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The Bayit Rishom Museum is a project that was developed to allow students to view Tanach as a historical vehicle and for Mesopotamian artifacts to be used to appreciate Jewish History. Using important historical artifacts, students created virtually museums to teach about the Bayit Rishon Era.

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The Bayit Rishom Museum is a project that was developed to allow students to view Tanach as a historical vehicle and for Mesopotamian artifacts to be used to appreciate Jewish History. Using important historical artifacts, students created virtually museums to teach about the Bayit Rishon Era.

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Free Bible Drama Unit on Jonah in simple English

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Jonah goes to Nineveh. A free Bible Drama Unit on the book of Jonah in EasyEnglish.

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Using Games in the Religious School Classroom

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Using Games in the Religious School Classroom

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Like most of her friends, Jenn, a Long Island teen, loves computer games. She even plays one at Hebrew school.

With her teacher's permission.

"Petri World," a virtual environment in which players have avatars and build a city together, is not a forbidden classroom activity that distracts from the lesson. In Jodi Mishkin's class at Temple Beth Torah, in Melville, it is the lesson, with students learning about modern Israel as they play.

"Petri World" is just one of many games that Mishkin uses with her students. The longtime Hebrew school teacher, who also works as assistant technology specialist for the Jericho School District and is pursuing a Ph.D. in educational technology, is at the vanguard of a small but growing movement to use computer (and non-electronic) games as tools for engaging - and educating - Jewish kids, especially teens.

Once regarded as distracting if not downright dangerous, computer games are winning new respect in the mainstream education world. The MacArthur Foundation has invested $85 million over the past five years in a "digital media learning initiative," much of which is for game-related projects. And a recent r eport by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop argues that "digital games offer a promising and untapped opportunity to leverage children's enthusiasm and to help transform learning in America."

While no one in the Jewish community is sinking major resources into games, at least not yet, the topic is getting increased attention.

"While playing games, people are challenged and excited, not bored," notes Rabbi Owen Gottlieb, the founder of ConverJent a nonprofit under the auspices of Clal: The Center for Jewish Learning and Leadership that seeks to develop and promote "seriously fun" games for Jewish learning.

"Good game design places the player into the ideal learning state," Rabbi Gottlieb adds.

Numerous projects have emerged recently. Some examples:

New York's Jewish Education Project (formerly the Board of Jewish Education) this fall launched a pilot project on "Games-Based Learning in Congregational Schools";

ConverJent's Rabbi Gottlieb is developing several Jewish educational games, including a board game, a computer game and a mobile app, and also runs workshops (and is teaching a fifth-grade Hebrew school class) integrating game design with Jewish text study;

Two simulation games on the Second Life virtual reality platform - one teaching about the history of Jewish life in Krakow, Poland and another about the founding of Tel Aviv - are in early stages of development;

Sviva Israel, a Jerusalem-based program that brings Jewish day school students and Israeli students together to learn about environmental issues, runs EcoCampus, in which participants can interact with each other and play various educational games;

Behrman House, the leading publisher of Hebrew school textbooks, now offers a variety of games as auxiliary materials for its textbooks and has developed several games for use on iPhones and iPads.

In congregational schools, where educators have a limited amount of time with their students and must compete with a range of extracurricular activities for attention, the "fun" aspect of games is especially attractive.

Temple Beth Torah's Mishkin, who is one of 10 participants in the Jewish Education Project workshop, told The Jewish Week she was drawn to using games in the classroom because "we need to reach students in different ways."

"We want them to enjoy, understand and remember, and we need to think about how we can teach so it's not boring and dry," she added.

Deborah Salomon, of Greenwich, Conn., developed her entire Jewish educational program, called Hebrew Wizards, around games and having students accumulate points and prizes as they master material.

"Kids can earn 'gold coins' at home and get credit for it in school," she said. "It's no fun saying, 'Do you want a homework assignment,' but it is fun saying, 'Do you want to earn a gold coin?' It's more fun to say Color War is breaking out, rather than next week we'll be reviewing what we've learned."

Deborah Nagler, who is working on the Tel Aviv and Krakow simulation games and also helping Gratz College develop a certificate program on technology and Jewish education, said games give students a nonthreatening space in which they can learn from their mistakes.

"The best part" of games "is there's no fear of failure," she said. "In school it's a sin to fail, but in gaming you just figure out how to fix it and move on."

While most agree that educational games must be fun, absorbing and convey information or build skills, not everyone agrees on what constitutes a quality game - and whether there is an added value in simply converting a non-digital game to a digital format.

Many Jewish educational games, like " Jewpardy " (a Jewish version of the quiz show "Jeopardy"), some of the Behrman House apps and even a new "Who Wants to Be a Hebrew Wizard" app developed by Hebrew Wizards' Salamon, are heavy on fact memorization, activities that - save for the accumulation of points and the sound effects - are not dramatically different from using flash cards, taking an online quiz or even participating in a rote drill.

ConverJent's Rabbi Gottlieb notes in an upcoming article in the journal Sh'ma that not all games are "good" nor is every Jewish educator "literate in games, game design and games for learning."

"Most current Jewish games deal with trivia as opposed to deep learning (something I'm trying to change)," he writes, adding that educational game design "is a discipline, which requires dedication and study."

Rabbi Gottlieb, 37, whose eclectic professional background includes teaching dance, designing software, screenwriting, leading Jewish wilderness trips and earning ordination from the Reform movement's Hebrew Union College, also emphasizes the importance of "balance between spending time in digital spaces and nature spaces."

Currently a doctoral student in Jewish education and digital learning at New York University (and one of a handful of graduate students nationally who are funded by the Jim Joseph Foundation), Rabbi Gottlieb told The Jewish Week that his particular interest is in games that are "about action modeling and rehearsing complex systems, thinking about things like 'What does it mean to build a mishkan?' [tabernacle]."

