monologue. Monologues are a great way to talk about emotions and express what the "character" is thinking. They learn that dialogues are just a conversation. We work on this process together as a big group and we spend time talking about the possible topics for the dialogues and then brainstorm character options, setting options and list a few facts that can become the main part of a character's speech. Students learn that anything can speak in a play, yes even a rock or the Charles River. The best part is watching the "voice" of the character come alive as they practice saying the line and writing what they are trying to say. They go through an editing process as with any writing and they learn how to write basic stage directions.

Grade 3 Fables - "Lion and Mouse"

In Grade 3 the students continue their playwriting and start to take a previously written short story such as a Fable or Folktale and learn to tell the story in a dialogue format. This shows them how to create a scene with a beginning, middle and end. They work in small groups and this process begins with a storyboard of pictures and words. This concept of "what happens next" helps the students keep the story intact. We use the concept of a narrator to help communicate the setting and some basic stage directions, but the main focus of the work is through the dialogue. The playwright's humor really starts to make an appearance in this process. The voices of the characters come alive and we have to remind the students that they are not writing the line for them to say themselves, but so that the character can tell the story. As with our dialogues and monologues they go through many edits of the scenes until the story is clear and the punctuation and grammar are correct!

Grade 4 Play

By Grade 4 the students are taking on a bigger challenge. They start with a longer story, such as their curriculum in Jewish Studies studying "B'Resheit", and they write a full (short) play. There are multiple characters, multiple settings and a few themes running through show. Again the students work in small groups and this time they are writing without a narrator. They are having the characters tell the audience the changes in time and settings and develop much more detailed dialogues. It is amazing to watch their writing process start to mature and develop into great dialogue with strong word choices and phrases.

Parting of the Red Sea - Grade 5 Play

In Grade 5 the students write and perform the "Passover Story". They use the Torah as their guide and they write the story from beginning to end. They create dialogue for secondary characters such as the Egyptians during the 10 plagues or mini monologues for some of the characters so the audience can begin to understand what some of the characters are feeling and thinking. They start to think more about stage effects and we start to see more details in the stage directions so that when they transition to actors they know what emotion to use when the character is speaking. The writing process goes fairly quickly as they now have been working on this playwriting skill for four years.

By the time students transition into Middle School they have a solid playwriting background. Each year a few middle School students elect to work on monologue writing and enter the writing contest that is offered by the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild (METG). From time to time, Middle School students even work on writing a play to be considered by the Middle School State Drama Festival Elective. You never know what our Rashi students will create for the future stage shows!

Maddy Solomon, First Place Winner of METG MS Monologue Writing Contest 2023

International Thespian Induction Ceremony

2023-05-24T13:36:00.012-04:00

This past Sunday after the last Middle School performance of "Once Upon a Mattress", nine Middle School Students were inducted in the International Thespian Society. This organization recognizes excellence in theater for both Middle and High School Students. Rashi has been a member of this organization for nineteen years. To become a member students must be in at least two full length productions in the areas of acting and technical work. Many students earn their membership participating in their sixth grade year by participating in the Fall Play, State Drama Festival and Spring Musical. Students are eligible to use all three years of Middle School to earn their membership. Students in Grade 8 are eligible to become officers of the Rashi Theater Troupe and are elected by the outgoing slate of officers. The officers plan the theater trip, invite alumni back to shows and help to oversee the running of the drama festival. A few years ago the officers voted to allow points to be collected by Grade 5 students that participated in the shows so that they could be inducted in their sixth grade year. New members included this year:

Grade 8: Mira Franck and Josie Happel

Grade 7: Ari Ioffe, Levi Lasser, Aviv Neiger and Chloe Penn

Grade 6: Chase Berkowitz, Nate Pearlman and Stella Solomon

Each year the current officers choose an adult or adults that have helped the theater program and honored them for their work. This year they chose three people: Dev Luthra, our Shakespeare Consultant; Sarah Monderer for her work as Choreographer for the Middle School Musical and Alyssa Gondelman (class of '22) for her work as Assistant Director for both the Middle School Fall Play and the Middle School Musical. These adults will have their names added to the long list that is up the showcases on the Middle School Floor.

