We Jewish educators are often accustomed to entering our classrooms through the education wing and focusing only on that area, but let’s consider the entire synagogue as a valuable teaching tool and a learning opportunity.In addition to the Sanctuary activities described in my previous post, here are more examples of ways to make the synagogue, […]

On a recent Wednesday, our classrooms were being used for a social action program, so the Hebrew School teachers were offered other locations in the synagogue to use as their classrooms. I chose the Sanctuary, since my Kitah Gimel students are studying the prayers for the Torah Service. They stood on the Bima and imagined […]

What do vitamin C, fish oil, and calcium have to do with Purim? No, Esther wasn’t a health nut and Ahasuerus definitely favored wine and merrymaking over multi-vitamins! In Kitah Gimel, my students enjoyed making raashanim (groggers/noisemakers) out of plastic vitamin and nutritional supplement bottles.Here’s how:Materials – empty plastic vitamin and supplement bottles; construction paper […]

Something’s fishy in Kitah Gimel! To review prayer vocabulary, students are going to fish for “Syllable Sharks.” This game format can be used to review vocabulary in Hebrew or English associated with various topics of study. In the case of “Syllable Sharks,” the points scored are determined by the number of syllables in the words […]

I’d intended to include this creative writing activity in our Tu B’Shvat Seder, but there wasn’t time. However, since we’re studying the prayers for the Torah Service, this activity increases understanding in that context as well. Students are given 2 information sheets. One sheet,prepared by Jewish National Fund (JNF) www.jnf.org/treesource contains quotes from Judaic texts […]

The Kein – Lo Game Divide the class into two or more teams. Give each team 2 index cards, one white and one colored. On the white card is written the word “kein” in Hebrew, which means “yes.” On the colored card is written the word “lo” in Hebrew, which means “no.” Also write the […]

My kids call it a mess. My husband calls it clutter. I call it unlimited potential. What are we all talking about? We’re referring to the boxes, bags, bins, and files of educational materials and resources that I’ve amassed over decades of involvement in both secular and Jewish education. The original impetus for writing my […]

In a previous post (“Take A Cue From The Zoo” 1/29/12), I mentioned that I was planning a Tu B’Shvat celebration for Kitah Gimel and hoped to make it a memorable sensory experience. Tu B’Shvat came. We celebrated with a gala Tu B’Shvat Seder. Was it multi-sensory? I’d say, “Yes!” – colorful JNF posters to […]