An avid game-player, (his favorite is " Settlers of Catan," a strategy board game in which players acquire and trade resources in order to build village). He is hoping eventually to create a sort of "Catan" meets the Talmud, in which a player builds a Talmudic-era community while confronting challenges and following rules that are discussed in Talmudic texts.

"A big part of Talmud and Torah are rule systems that guide us," he explains, noting that addressing them in the context of a game can be more tangible and memorable than simply reading about and discussing the ideas and concepts.

Second Life, the virtual world with one million active users, is best known for its recreational aspects, with people using their avatars to decorate dream houses, socialize and explore sexual fantasies.

But increasingly the site is also being used for educational and business purposes. And Deborah Nagler, director of Simnik, a startup that creates 3-D immersive environments for education and training purposes, sees it as a promising venue for Jewish educational games - as long as such games remain accessible only to registered students and restrict their users from interacting with strangers or accessing Second Life's R- and X-rated neighborhoods.

Nagler is currently working with the Center for Educational Technology in Israel on a Second Life-based simulation game designed to teach about Jewish life in prewar Krakow, and is also in discussions with Los Angeles' central agency for Jewish education about a simulation game that teaches the history of Tel Aviv.

The Krakow game, still in preliminary stages, would allow students to, through their avatars, travel around a replica of prewar Krakow, interact with each other and with historical figures, and learn about key aspects of Jewish life in this period.

Creating a successful game on Second Life is not cheap or easy, Nagler said.

"You need to invest in making it look realistic, and you need to create an environment that stimulates learning and questions, and is fun," she says. "You need to have things to interact with and things to do."

Nonetheless, the money and time required to put something on Second Life pales compared to "multimillions that go into a beautifully rendered video game," she says. "This is something that is interesting and accessible."

Nagler dreams about there one day being a whole array of virtual worlds, where students could learn about different periods of Jewish history and "meet people from the Talmud."

"As you level up, you'd be gaining knowledge and building on what you've learned," she says, adding that "children today need the visuals: sound, light and music."

Kids find it more exciting to share what they've learned by building something or presenting something in the virtual world, rather than writing a report, she says.

"It's motivating," she said. "Kids like it - it's like, 'Cool, I have my avatar, and it can jump and run, and I can build something.'"

Jodi Mishkin's students certainly seem to think so.

Even without Petri World, "I would still go [to Hebrew school], because my friends are there, and I like the social and religious aspect of it," says Jen. "But it definitely is a really fun thing."

Geoff, another 10th grader, says he especially likes being able to design things and be creative on Petri World.

"Kids don't have the biggest attention spans, and by adding a game to the mix of learning it's definitely the best way to teach kids some things," he notes.

"You will enjoy it more and get more out of it, remember what you learned and have fun doing it."
Please see sidebar on "The High Cost of Developing Games."
Next: Can online portals revolutionize Hebrew schools?

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Like most of her friends, Jenn, a Long Island teen, loves computer games. She even plays one at Hebrew school. With her teacher's permission. "Petri World," a virtual environment in which players have avatars and build a city together, is not a forbidden classroom activity that distracts from the lesson.

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What are Brain Breaks and why are they important?

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What are Brain Breaks and why are they important?

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A brain break is a short mental break that is taken during regular intervals during classroom instruction. Brain breaks are usually limited to five minutes and work best when they incorporate physical activities.

When to Do a Brain Break

The best time to do a brain break is before, during, and/or after an activity. The essential purpose for a brain break is to get students refocused and ready to learn again.

For example, if you have just finished a mini math lesson on counting, you may ask the students to count the steps it takes them to get back to their seats for a quick transition to the next activity. This will help you with classroom management as well, because students will be so focused on counting their steps, they won't have much time to chit chat during the transition period.

For the little ones in kindergarten, you may want to do a brain break after about five to ten minutes into a task when you notice students starting to wiggly around. For older students, plan for breaks about every 20-30 minutes.

Brain Break Pick-Me-Ups

Whenever you feel your students engagement is lacking, try a few of these pick-me-ups.

Have a three minute dance party. Put students favorite song on the radio and allow students to dance away their jitters.

Play Mingle! Set the timer for one minute intervals that last five minutes. Each time the timer goes off students have to mingle with someone new. The teacher poses five questions on the front board to help get the conversion started.

Follow the leader is a student favorite. Change this game up by having students take turns being the leader.

Play a movement song like the "YMCA" or any other popular dance that all students know. These songs are quick and get students up and moving while releasing energy.

Simon says is another classic game that gets students up and moving. It's also a game that you can end after one minute or five minutes.

Jumping jacks! Choose a specific number of jumping jacks to get students heart rates up quickly.

Sky writing is a great way for young students to practice their spelling or vocabulary words. Just choose a word and have students write it in the sky!

What do Teachers Have to Say About Brain Breaks?

Here is what teachers had to say about using brain breaks in their classroom.

I create a special box for students to take turns choosing a "brain break activity." Students love to reach their hand in this mystery box to discover what quick activity we will do!

Brain breaks do not have to be five minutes or less. In my classroom I adjust the time based on my students needs. If I see they got all of their energy out in one minute I will redirect them to the lesson. If I notice that they need more than five minutes then I allow that too!

Write six brain break activities on a die and have students take turns rolling the die between each task. Or, create a list of activities for each number on a die. Then when students roll, they look on the chart to see which activity they will be doing.

In my classroom we do air band! Students have a blast pretending they are playing different instruments in the air. It's a fun way to get their energy out and we always have a blast doing it.

Looking for more ideas?

Try a few of these 5 minute activities and teacher-tested time fillers.

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A brain break is a short mental break that is taken during regular intervals during classroom instruction. Brain breaks are usually limited to five minutes and work best when they incorporate physical activities. The best time to do a brain break is before, during, and/or after an activity.

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List of Improv Activities - can be applied to lessons and/or to create Brain Breaks!