As the current officers ran the program they then invited up next year's officers to officially "pass the torch." For a brief moment all candles were aflame and then the current officers blew out their candles. All of these students have done some amazing work this year!! We look forward to next year!!

Officers for 2022-2023:

President: Maddy Solomon

Vice President: Oliver Levitt

Clerk/Secretary: Emily Moss

Festival Coordinator: Arlo Rogoff

Officers for 2023-2024

President: Ari Ioffe

Vice President: Levi Lasser

Clerk/Secretary: Davey Glazer

Trip/Alumni Coordinator: Chloe Penn

Festival Coordinator: Aviv Neiger

Rashi Wins Gold at State Drama Festival and Monologue Writing Contest

2023-05-10T15:42:00.004-04:00

The Rashi Middle School won a Gold medal this weekend at the State Drama Festival. The cast and crew of "Skidmarks, A Play about Driving" performed at Dover Sherborn Middle School on Sunday with five other schools from around the State. The judging is done with professional adjudicators with a rubric and Rashi finished with a high score in the Gold medal Category. Rashi also walked away with the Stage Manager's Award, a coveted award that is presented by the Stage manager of the Host school to the school that showed excellence in management of their backstage during the performance as well as the technical rehearsal. This is the 2nd year in a row that Rashi has earned this award. Congrats!!

There were also three All-Star Acting awards presented to Oliver L, Nate P and Stella S for their strong character work as well as their ability to play multiple characters during the show.

The students had a great day watching all the other shows as well as participating in a Q& A at the end of the day. The Q& A gave them the opportunity to see how the other school worked on those special moments in their shows and talk about their rehearsal process. There was puppetry, special technical effects, stage combat, drama and comedy to watch during the day and great opportunities to make some new drama friends.

In addition to our Gold Medal at Festival. We have a first place (Gold) in the State MS Monologue Writing Contest sponsored by the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild (METG). Grade 8, Maddy S. was recognized by her monologue " A Slice of 𝝅 ". She will be presenting the monologue later in the month at a special awards night with the other winners of the MS Monologue writing Contest as well as the HS Winners of the Monologue, Scene and Play writing contests.

Congratulations to all our amazing Thespians!!

Middle School State Drama Festival

2023-05-04T12:36:00.010-04:00

Eleven Rashi Middle School students will be participating in the Massachusetts State Middle School Drama Festival this weekend. The Festival is held at 6 different sites across Eastern MA. We will be at the Dover Sherborn Middle School site on Sunday, May 7th at 2PM. Our one Act Play, "Skidmarks, A Play About Driving" by Lindsey Price was chosen by the Middle School Festival Elective as one of three possible choices. The entire elective is student run with Bonny, the Director and Mike, the Tech Director acting as advisors on the process.

The students choose the show, cast the show, design the show and stage the show. The students have learned how difficult it is to a choose a show that has enough to do for all the actors, designers and technicians. Many of the Grade 8 students have leadership positions such as the Stage Manager or the Student Stage Director, but even some of the Grade 6 or 7 students have taken on the job of coordinating costumes and props or designing the lights and sounds. Once the concept of the stage design was decided, many of the students have been actively painting or making the T-shirts in the Kol-lab with the Cricut machines.

Students spent their one hour technical time at Dover-Sherborn on Wednesday checking out the new theater space. They spent an hour spiking the stage where their scenery needs to be set up, checking out sound levels with the sound board, programming light cues and learning how to project their voices without microphones to fill the theater that they will perform in on Sunday. The cast and crew worked together on the project as some of the Grade 7 students are on a school trip this week, so others were following notes and programming the design that was created.

