Teaching about Pesach with the iPad

As soon as I started experimenting with the first set of Apps, such as Explain Everything, Popplet, and Tellagami, I could envision the endless possibilities that were available to me as a teacher and to the students, in learning about Pesach, notwithstanding other subject matter such as Holidays, Bible, Hebrew language, and Reading. My first graders are mentored by fourth graders on Thursdays, during the Mincha service in the sanctuary. The fourth graders are experts in Pesach, as they follow a curriculum based on the Haggadah, and so I decided to enhance their experience and that of the first graders by videotaping them and creating an iMovie which I will show to them and to my first grade class. The children were very excited to be in the movie and to recite, sing, dance, and show what they have learned. We did our videotaping in February, and I posted some of the videos on You Tube. I made the iMovie, using some of the videos. Now that we have the iPads in the school, the children will be involved in making their own movies, and trailers, and we will share them with their parents and the other classes. Next week, the fourth grade is conducting a "Walk-Through Seder" in which the parents participate in the steps of the Seder by going to different "centers" and the children engage them by sharing what they've learned. The iPads will be used to videotape this experience. After Pesach, I would like the students to either create their own Haggadah in Book Creator, make a puppet play using Puppet Pals, make a Tellagami, and as I said before, make an iMovie. Thank you to Sara for the information about Passover Karaoke.