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List of Improv Activities - can be applied to lessons and/or to create Brain Breaks!

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"Abe, I'll use my Spidey senses to help you!" The twelve-year-old "angel" said as he leaped like Spiderman over to the rabbi playing Abraham in an improvised skit at Beit Chaverim, an Orthodox shul in Westport, Connecticut.

It was a Shavuot service, but hardly a typical one. One of the major difficulties facing Jewish education today is making ancient stories and customs fun and accessible for students. Attending Jewish day school from kindergarten through 12th grade, we saw the good, the bad, and the boring. As Hebrew school teachers, we realized the many challenges of making Jewish education meaningful and relevant to students in the 21st century. Working as comedians and actors, it dawned on us that we could bring the fun and creativity of the theater and comedy club to the classroom. So we wrote a Torah comedy show called The Bible Players and the Quest for MenschHood, and designed a curriculum to train educators on how to use improvisational theater in the classroom. We started The Bible Players with the mission of using improv to enhance Jewish education in three ways: help build community, create personal empowerment, and infuse a sense of fun into classroom activities, making Jewish stories and values more memorable.

Started in its modern form in the 1950s, improv is an art form which sees value in an audience watching the process of creation taking place. For our purposes, improv is a set of games that a group can use to create original scenes. Shlishiyot or Three of a Kind is a game in which one student creates a crazy version of a biblical character and the other two have to match that character's voice and mannerisms. At Beit Chaverim we played Abraham's Angels, which involves three students playing angels (each with a specific quirky character trait) who are visiting Abraham's tent. Abraham must then try to figure out what is unique about each angel. All of our improv games have two rules in common: always listen to each other, and always say yes to each other's ideas. These simple rules create the safe atmosphere for improv and allow for games which have many positive benefits.

Improv Builds Community

"Do not separate yourself from the community." Hillel (Pirkei Avot 2:5)

Improv creates a strong sense of community within a group. Students come to understand that Improv is not about one person being the funniest or most interesting, but rather the group creating a compelling scene together. Improv teaches us to always put the needs of the group before our own, fostering a sense of unity and kehillah in a safe and fun environment. This past summer, we led an Improv group with campers at a Ramah Day Camp in Nyack, New York. After a few weeks, we saw our campers, age 8 to 12, playing together, creating scenes, and building friendships because they respected and valued each other's ideas. They learned that it was more fun when they worked together and left their egos at the door.

Improv Creates Personal Empowerment

"If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I?" Hillel (Pirkei Avot 1:14)

The feeling of having the full support of the improv group leads to personal growth and empowerment. This support becomes internalized and students begin to feel more confident with the knowledge that they are never alone. Students see that no one else is judging them, so they begin to stop judging themselves. This can happen in a game like Foreign Translator, where one student speaks a gibberish language which is then translated into English. The kids mimic actions while creating silly new meanings of their words, turning "blurgidy" into "bologna," and nervousness into self-assurance.

When we taught improv at Congregation Habonim in Manhattan, one student did not want to be a part of our final Purim performance because he was nervous about looking foolish on the bimah. But as the class progressed he learned to trust the group, and then learned to trust himself. During the student-written show, he shone as Esther's pet pig who saved Purim. He was no longer afraid because he believed in himself.

Improv is Fun and has Sticking Power

"And Sarah said, 'God made me laugh; everyone who hears will laugh with me.'" (Bereishit 21:6)

Improv is valuable because the games bring fun and playfulness to the Torah which can feel archaic, boring, and even intimidating to many students. The fun factor must not be overlooked, since it leads to sticking power. A student is more likely to remember a fun activity than a boring one-it sticks with them.

That's why the principal of Solomon Schechter of Nassau County brought us in on NYS ELA testing day, to provide some much needed comic relief. We performed two assemblies for the Kindergarten through the 5th grade, featuring scenes from the Torah followed by improv games. A performance of Balaam (Andrew) riding around on his donkey (Aaron) got the students laughing, but also learning about leshon hara.

At first the older grades were reluctant to show enthusiasm, trying to act "cool" in front of the younger students. But as the show progressed they started having fun and were the first students to volunteer to participate. One that the students loved playing onstage was the guessing game "Silent Scenes," where pairs of volunteers had just 30 seconds to prepare and silently act out a scene from the Torah.

After the show, the teachers were eager to learn how to bring these tools into the classroom. We spent lunch playing improv games with teachers and sharing ideas about how games could enhance their curriculum. The teachers realized improv reinforces what students are learning in a memorable and tactile way. So if they have just learned Hebrew vocabulary, a Torah story, or Jewish holiday, improv games can be a fun and creative way to test the students' knowledge on a subject (see sidebar for the Jewish Experts Game).

A week after performing at Solomon Schechter of Nassau County, the principal noticed that students were singing the jingle "Mitzvah Moments! Mitzvot in Disguise!"from our show. A mitzvah being "in disguise" means it is a kind deed that we don't always acknowledge as a mitzvah. The students in the school yard were singing the jingle every time they thought someone had performed a mitzvah "in disguise." The song was fun for them, and so they remembered it and wanted to repeat it. They had learned Jewish values and been able to put them into practice.

The Bible Players were started with a simple philosophy, that making Jewish education engaging for kids requires making the Tanakh fun. Bible stories must be brought into the here and now, and made fun and accessible for everyone in the process. We combine the most ancient text with the most modern art form: Torah-inspired improv. It leads to a stronger community, more personal empowerment, and the fun of improv makes the lessons memorable.

The goal of Jewish education is not merely to teach facts, but to endow the students with a passionate connection to their Jewish identity. By allowing them the joy of creation, improv enables students to bring the stories of the Torah to life and make them last a lifetime.♦

Andrew Davies and Aaron Friedman are the co-founders of The Bible Players, a group which performs Torah comedy shows and trains teachers in the use of improvisation. They can be reached through their website www.TheBiblePlayers.com, where you can read testimonials and watch videos.