Cast and Crew had an informal dress rehearsal this past Friday in which the entire Middle School was invited. The MS students, faculty and some parents acted as the judges for this rehearsal. They gave feedback to the cast and crew so that they can make the appropriate changes that will be needed to give them a more polished performance. This Sunday the Cast and Crew will be receiving feedback from professional adjudicators from around the state. The feedback will be checked against a rubric and hopefully The Rashi School will bring home a Gold Award and numerous All-Star Awards. We invite you to come and see our performance!!

Submitted by Bonny Parlee and Maddy Solomon (Grade 8)

Third Grade presents Fables Play

2023-03-01T15:03:00.004-05:00

Each year as part of the Third Grade writing curriculum the students focus on the differences between a Fable, Folktale and Fairy Tale. The students read a mixture of Fables and Folktales and then learn how to take a story and develop it into a script. They start with a storyboard or sequencing brain frame, which focuses on the "What happens next" concept. They learn the basic structure of a script and start to develop the character's voices, but putting the story into their own words. They use a bit of basic stage direction and before you know it they are playwrights. They work on this process in both their Language Arts writing classes and their Hebrew classes. In Hebrew, they are using vocabulary they already know and work with the Hebrew teachers to assist them with the words they need to learn to bring their Fable to life. The students learn that when you become a storyteller it doesn't matter the language you speak, but how you tell the story with your voice and your body. As our students transition to the part of an actor they learn that they are still the storyteller and they are working on ways to engage their audience. This year one of the songs in the show features some basic American Sign Language as the movement to the song.

Middle School Students attend "Life of Pi"

2023-02-09T11:08:00.000-05:00

A group of Middle School Students in grades 6-8 were able to attend the American Repetory Theater's production of "Life of Pi" recently. This production is currently in preview before it goes to its new home in New York at the Gerald Shoenfeld Theater in March 2023. The story was adapted from the novel by Yann Martel for the stage and first opened in London and is the winner of 5 Olivier Awards (equivalent to our Tony Awards). We were able to see it at the A.R.T. in Cambridge during its North American Debut and after the performance there was a demonstration on how they make and use the puppets for the show.

"It was interesting to be able to see different elements of acting, puppetry and tech (lighting and projections) to tell the story of show. The script was well written and it kept the audience engaged and entertained as well as kept an element of surprise all throughout the show. Not only was the puppetry demonstration interesting, but they brought life to the puppet, so that it could express various emotions. The creativity of the technical elements made the show very memorable." - Maddy, Grade 8

A Group of 6th grade stude,nts waiting to see the show.

For more infomation on "The Life of Pi" check out the winter guide of A.R.T. at this link https://americanrepertorytheater.org/explore/art-guide-winter-2022/?utm_source=Post%20&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Life%20of%20Pi&utm_term=Post&utm_content=version_A&promo=42592#top

Shakespeare Residency for Middle School

2023-02-02T11:52:00.015-05:00

Each year the Middle School students have a Shakespeare residency that progresses through each of the grades. The work is a collaboration between the Language Arts classes and the Theater Department. In Grade 6, the students are introduced to Shakespeare, who he was and how his use of language is both beautiful and complex. The students will work on monologues from various plays, giving them an introduction to the language and characters. As they work with the monologues in both prose and poetry, they discover how the words can be taken from the page to the stage and expressed with their voices and bodies. The 6th grade students will be participating in this residency in March.

First Rehearsal for Grade 7

In Grade 7 this year, the students studied an abridged version of "Romeo and Juliet" and worked on scenes from that show. Discovering how the charactes can come alive through the words. The students shared these scenes this week and gave reflections and feedback to each other. The same scenes were shared among the students so that they could see how different acting choices and movement can be used to tell the same story.

Learning the banquet scene with Dev Luthra, Guest Actor/Director

In Grade 8, the students will present an abridged version of "Macbeth". The students spent the last few weeks reading the full version of the play, tracking the character development and story line as well as discussing the themes in the show. Currently, the students have been working on stage with both Bonny Parlee and Dev Luthra, guest Actor/Director for the residency. The Grade 8 students in the Friday design elective have been working to update the lighting design for the show with Mike Finke.

