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Shabbat Intro A Better World Begins with a Better Me: Shabbat Intro The changes in this package We have made several changes to this unit based on the feedback we have received from Shluchim/os like you. We encourage all feedback – what worked well and what did not. Some changes you will see: • The learnings are written in point form. • We include thumbnails of the related student papers in the teacher’s guide – with instructions for adaptations, as applicable. • We include a hard copy of all Student Papers. • We list all items/ resources needed for a particular lesson. • The website will include resources for further reading about the subjects. We’d like to know how you like these changes. Please do let us know. No Supplementary Materials for this unit Since Shabbat is best learned from first‐hand experiences, this program encourages authentic experiences, using authentic items. As such, there are no supplementary materials for this package. There are some materials on the CD that you can print. All materials are provided in black/white version. About the Shabbat Unit Shabbat is best learned though first‐hand experiences. As such, we do encourage re‐enactments of the various stages of the Shabbat meal. We highly recommend doing a Friday Night Dinner or a Havdallah Service so that the students experience it firsthand. If you will have such an event, determine if you’d like the students to learn about the subject before the event so that they can ‘show off’ or practice what they learned. Or, will the event be a first‐time experience for them. One plan does not fit all schools. Use this as a guide full of many ideas to develop a program that best suits the children in your school. When creating this unit, we concluded that the background knowledge of the students in the various schools varies tremendously; students in some schools do know quite a bit about Shabbat, and others know very little. Therefore, we have chosen to provide the background information on the topic in one place (ie: not with the activities and teaching methods). The directors and teachers can determine together which aspects to cover with the students, and then select activities and methods to teach the materials. We did not break down the information into 3 separate lessons because we expect that most schools will customize the lessons based on the particulars of their unique communities. [A sample breakdown: 1. Intro Activity 2. Kiddush 3. Havdallah Introduce theme Challah (Handwashing) Wrap Up Find out what they know Honoring Shabbat Candle lighting The ideas provided here can also be used for a family workshop, where the families move from station to together as a group and learn about each part of Shabbat. Crafts We recommend that all crafts be ‘family heirloom quality’ – that is something that the children and their families would be proud to display and use. Determine which objects the students have already created in the Created by the Shluchim Office – Hebrew School Network page 1 A Better World Begins with a Better Me: Shabbat Intro previous years. You may want to offer the boys to create Kiddush cups and the girls can create candles. That is up to your budget and time constraints. In the appendix, we include several craft ideas. Use your imagination and budget to customize the projects to your students. **It might be worthwhile to provide a Shabbat box so that the students can keep everything together. (You can order boxes at uline.com (carrying boxes or literature boxes. Just make sure they are tall enough to hold the largest items). On the other hand, you may want to encourage the students to display the objects they make in their homes. The Hebrew Language Some schools do like to teach some related Hebrew words in each unit. The words of the Brachot, Kiddush and Havdallah are included in the Student Papers. You can copy the desired words from there. Friday Night Dinner or Havdallah Service We provide some ideas for these events. See the Appendix and the CD. Many are culled from the resources of the Shluchos Forum. (Thank you Shluchim/os) Please share your ideas on the forum. www.shluchim.org/betterme. The CD also includes a customizable flyer for each of these events; these can be adapted in Publisher. Reflection after the Friday Night Dinner / Havdallah Service Students will experience and learn many new things during these events. In the class after the event, set aside some time to talk or write about the event. This reflection is how the information is solidified in their memories. Photographs An important part of any learning is the reflection after the experience. Photographs and documentation (recording through writing or other means about what they experienced) are helpful tools for the reflection. Set aside time for the students to talk about the pictures and to put them on posters or in their student books. Take many photos of the students re‐enacting the many rituals of Shabbat, as well as pictures of them creating the Shabbat craft items. You can assign students to take the pictures. The photos can be placed on posters for the Friday Night dinner. Incentive Program for the Shabbat Unit This package includes 'Shabbat cards' (see the CD). There are 6 different cards – different items on a Shabbat table. These cards can be used as an incentive program for this unit. Teachers can give them out for good behavior, participation, etc. Children collect the cards and try to form sets. Each individual card is worth one point, but a set of six is worth 10 points. Or, you can give a raffle ticket for each set. ‐‐The cards can also be used as a hunt. Stump the Rabbi We want to encourage the students to observe and encourage them to ask questions. Encourage them to write down with 'Stump the Rabbi' questions. (Ask your rabbi first if he will have time to answer the questions by the next week.) You can post their questions on the Better Me Forum, and we will try to get the answers for you. Use judgment when presenting certain aspects of Shabbat It is important to present the joys and benefits of Shabbat. Only if you are certain that the students understand the benefits of Shabbat, should you tell stories of Jews who had Mesiras Nefesh for Shabbat. Similarly, use judgment to determine if you should tell stories of people who were saved because they kept Shabbat (ex: Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire) Created by the Shluchim Office – Hebrew School Network page 2 A Better World Begins with a Better Me: Shabbat Intro The Magic Tree House: Shabbat The framework for this unit is based on the popular children’s book series “The Magic Tree House” by Mary Pope Osbourne (http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/magictreehouse/). In these books, 2 children (Jack and Annie) discover a tree house filled with books. They find that if they open one of the books, point to a picture and wish to be there, they are transported to the time or place of the picture. There, they learn about that particular place or time. In the book series, the children learn from books, experiences and people who help them along. They then jot down the new facts in a ‘notebook’. In this unit, our student will be transported away to a magical time called Shabbat. The students will learn all about Shabbat through first‐hand experiences, discussions, video clips and crafts. Our version of a Magic Tree House episode does not follow the book’s style precisely; we have adapted as necessary. We do not reference the magician or Merlin. You may need to explain to the children that this program only loosely follows the original book. To make the program more exciting, you may want to set up the room like a tree house. In the book, the children climb a rope ladder to reach the tree house. You can use the classroom loft (If you are housed in a preschool) or you can create a tree house looking edifice with pallets and cardboard, or a wooden sukkah. Remember, the focus of this program is Shabbat, not the Magic Tree House theme. On the CD, you will find a version of the Student Book with the Magic Tree House theme. You can also do all the activities without following this framework. As such, we provide the same Student Book without the theme. See the CD. (The CD also contains flyers for a Friday Night Dinner and for a Havdalah Service; there are two versions of this as well.) Introduce the Magic Tree House theme. Start off by reading Fact #1, and be transported to that particular place. Use sound effects of magic, swooshes, etc. You can use strobe lights, blinking lights on and off and fans to create the effect. At the end of each section that you learn about, the students can 'write the facts' in their notebooks, just as the characters (Jack and Annie) do in the book. Then, read the next fact and again be transported. We provide only one student book, which we encourage you to adapt according to what you choose to teach each group. At the end of each section, we include a page entitled "Your turn". This is a place for the students to reflect on their experience. They can write about what they learned, or post pictures. Adapt the page as applicable. Or, you can simply leave that page blank. And the adventure begins! On the CD, you will find a few videos of Shabbat HowTos.
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