Tips for Improv

1. Safe space: Create a positive, inclusive space where students feel comfortable being spontaneous.

2. Lead by example: If you demonstrate that you can be silly and play the games, then the students will want to play them, too.

3. Always listen: Start with games that utilize taking turns, so that students learn listening is crucial for building scenes.

4. Play to each student's strengths: Some might prefer verbal games, others silent games.

5. Always say "Yes": Make sure students stay positive and embrace each other's idea, not reject them.

6. Have fun!

The Jewish Experts Game

Three volunteers sit in chairs in front of the class and are the three foremost experts in the world on Judaism.

Here's the catch: Experts 1 and 2 have fun saying completely silly and outrageous answers, while Expert 3 gives the most correct information that he or she can. Then the teacher can point out the right answer or ask the kids if they know which one is right.

Older students can mix it up, alternate which scholar has the correct answer for each questions. Students love this game because it allows them to be silly, but it also reinforces what the students have been learning.
Example:

"God talked to Moses from a Burning...."

Expert 1: "Marshmallow!"

Expert 2: "Dinosaur!"

Expert 3: "Bush!"

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"Abe, I'll use my Spidey senses to help you!" The twelve-year-old "angel" said as he leaped like Spiderman over to the rabbi playing Abraham in an improvised skit at Beit Chaverim, an Orthodox shul in Westport, Connecticut. It was a Shavuot service, but hardly a typical one.

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an example of a Webquest about Rosh Hashanah

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an example of a Webquest about Rosh Hashanah

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An example of a Webquest on the prohibitions on Shabbat (from a traditional Religious School)

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An example of a Webquest on the prohibitions on Shabbat (from a traditional Religious School)

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Webquest on the Prohibitions of Shabbat | The Lookstein center

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A web-enhanced lesson discussing what is forbidden to do on Shabbat and why. Click here.

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                      Drama & Play in Education

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                      Drama & Play in Education

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Project-Based Learning and the Hebrew Curriculum | Behrman House Publishing

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Most Hebrew programs in congregational schools are directed toward language learning rather than language acquisition. In other words, students learn Hebrew as a skill (and often as a prayer skill) rather than for communication.

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"Medieval Spanish Art" Breakout used by Josh last year in 5th Grade History Curriculum

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"Medieval Spanish Art" Breakout used by Josh last year in 5th Grade History Curriculum

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Using PBL in a supplementary Religious School classroom

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Using PBL in a supplementary Religious School classroom

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Project Based Learning in the Supplementary School-Yes, You CAN! | Behrman House Publishing

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In the Behrman House Project Based Learning Essay Series, our editorial staff members write about ways to introduce this dynamic approach to learning in your own school, and provide an array of resources to get you started.

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                    Gaming in the Classroom

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                    Gaming in the Classroom

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Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects.

Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects.

In Project Based Learning, teachers make learning come alive for students.

Students work on a project over an extended period of time - from a week up to a semester - that engages them in solving a real-world problem or answering a complex question. They demonstrate their knowledge and skills by creating a public product or presentation for a real audience.

As a result, students develop deep content knowledge as well as critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication skills. Project Based Learning unleashes a contagious, creative energy among students and teachers.

And in case you were looking for a more formal definition...

Project Based Learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging, and complex question, problem, or challenge.

Watch Project Based Learning in Action

These 7-10 minute videos show the Gold Standard PBL model in action, capturing the nuts and bolts of a PBL unit from beginning to end.

This project features teacher Rayhan Ahmed at Leaders High School in Brooklyn, NY, with his 11th grade chemistry class.

This project features Kimberly Head-Trotter of McKissack Middle School, in Nashville, TN, with her 6th grade ELA/History class.

This project features teacher Cheryl Bautista of Katherine Smith Elementary School, San Jose, CA and her third graders.

How does PBL differ from "doing a project"?

PBL is becoming widely used in schools and other educational settings, with different varieties being practiced. However, there are key characteristics that differentiate "doing a project" from engaging in rigorous Project Based Learning.

We find it helpful to distinguish a "dessert project" - a short, intellectually-light project served up after the teacher covers the content of a unit in the usual way - from a "main course" project, in which the project is the unit. In Project Based Learning, the project is the vehicle for teaching the important knowledge and skills student need to learn. The project contains and frames curriculum and instruction.

In contrast to dessert projects, PBL requires critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and various forms of communication. To answer a driving question and create high-quality work, students need to do much more than remember information. They need to use higher-order thinking skills and learn to work as a team.
Learn more about "dessert" projects vs PBL
The gold standard for high-quality PBL

To help ensure your students are getting the main course and are engaging in quality Project Based Learning, PBLWorks promotes a research-informed model for "Gold Standard PBL."

The Gold Standard PBL model encompasses two useful guides for educators:

1) Seven Essential Project Design Elements provide a framework for developing high quality projects for your classroom, and

2) Seven Project Based Teaching Practices help teachers, schools, and organizations improve, calibrate, and assess their practice.

The Gold Standard PBL model aligns with the High Quality PBL Framework. This framework describes what students should be doing, learning, and experiencing in a good project. Learn more at HQPBL.org.

Yes, we provide PBL training for educators!

PBLWorks offers a variety of workshops, courses and services for teachers, school and district leaders, and instructional coaches to get started and advance their practice with Project Based Learning.
Learn more

This project features teacher Rayhan Ahmed at Leaders High School in Brooklyn, NY, with his 11th grade chemistry class.

This project features Kimberly Head-Trotter of McKissack Middle School, in Nashville, TN, with her 6th grade ELA/History class.

This project features teacher Cheryl Bautista of Katherine Smith Elementary School, San Jose, CA and her third graders.

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Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects. Project Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects.

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Getting Started with PBL (Read only if you have background on PBL or have read above)

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Getting Started with PBL (Read only if you have background on PBL or have read above)

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Getting Started With Project-Based Learning (Hint: Don’t Go Crazy)

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A handful of tips to help teachers ease into PBL without getting overwhelmed.