Sidney as Ross working with Bonny

Students shared their thoughts on the 8th grade project.

"I think that memorizing and acting my characting has helped me to understand the text more and allowed me to become a leader in the community" - Mira, Grade 8.

"Mira's quote shows how the 8th grade as a whole and on an individual level has risen to action to become the characters in Macbeth" - Arlo, Grade 8

Emily as Lady Macbeth

"When I started to develop my character, I was nervous because I didn't relate to them at all. After a few rehearsals working with Ms. Berwick, Bonny, and Dev, I started to love being part of this experience." - Emily M, Grade 8

"We learned how to work as a team to get a final result, the goal is performing. I learned to take feedback and apply it to my work." What was your favorite part of the process? "Probably working with someone outside of Rashi to get a new perspective." - Hava, Grade 8

How would you describe the experience in three words? "Fun, engaging and helpful" - Harry, Grade 8

"As an inspiring actress I liked be able to play two diffent characters in two different scenes. This helped me to expand my skills as an actor. I also liked working with a professional actor in acting community." - Maddy, Grade 8

Please join us on Wednesday, February 8 at 1:30 as the Grade 8 class presents their abridged version of "Macbeth".

Kindergartners Prepare for "Stone Soup"

2023-01-18T15:38:00.011-05:00

The Kindergartners are busy preparing for their production of "Stone Soup". The performance is based on the original story that was written in 1947 by Marcia Brown, depicting soldiers traveling to a town, looking for food and were turned away from the townspeople. The soldiers create a soup using water and soup and convince the townspeople to add to the soup until finally they have a delicious soup which they all can share. Our Rashi story is adapted by Bonny Parlee using animals as the main characters. At Rashi we are always striving to make our world a more fair, kind and inclusive space. You will see this theme in our production. The Kindergartners have been working with Bonny and Nick Linder on how to use their bodies to move like the animals they are portraying. They have been memorizing lines and learning how to project their voices on stage as well as learning simple choreography for each animal. In Hebrew with Ari Marcovski they are learning how to sing the soup song with all the ingredients that go into the pot.

Accompanying the Kindergartners this year are eighth graders Josie Happel and Gabbi Grappo along with Mr. Linder. The performance is Wednesday, January 25th at 8:15. We hope you will join us.

Behind the scenes of "The Rainbow Fish"

2022-12-07T13:55:00.001-05:00

Trying on Costumes for the first time!

The Lower School After school Drama Elective has been working on "The Rainbow Fish" to be presented on Wednesday, December 14th at 2PM and 7PM. Middle School students have a chance to work with the Lower School students during rehearsals. They help with acting coaching, backstage management and in some cases they work on design for the Lower School Performances. Hear what our two Middle School Production Assistants have to say about the Lower School Drama Elective.

Submitted by Oliver L, Grade 8: Production Assistant and Light Designer

At Rashi, the Lower School Students have many options for After School Electives. One of these

incredible activities they engage in is the Lower School Play. This year’s play is The Rainbow Fish.

The story follows a special fish, Rainbow Fish, in an underwater kingdom, who thinks he is better than

everyone else due to his shiny, colorful scales. After an incident, the whole kingdom ends up hating

Rainbow Fish. Reputation ruined, the fish must learn to be kind and modest in order to restore his

rainbow glory.

When we meet on Monday, the cast comes in with smiling faces, ready to start the rehearsal.

Everybody works very hard to memorize their lines, blocking, and to learn the skills required to perform

on stage. “I like doing the scenes because it helps me get better,” said Zoe G., Grade 4, who plays the

part of Little Fish, “I really like to practice. I feel excited to perform the play."

We look forward to having an audience join us in the Kingdom of Coral and hope your day

goes swimmingly.

