Category Archives: Activity

Activity: Handmade Midrash upper PS-HS

 Activity: Hand-Torn Midrash:

Make a ‘torn-paper Midrash’that draws on how you understand the term אות in light of one of the distinctions you explored in your community of inquiry .

 

Note:

Tearing paper to make collages that express our interpretation of text was developed by Jo Milgrom.  Collages can be abstract or representational, they might use different coloured papers to convey emotions and movement…. in short, anything goes as long as one basic rule is observed – the paper cannot be cut. Some people like to glue the end product down, others leave it without any adhesive. It is up to you. A variety of papers  can be used, including printed paper.

Activity: Interviewing community members about food choices

Activity:

Interview two people in your family or community about the following:

  1. Is there any kind of food that you personally choose not to eat?  Why?
  2. Do you think that what you eat affects your health?
  3. Do you think that what you eat affects your mood?
  4. Can you look at what someone eats and draw any conclusion about their values?
  5. Do you think that what you choose to eat or not eat can makes you a better person?
  6. Do you eat meat? Do you think this affects the kind of person you are?
  7. In the account of creation God blesses us and tells us and gives us all seed bearing plants  to eat.  In Noah, after the flood he tells he blesses us again, but this time he also allow us  to eat meat. Why do you think God changes his blessing? Do you think we should eat meat?

 

 

 

 

Activity: ‘Good’ and ‘Very good’

Activity:   ‘Good’ and ‘Very good’

Give out slips of paper with the following sentence – ask everyone to complete it

Collect the slips and put them in a hat – each student pulls one out and reads it

The class has to discuss it and decide if (or under what circumstances) it would be true.

 While ____  is good, ____ is very good.

 

This could also lend itself well to short skits. After reading out all the statements and discussing them, the class could vote on the four or five most interesting ones. Then small groups of 3-4 students could make a skit out of a particular statement.

Form and meaning – creating ritual

Activity: Form and meaning – creating ritual

In small groups – decide on a value that you all think is important. Create an action or a ritual that conveys this value to those taking part in it. Keep in mind that you will be leading the rest of the students through this action/ ritual, so keep it manageable given the time and resources you have available.

Activity: Norms and rules we live by

Activity: Norms and rules we live by

Each person writes down one rule or norm that guides the way society operates. Put all the slips into a hat. Mix them up and have each student draw one out. In pairs try to answer the following questions in relation to the norm or rule you drew out of the hat.

  1. how do we come to know about them?
  2. Is it anyone’s responsibility to make sure you know about them?
  3. How do we learn how to follow them?
  4. In each case, if there is a norm or rule – do you always follow it?

Make up a short skit that communicates what the norm is and includes your responses to questions a-d.

OR

Prepare a poster that communicates what the norm is and includes your responses to questions a-d.

Activity: Words can Heal

Rabbi Irwin Katsof, the Founder of Words Can Heal believes that words can make a difference – and that if we only paid more attention to the way we speak we could stop a lot of pain and suffering in the world.
If you agree with Rabbi Katsof, develop your own system of road signs and put them up around the school.