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Tips/Activities for using video games in the classroom

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Tips/Activities for using video games in the classroom

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Check out Edutopia’s collection of articles, videos, and resources on using video games, simulations, and gaming concepts in the classroom.

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March Madness-inspired literature lesson in a secular classroom

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March Madness-inspired literature lesson in a secular classroom

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The Madness of March is coming. You can feel the frenzy of Cinderella stories and brackets busting. The Big Dance. The Road to the Final Four. Call it what you want, but for three weeks, the nation turns its eyes to the NCAA tournament, falling in love with underdogs and holding its breath on each buzzer-beating shot. Hoops hysteria begins on Selection Sunday, the night when millions are glued to ESPN, waiting to see which 68 tickets will be punched to the Big Dance.

As teachers, we should create the same excitement, hope, and drama in our classes.

I do AP Lit March Madness, a journey to determine the best work of literature we've read all year. Brackets are made, seeding committees are formed, and each day I put a section of the bracket on the board and the works of literature back in students' hands so that they can vote on which is the superior work. It's all subjective-and that's what makes it so spectacular. Students are ready and willing to defend their cherished reads. The student who loved The Grapes of Wrath may be crestfallen when it is upset by Shelley's "Ozymandias." Some will argue that Dickinson's "There Is No Frigate Like a Book" should go all the way, knocking out heavyweights like Tennyson's "Ulysses" and Orwell's 1984. I just tally the votes and smile on the inside as students debate with impassioned voices. March Madness is a window through which you can see what your students learned, what they valued, and what they're willing to argue for.

Toe to Toe: Wordsworth vs. Orwell

Here's how I set it up.

Selection Sunday turns into Maker Monday in my class. I play a quick video to set the stage for the excitement that we'll try to capture-for example, a compilation of announcer Gus Johnson's best moments.

I tell the students that we'll spend portions of the next three weeks in our own March Madness, determining our own literary champion.

Students are then divided into roles:

1. Bracket Makers: I give them four huge pieces of poster board to tape together and make a mega-bracket. They have to compute how many brackets go on each side, the size of each bracket, and how to evenly space them. We use 32 works (novels, plays, poems, and articles).

2. Seeding Committee: This group makes a master list of everything that we read, and then, just like the NCAA Selection Committee, they have to determine the four No. 1 seeds, No. 2 seeds, etc., until they have all 32 works ranked.

3. Class Logo: This group brainstorms, designs, and develops a class logo and names for each region of the bracket.

On Thursday, as the NCAA tournament begins, student voting begins as well. I hand out slips of paper at the door when students enter the room. While they always remember the novels, some poems require a refresher. Those works are waiting for the students on the Smartboard, allowing them to regain a feel for voice, images, and thematic weight. I want our bracket to progress at roughly the same speed as the college tournament, so we tackle just a handful of brackets each day. Plus, the progression builds the excitement. Works gain momentum. One year, Wordsworth's "The World Is Too Much With Us" emerged from the pack as a No. 6 seed and made it as far as the Final Four. Another year 1984 annihilated the competition. The whole experience would not have the same impact if we did the voting all in one day. The daily process only consumes about 10 minutes of a period, but its effect is lasting. Students talk about it throughout the day-the favorite marching its way to the Final Four, the injustice of an upset, the thrill of a one-point victory.

Open Season

This approach isn't limited to literature. Social studies teachers can set up brackets for the most ruthless dictators or greatest presidents. Literacy teachers can set up brackets for favorite characters. Biology teachers can craft brackets featuring the fittest mammals. On a different tack, math students can calculate the statistics of the actual teams and make predictions for each bracket.

Be creative. The brackets are simply a context for student engagement-they make students look forward to class each day. Just be prepared for the madness that might ensue.

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The Madness of March is coming. You can feel the frenzy of Cinderella stories and brackets busting. The Big Dance. The Road to the Final Four. Call it what you want, but for three weeks, the nation turns its eyes to the NCAA tournament, falling in love with underdogs and holding its breath on each buzzer-beating shot.

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Tips for using Minecraft in the classroom

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Tips for using Minecraft in the classroom

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Using video games to learn about immigration and refugee issues

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Using video games to learn about immigration and refugee issues

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A collection of games that teachers can use in class to explore issues around immigrants and refugees.

Syrian Journey: Choose Your Own Escape Route

In the past several years, the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) has supported and funded digital games, including Mission US: City of Immigrants, a game about the immigrant experience. You play as Lena Brodsky, a Jewish immigrant in 1907 New York. It's a great teaching tool: Students quickly realize how difficult it can be to assimilate to a new country. The game includes an Educator Guide with lesson plans and primary sources.

I recently spoke with Marc Ruppel, senior program officer at the NEH. Ruppel's vision of games in classrooms happens to align with my findings in field research: Games-particularly those in the humanities (social studies, English language arts)-can be the hub, or centerpiece, of learning in a classroom. Related activities-written reflections from students, as well as other media like video and text-extend outward, like spokes. There are several games about the immigrant experience that can function as hubs for meaningful classroom teaching.

Games to Teach the Immigrant Experience

In my social studies class, I teach an immigration unit that begins with BrainPOP's Immigration and Citizenship videos. Then students play several "serious games"-games about serious topics. The Migrant Trail, set on the Arizona/Mexico border, is one. The free game is related to the documentary film The Undocumented. First I show students the Map of the Documents, an interactive Google map on the site-it's a chronicle of migrants who did not survive the desert journey. Next, students play the game twice: once as a border patrol agent, and again as a migrant, and then answer an open-ended prompt.