Submitted by Maddy S., Grade 8: Production Assistant and Scenic Designer

I remember my first rashi drama performance (101 Dalmatians, Kids), as the youngest kid in the show,

I felt like I was so cool to be able to hang out with a Middle Schooler. Before then, I always saw the

Middle Schoolers as something to be afraid of, but my interactions with the older students through the

show showed me that there is no reason to be afraid. I decided that I wanted to be that Middle

Schooler when I was older, and that hope continued all throughout my time as a Lower School actor.

Now, I am the older kid helping out in the Theater. I'm able to look at Lower School Drama from a whole new perspective. It's everything that I hoped it would be, and more. I've loved Rashi Theater since I stepped foot in the space for that first rehearsal, and I am very glad that I have had the opportunity to share my love for it with the younger students

Spotlight on Stage - The First Grade

2022-11-30T15:48:00.007-05:00

On Wednesday, December 7th at 8:15 the First Grade will be presenting "The Mitten". The script is based on the book by Jan Brett and adapted by Bonny Parlee for the Rashi First Grade. Progression is built into the Rashi grade level performances and the first graders will be saying a line by themselves for the first time on stage. They have been working in the theater this past week and learning where to stand to say their lines, how to project their lines by using a big voice, the importance of facial expressions and body language and how to become a storyteller on stage. The production is a collaboration with the Classroom Teachers, Music and Hebrew Departments.

Behind the Scenes of the MS Fall Play

2022-11-09T13:50:00.002-05:00

The Middle School After School Drama Elective will be presenting "A Wrinkle in Time" on Wednesday, Nov. 16th at 1:15 and Thursday, Nov. 17th at 7PM. The students have been hard a work over the last seven weeks working on auditioning for parts, technical designs for scenery, sound and costumes, staging the scenes and working on lots of tongue twisters as well as focusing and acting exercises.

Students in the tech program afterschool start their rehearsals with the cast doing the warm-ups and exercises together. Many of the MS students work tech for one show and then act on stage for another during the season. This way everyone has a chance to gain some acting skills as well as building team cooperative skills. "This week in tech we did a lot with the help and supervision of Mike and we built set pieces." - Arlo Rogloff - 8th Grade.

Students work with Tech Director, Mike Finke on the proper and safe use of power tools and use these tools to build many scenery pieces. The last two weeks of the rehearsal process is the busiest time as everything gets finished and painted and then the students learn how to move all the scenery quickly between scenes. Again, being a team player is a big part of working backstage.

Cast and Crew had a chance to learn make-up application by Kindergarten teacher, Rachel Liptz who has a theater background and a talent for stage make-up. All students learned about proper skin care before and after the make-up application.

"Two weeks ago, we had a different type of rehearsal in the theater department. Instead of

reading lines, blocking scenes, building sets, and making sound cues, we learned about theater

makeup in our makeup workshop! We learned the essential, basic skills and variants of makeup

to use when performing (an example of this is having darker makeup than you would usually

wear due to the bright, white lights hitting your face, washing out your features). Since this was

the first time doing the makeup workshop since our production of Dr. Dolittle in 2019, it was a

fun experience for everyone." - Oliver Levitt, 8th Grade Student

Blog submitted by Bonny Parlee, Arlo Rogloff - 8th Grade and Oliver Levitt - 8th Grade

Behind the Scenes of Rashi Theater

2022-10-26T15:41:00.007-04:00

Rashi Middle School Students are busy working on the upcoming play "A Wrinkle in Time" to be presented on November 16-17th. Students are able to work behind the scenes by signing up for two different in school MS electives classes. The Tuesday elective "Props and Costumes" and the Friday elective "Technical Theater Design" have been working the last few weeks designing for the performance. Students in the electives have identified the costume, prop and scenery pieces that they are working on for the eight week electives. Using Design Thinking they have started the process by learning the wants and needs for a show and talking to the Directors (their clients) to understand the vision for the show. The start of the process includes research using the script to learn about needs for the design and the internet to learn about the time period of the 80s for the show settting. The students also created a Mood Board for costume inspiration.