Mission US: City of Immigrants

High school students can play Papers, Please -a serious game about being a border patrol agent checking passports in a fictional Communist nation in 1982. Play it yourself first to see if the content is appropriate for your students. In early February 2017, the designer, Lucas Pope, raised almost $50,000 for the National Immigration Law Center, the American Refugee Committee, and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Games to Teach the Refugee Crisis

There are several immigration-themed games that can be the hub of classroom teaching. One of my school colleagues has developed a series of lessons to teach the Syrian refugee crisis. He uses the BBC's Syrian Journey: Choose Your Own Escape Route as his hub. Similar to the branched storytelling in the classic Choose Your Own Adventure books, it is a playable blog post with threaded endings.

His Syrian refugee unit centers on empathy, as well as on reading and writing about current events. Students are first asked to write journals from the perspective of a Syrian refugee. Prior to the game, other media are used, including the video clips " Syria: Child Refugees Miss Out on School" and " What's Happening in Syria? " These are followed by the prompt, "How many refugees have left Syria since the beginning of the war?"

Next, students read through Bana Alabed's Twitter feed. Alabed is a 7-year-old girl who, with her mother, fled Syria. They both live in Turkey, and Alabed regularly tweets about the refugee crisis. My colleague also has students view videos on the I Am Syria website, answer questions, and create a Venn diagram comparing their lives to those of children in Syria. My colleague requires diagrams to have at least eight differences and four similarities.

When students play Syrian Journey, they take notes on the decisions and choices made, and describe the difficulties and challenges faced. As Syrian refugees, readers decide whether to deal with smugglers or to take a dangerous raft ride across the Mediterranean Sea. The culminating activity is a student journal that includes the country they are headed to and whether asylum was granted, and also includes the push and pull factors of immigration, which are part of our content standards.

Immigration Games and Project-Based Learning

In my classes, students take part in " Genius Hour " or "20 percent time." Each Wednesday-one day is 20 percent of the week's class meetings-students design passion projects based on their interests. This concept started at innovative companies like Google, and many teachers have adopted it in their classrooms. Typically, I give my students a theme as a design challenge. Last fall, the theme was the Electoral College.

In early 2017, we began a Genius Hour theme on the immigrant experience. I adapted the free resources at Games for Change. Students proposed projects like comparing immigration in different eras, and exploring code switching-the cross-cultural fluency that immigrants develop when adapting to a new country. The projects don't have to be games: Some students are using Storyboard That to create graphic novels, while others are interviewing immigrant family members and publishing the interviews on StoryCorps, a podcasting site for oral histories.

And some students are designing games-using, for example, BreakoutEDU. To play, you figure out a series of puzzles that open a series of locks. As a result, students are embodying the push and pull factors of immigration through the core mechanics of a breakout and escape game. Other students are creating location-based games using ARIS, TaleBlazer, or GooseChase. I shared Jewish Time Jump, an ARIS location-based game about the immigrant experience. Set in Greenwich Village, New York, in 1900, it is playable on a smartphone.

Assessing Learning

Teachers can facilitate learning around and about immigration games with whole-class discussions. To promote empathy, assess students using reflective practices, where students extend the role from the game world to journals and open-ended writing prompts. Students write from the perspective of an immigrant. With Genius Hour, I use Google Forms to assess students with open-ended questions.

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A collection of games that teachers can use in class to explore issues around immigrants and refugees. Syrian Journey: Choose Your Own Escape Route In the past several years, the National Endowment of the Humanities (NEH) has supported and funded digital games, including Mission US: City of Immigrants, a game about the immigrant experience.

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Using open-world games (Minecraft) to teach

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Using open-world games (Minecraft) to teach

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Minecraft and other open-world games are being harnessed to teach course content by taking advantage of students’ creativity.

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Drama is an effective way of helping students to learn languages including English as a Foreign Language (EFL), as it uses active teaching and learning styles likely to motivate and sustain the attention of a wide cross section of pupils. Activities can include role-play, drama games, improvisation, group discussion and individual or pair work.
The activities which follow can easily be used along with other teaching techniques, or you might like to choose some to put together as a drama session. They are suited to a range of learning levels, so you will need to decide what is appropriate for your group.

To begin with, you could use a couple of warm up activities like Clap Around The Circle which may not even use language, but will introduce the class to the enjoyment, participation and cooperation which is a natural part of drama activities.

Clap Around The Circle
In a circle, each person claps in turn. Try to make it sound like one person is clapping. Now try again with your eyes closed. It's much harder!

Look in the drama games section for lots more ice-breakers and warm ups.
What Are You Doing?
This activity is not only fun, but is also a way of exploring the present continuous! It works well if it follows a lesson on hobbies, occupations or everyday activities. It begins to introduce some simple language along with actions, which will help to reinforce vocabulary.

In a circle. The first person starts miming an activity. The person to their left says "What are you doing?". The person miming the activity has to keep acting and at the same time say the name of a different activity - in the present continuous. For example, if they were "eating an apple", they could say "I am playing the piano". The second person then starts "playing the piano".

The first person stops their mime. Now the third person asks the second, "What are you doing?". The second person keeps "playing the piano" and names a different activity which the third person must mime. There should be no repetition and no similar activities. For example if you are miming "climbing a ladder", you cannot say "climbing the stairs".

If you like these games, why not purchase our mini-download? Buy Drama Games for Language Teaching right now - fourteen fun drama games for only £3.99. Activities include: Where Am I?, Adverb Game, Word Tennis, Magic Scarf, Giving Presents, Guess the Emotion and Count to 20.

Ten Second Objects is also a good way of reinforcing new vocabulary as well as encouraging physical awareness and group cooperation. It is very quick to organise (if you have the space) and always interesting, as you can never predict what groups may come up with! Once groups have made a few objects suggested by you, they could make up some of their own for the rest of the class to try and guess.

Many of the games and strategies on this site are very useful for language learning, including
Answer: ¡ɐɟos ɐ sᴉ ʇɔǝɾqo puoɔǝs uǝʇ ǝɥʇ

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Drama is an effective way of helping students to learn languages including English as a Foreign Language (EFL), as it uses active teaching and learning styles likely to motivate and sustain the attention of a wide cross section of pupils. Activities can include role-play, drama games, improvisation, group discussion and individual or pair work.