Working on Costumes

Working on Scenery

This week the students were excited to start to implement the designs that they helped to create Using costume sketches that they designed, they began measuring and cutting fabric to create unique pieces in the Costume elective. The Friday design elective decided to focus on scenery and after their pencil sketches were done they were given a scale drawing and learned how to measure and layout the start of their scenery.

We hope that you will come to see the performances to see what these creative MS Students have designed for the production.

Blog submitted by Bonny Parlee and Mike Finke

Rashi Online week 1!!

2020-03-20T11:24:00.001-04:00

LOVE THAT DIRTY WATER!

2020-03-13T16:22:00.003-04:00

WATER SCIENCE FUN

Testing Water Interacting With a Variety of Substances

What happens when you add sugar to water?

What about cornstarch?

Does flour settle on the bottom? Does it dissolve?

Hey, what happened to the salt?!

Water + Oil + Food Coloring = WOW!!!!!

THE JOY AND SILLINESS OF PURIM!

What's New in Grade two 3/9-3/11

2020-03-13T13:36:00.000-04:00

What's New in Grade Two 3/9-3/11

This week in second grade we tested different substances to see if they dissolved, sank or floated in water. We tested, flour, salt, corn starch, oil and sugar cubes.

Purim Fun!!

A Few Thoughts From 5th Grade

2020-03-13T12:46:00.001-04:00

Dear Fifth Grade Parents,

While this week ended much differently than we all probably anticipated, we wanted to take a moment to recognize many successes from this week. Your children worked extremely hard finishing, or coming very close to finishing, their Science Fair boards. They have been working literally for months on these projects and have much to be proud of. While we are working to figure out how they will share what they've learned from this experience, the process they've gone through is equally, if not more important, than the final product. That said, we will be in touch when we have a clearer idea of what this year's Science Fair will look like.

Students also learned about ancient Greek art and architecture, started their learning about Alexander the Great, and continued their study of long division. We also had a fantastic discussion of our weekly precept. While Stephanie Rotsky has been leading these discussions this year, with Stephanie's guidance, this week we had our first student-led discussion and our first pair of fifth graders did a magnificent job leading us. Lastly, our Purim celebration was spirited and we hope you enjoy seeing this photo as much as we enjoyed all the costumes!

We have already started working together, while also collaborating with the fifth grade teachers next door to come up with meaningful learning for the next couple weeks. While none of us could have anticipated this back in September, we are eager to work through this challenge and continue educating your children. As this process evolves, please feel free to reach out to us should you have any questions or concerns. Have a wonderful weekend!

Shabbat Shalom,

Aaron and Caroline

2020-03-06T14:59:00.000-05:00

WE ADORE THE MONTH OF ADAR!

GORGEOUS DAYS OUTSIDE!

COZY DAY!

READ ACROSS AMERICA

Building Water Molecules

BONDING ALL OF OUR MOLECULES TOGETHER

TESTING THE ABSORBENCY OF DIFFERENT MATERIALS

What's New in Grade Two 3/2-3/6

2020-03-06T14:11:00.002-05:00

What's New in Grade Two

This week began with our celebration of Read Across America. Many Rashi grandparents came and read with our second graders in the library. Our class really enjoyed being read to by our guests! In science we continued our study of water. We learned about surface tension and made large water molecules out of marshmallows. We labeled the hydrogen and oxygen molecules. We then demonstrated how the molecules bond together by linking arms on the rug in a circle. We noticed how we were stronger when we tensed our arms and how our bond fell apart when we relaxed are arms. We connected this to the way water molecules bonded on our pennies. On Thursday we pretended to design a raincoat for a designer. Children tested different materials to decide which repelled water best. In writing, many students are writing and sharing pieces of fiction. Some are humorous and some are funny. All are really creative! In math we are continuing our study of multiplication. On Thursday we had a talent show for our Warm Fuzzy Celebration. Enjoy the photos from our week.

What a Wonderful Week in First Grade!

2020-03-06T13:50:00.000-05:00

A Closer Look at Shoes!