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Multiple Religious School Programs (and their activities/lessons)!

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Multiple Religious School Programs (and their activities/lessons)!

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Jewish education is changing, and it's happening right here in Greater Boston. From project-based learning to small-group Hebrew classes, we're helping learners of all ages find meaning and connection to Jewish life and texts like never before. Check out the exciting pilot programs in our community, thanks to collaborative partnerships and funding from CJP.

Mayim
Temple Beth Shalom, Needham

Mayim (the Hebrew word for "water") offers a new paradigm for Jewish life and education. In the Mayim program, Jewish Learning Guides and learners collaborate to engage in project-based, hands-on activities that give each person a role, a contribution and a voice. Together, they foster deep, joyful community while they discover and explore Jewish identity, practices and the Hebrew language.

SULAM
Temple Chayai Shalom, Easton

SULAM: Source of Understanding, Learning And Meaning (and the Hebrew word for "ladder") is a fresh, integrated approach to Jewish learning that connects children, adults and entire families to Judaism. Through a project-based model of instruction, students work collaboratively with classmates and experts in a field of study, and then present a product that offers genuine value to a targeted audience. Students made this webpage as part of a learning expedition. Hebrew learning is done in small groups to better help students make a connection to the meaning of the prayers as well as fluently recite the words.

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Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston

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Jewish education is changing, and it's happening right here in Greater Boston. From project-based learning to small-group Hebrew classes, we're helping learners of all ages find meaning and connection to Jewish life and texts like never before. Check out the exciting pilot programs in our community, thanks to collaborative partnerships and funding from CJP.

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PBL used to benefit the Religious School 

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PBL used to benefit the Religious School 

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Entry Narrative

The Kindergarten Library Project is described through the following sections:
Introduction and Goals
Planning: Analysis, Evaluation, and Creation
Student's Introduction to the South Campus Community Library Project Work including attached videos, documents, and pictures
The Kindergarten explored different aspects of community. As part of this exploration, Kindergarten noticed a need for an updated South Campus Library. This created an opportunity to better understand our own community by interviewing an array of community members and finding out how they utilize our library.Our students visited libraries in our community including the Library of Congress, Noyes Library (a Maryland public library devoted to children's books), and Mt. Pleasant Public Library in D.C. Using the Design Thinking model, the students planned and designed an updated community library. Based on research the children completed, the students recognized the need for many adjustments. Some of the key components the children noticed regarding the physical layout were the need for a comfy area, an island to house books and displays, and a bookcase with student-made books. The children also saw a need for a return book basket, a book hospital, a community award system, and reading buddy area filled with soft plush toys. After establishing these needs and empathizing with the users in the community, the children made small individual prototypes and then designed large communal models. From these, the children measured, constructed, and painted functional pieces for the library.

*Note of explanation - JPDS-NC is housed on two different campuses, North Campus and South Campus. North Campus houses grades 2 through 6, and South Campus houses grades Pre-K to 1.
Planning: Analysis, Evaluation, and Creation
*Note of explanation - "Kikar" is stated many times throughout our documentation. The "Kikar" is a Hebrew word referring to our campus community area which the library is housed in.

Each week the Kindergarten teaching team met to set goals, create weekly plans and reflect on the student's work. Part of planning was to make sure we were meeting and exceeding our Kindergarten competencies and the students were meeting Kindergarten benchmarks. Please see K Team Planning Guide-Library Project.docx for an example of our planning including our initial goals and our essential/guiding questions.

An important skill the children gained during our Community Library Project was learning how to interview people. The three committees (South Campus, North Campus, Local Libraries) interviewed people connected to these places in order to find out how they use libraries and their needs for one. The children met Michelle Davis, a local journalist who writes for newspapers, magazines and different publications, in order to learn how to interview people. Ms. Davis talked about the type of tools she uses and then gave the children interviewing tips and suggestions including: collect information ahead of time in order to ask good questions, save the hard questions for the end of the interview, and be sure to listen carefully. Having this knowledge, helped the children interview people in the community in a more effective and skillful way.

In order to share the knowledge gained from the interviews, Kindergarten had three Town Hall Meetings. Each one recapped what each committee learned in their interviews. To prepare for the Town Hall Meetings, the children in each class met with their committee and looked at their interview notes. They decided what important piece of information they wanted to share with the rest of Kindergarten and practiced. At the beginning of the Town Hall Meeting, we said the Pledge of Allegiance and HaTikvah inspired from real world Town Hall Meetings. The committee members from each class then stood in front of their peers and shared their information through words and drawings. The children in the audience listened respectfully, asked clarifying questions, and took notes through drawing and writing. By having the Town Hall Meetings, the children practiced the important skills of speaking in front of an audience and being good listeners.

Prototyping the South Campus Community Library

*Note: We have three sample videos attached in the YouTube sections and an explanation and pictures in our document section.

Using the Design Thinking model, the students began by planning the creation of the community library. Based on the children's research, through interviews and field trips to multiple libraries, the students recognized the need for many adjustments to the current library. Some of the key components the children noticed, all regarding the physical layout, that we needed to add to the South Campus Community Library included a comfy area, an island to house books and displays, and a bookcase fireplace with student-made books. After establishing these needs and empathizing with the users in the community, each child prototyped one of these constructions. Each class chose a different piece to prototype: comfy area-Gan T'marim, library island-Gan Rimonim, and fireplace bookcase-Gan Anavim. Once everyone made an individual prototype, each class collaborated to make one large prototype of their final piece. From the final prototype, each class decided in their own way how to make their contribution for the South Campus Community Library. All classes planned their final area a bit differently-all designing and modeling after their large prototype. The final pieces can be seen in the new South Campus Community Library and attached documents.