Have you noticed your child thinking more closely about the clothes they are wearing? Have you noticed them looking at tags on their shirts or thinking about how to create their own hats and shoes? Over the past couple of weeks, we have been learning about the different types of clothing people wear in different jobs, climates and for various occasions. The first graders even became shoe designers as they learned about Kenton Lee and The Shoe That Grows and took a virtual field trip to the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Students were tasked with creating a shoe for a make believe "client" who had a need for a specific type of shoe. They worked in groups of one, two, or three to sketch, design, and build prototypes of shoes to meet their clients' needs.

After receiving their client, students got the opportunity to choose from available materials such as duct tape, cardboard, felt, burlap, pipe cleaners, yarn, foam paper, construction paper, bubble wrap and Washi tape to create their prototypes.

Next, they created sketches of their shoes.

Once their sketches were checked by a teacher, the students began the process of tracing, cutting, gluing and building their shoes based on their designs. As groups came up against challenges (the piece of foam they cut was too small, the laces were unable to poke through the burlap, the school glue wasn't strong enough to hold together the materials they chose, etc.), they worked together to change out materials and adapt their designs.

After two class periods, the students' prototypes were complete!

They continue to be very proud of their work!

Up next, where do our clothes come from?

Why is wool so itchy?

Which fabrics are man made and which fabrics are found in nature?

Stay tuned!

Week of March 2nd

2020-03-06T09:36:00.002-05:00

Questions to ask your child about their week:

1) Which owl was your favorite and what was your favorite part of the owl program?
2) What are your favorite parts of the Purim story?
3) Can you sing The Continent song? "North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia. Don't forget Australia, don't forget Antarctica. These are the continents, all 7 continents, of the world."
4) What is the name of the continent you live on? Your country? Your state? OR you could ask your child - "Where are you on the map?" prompting them to start with their continent, country, state, town, street name and house number.
5) What activity did we do with Jacob's family?
6) How do fish breathe?
7) How was the grade 5 Purim play?

Tefillah time

Read Across America Day. We loved listening to the grandparents read to us!

Eyes on Owls Program with Marcia and Mark Wilson

This Barn Owl loves to dance!

Making basketball hoops with Jacob and his parents!

Reading and playing on the "airplane"

If You Go Owling, You Have to Be Quiet

2020-03-03T13:45:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Sorry this blog is a little late (or a little early, depending on how you look at it). We weren't able to get it out to you last week and we didn't want to wait until Friday because there is a note about how to be prepared for THIS Friday (Whole School Pajama Day - to celebrate Adar). Please click on the link below to see our album with pictures of Simon's Important Person visit, our study of owls, and grandparents joining us for Read Across America Day. Also please note the looking ahead section below) for lots of upcoming events!

This Week's Blog (click here)

Looking Ahead:

* We ask that each child bring in a box of pasta (any kind) to be used as a noise maker (grogger) during the megillah reading on Tuesday, March 10th. All boxes will be donated to help families through Jewish Family Services. Thank you!

This week's Shabbat helpers (March 6th) will be Addie and Ella.
This Friday (March 6th) is school-wide Pajama Day (to celebrate the month of Adar).
Monday (March 9th) is Inside/Out Clothes Day.
Tuesday (March 10th) is PURIM! Students come in costumes!
Thursday (March 12) is a Conference Day - no school for students.
Next Friday's Shabbat Helpers (March 13th) will be Ari and Madison.

Have a great rest of the week!

- Sharon and Rachel

Butterflies in 5th Grade!

2020-03-02T09:58:00.001-05:00

It was wonderful to welcome Mrs. Blair back to 5th grade! Shortly after she came back, one of our two butterflies, Tater, hatched. We are still waiting for Tot to appear. Mrs. Blair brought the chrysalises into our classroom in the fall, so we think they were waiting for her before hatching!

Also, we have been studying daily life in ancient Greece, and on Thursday and Friday we learned about Greek democracy. In these photos, students were reading quotes about democracy, responding to them by commenting and asking questions.