Multiple Drafts and Peer Critiquing

As part of our Kindergarten Kevin Henkes author study, in Writer's Workshop each child wrote a book review about one of Kevin Henkes' books. In addition to writing book reviews, the children created a reference section that they worked on in both Literacy Studio and Writer's Workshop. This reference section tells a little about the characters, setting, and plot of each book. These reviews have been placed inside the books and are located in our South Campus library.

Inspired by the video "Austin's Butterfly," (link included in YouTube section) the Kindergarten focused on creating multiple drafts of work though attention to detail and peer critiquing. Each class created multiple drafts of different things-all with the same skills in mind. As children were creating their drafts, they were encouraged to slow down and pay attention to the detail in the drawing. Once a draft was finished, peers gave specific critiques on how their good drawing could be made even better. Children then used these critiques to create a second and, at times, a third draft-each time going through the critiquing process. Positive peer support enabled the children to feel comfortable and confident with receiving feedback on what they had created. With each new draft, children noted their improved ability to capture more realistic versions of what they were drawing. Because of this process, the "simple" act of drawing became more meaningful, and the children experienced a melding of executive functioning (planning), art, and science.

South Campus Community Library Return Basket

*Note: More information and pictures are included in documents.

Gan Anavim was tasked with figuring out a system for returning books in the redesigned library. As they gathered information from local libraries, the children took note of what each library wanted people to do when they returned books. At the Library of Congress and the Noyes Library, "people put books on a table or the librarian's desk." At the North Campus Library, "people put books on a cart." Some children said they put books in "slots" at the libraries they visit with their parents. They considered all of these ideas when figuring out what should be done in the Kikar Library.

Mrs. Davis, offered them a large wicker basket with a lid. She said it could be used for returning books if the children wanted it. They thought it was a wonderful idea. Jonah wrote "RETURN BOOKS HERE" on a piece of white paper which was glued in the center of the board as a sign. A group of children then looked through old Scholastic Book fliers and cut out pictures of both fiction and non-fiction books and glued them around the "return books here" sign. A layer of Mod Podge was applied to make it shiny and strong. The board was attached with wire to the basket. The basket was immediately tested in the Gan Anavim classroom with many books. It worked!

This year Share the Nachas Day (Grandparents Day) coincided with the 60th day of school. As part of our celebration, we connected our 60th day activity with our exploration of community through the lens of the South Campus Community Library. One of the many activities that we did this day was to explain our journey with our grandparents and special guests. We also challenged them to add their favorite children's book title to a running list, with a goal of collecting 60 unique book titles. To our amazement we collected over 60 titles.

After deciding that we were going to order these books for our library, we wanted to somehow honor them and give them special meaning. After learning about different types of awards books, the children in Gan Rimonim wanted to create a "Community Favorite Award" for the books from Share the Nachas Day. Each of the children were given a small piece of paper to design an award. The only guideline for their designs was that it needed to say, "Community Favorite" somewhere on the design. After our class voted to narrow it down to their favorite 5 designs, we asked for all the Kindergarten students to vote on their favorite using graphing, one of our competencies. You can tell which books in our South Campus Community Library are truly "Community Favorites" because the seal adorns the books telling you so.

*Note: Please find more information about Community Favorite Awards in our attached documents.

As the Kindergarten students began categorizing the books in the redesigned library, they came across many torn book with missing pages. Eager to mend these books, Gan T'marim recognized the need for a "Book Hospital" in the library. They created a form in the "Book Hospital" box for visitors to fill out to accompany each book that explains what needs to be fixed. Gan T'marim came up with four rules for taking care of the books. These rules are to be careful, to make sure books are not on the floor, not to purposely break a book, and to refrain from further tearing a torn book. The book hospital box can be found on a shelf of our library.
Here are some reactions to our Kindergarten Open House event for families:
*Note: Please find more information about the book hospital in our attached documents.

This morning, I was totally blown away the moment I walked into the building. Every exhibit I saw would have been impressive on its own - the combination was even more powerful! The documentation and explanation of the process, the children's work, the drafts, the products - was all very thoughtfully presented - and that was even before the children's presentations in person!

I know that the beginning of the year was a bit disconcerting for you and that we asked you to take on significant adjustments to the way we do things - you came through in a big way!!talking to each one of you separately, I heard that it was a struggle and that now it is starting to come together. Judging from what I saw today - everywhere! - you made the adjustments in big ways and the results (what the children created and what they got out of it) exceeded my most optimistic dreams. Kol hakavod and thank you - for all you give the children in your care and for how you make our school shine!

Naomi Reem
Head of School
Jewish Primary Day School of the Nation's Capital
Kay and Robert Schattner Center

All I can say is, "Wow!" The event was a huge success. From the Hebrew presentations to the prototypes to the ribbon cutting. All of your thoughtful planning and your expectations for excellence was on display today. I will say it again, "You made all my dreams come true." When we first moved in, I had a vision for the library; however, your vision and execution surpassed my wildest dreams. Thank you!

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Kindergarten Community Library Project - Kohelet Prize

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Entry Narrative The Kindergarten Library Project is described through the following sections: Introduction and Goals Planning: Analysis, Evaluation, and Creation Student's Introduction to the South Campus Community Library Project Work including attached videos, documents, and pictures The Kindergarten explored different aspects of community.

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How BHS teachers presented content for 5th Grade Final Projects

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How BHS teachers presented content for 5th Grade Final Projects

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Simulations Can Change the Course of History . . . Classes

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Edutopia blogger Matt Levinson shares a professional development tactic from master history teacher Eric Rothschild, describing how, by engaging his AP European history class in role play, he brought the subject to life for the students.

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The Power of Breakout EDU - Breakout EDU

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"Hebrew through Movement" is a language acquisition strategy in which students learn Hebrew by hearing and responding to Hebrew commands. The site explains the model, illustrates it in action, and offers supports to teachers.