Israeli Spies

For my final project, I used many of the resources that we acquired during the fellowship to create a wikispace for a class on Israeli spies for my 7th grade class.

The iPad platform seems especially suited to the subject matter. Students begin with a webquest to introduce themselves to the topic, trying to ferret out information just as a real spy has to do. I have pages on the different topics that I plan to cover (some of them are still a work in progress), including videos and documents. Finally, I created a final project/spy mission for the students for the last day of class. New clues can be air dropped to the students as they successfully figure out and complete previous clues.

The page can be found here. I hope that you have fun exploring it. Please let me know what you think!

Initial Technology Ideas

by Lauren Lichtel

Beth El Temple Center, Belmont, MA

Sunday School 2nd grade teacher
Hebrew School 3rd grade teacher
CJP TTF: Cohort 6

My second grade class studies many different subjects over the course of the year. Some of them include Israel, mitzvot, holidays/calendar, Hebrew, God, prayers, and much more. 


For this blog, I will be describing my plan for my plan for the Israel project. After my students finish learning all about Israel from the book, I want them to be able to create something. Create a video or some kind. They will be able to use one or all of the apps that we've used here in this class. 

For example, they can use the Puppet Pals and have a couple of characters take a trip through Israel as they explain what it is they see. They could use the app Garage Band and create a song about Israel. They can use Explain Everything to create a lesson for their classmates about something they've learned. Really, the possibilities are endless. 

After the students are done with these projects, which may take a couple weeks to complete, I will post them on our class website for the parents to check out! I really think this is going to be a wonderful project! I cannot wait to begin!

4th Grade Aliyah Video Project

My 4th grade classes are really really different. In one class, I have a group who feel much more traditionally spiritually connected (most believe in a more traditional concept of G-d, they really enjoy and buy into more traditional prayer) my other class has a more diverse range of opinions on both G-d and Jewish practice. Our core curriculum focus this year is "What does it mean to be a part of the Jewish people?" for both groups this is a tough question, especially when thinking about Israel, a country that most of them have never been to but have learned so much about.

In our Israel curriculum this year, we are focused on some of the recent Aliyot to Israel: Yemenite Aliyah, Ethiopian Aliyah and Aliyah from the former Soviet Union. However, the idea of moving to Israel, Lashanah habaah is still really foreign to all my kids. Yes, they have heard of the Holocaust, but most of them have been lucky (depending on how you look at it) to grow up in the Boston area never having heard, seen or felt antisemitism.

In planning how I wanted to teach this, I sat down with one of my coworkers to brainstorm our goals.

• Students are able to empathize with those who faced antisemitism and oppression
• Students understand although they do not need to agree, with the Jewish concept of Lashanah Habaah
• Students are engaged and excited to learn about the process of making Aliyah from each country
• Students work with two or three other students and work well as a group
• Students are able to creatively present their findings in a 3-10 min video clip
• Students have a better understanding about the need for a Jewish state

To do this, we decided to break our three classes of 4th graders into nine small groups and assign them to topics as follows:

4B will focus on the culture of each country (Yemen, Ethiopia, former S.U.); what Jewish practices were like there, etc 

4C will focus on the reasons that the Jews left that country; oppression, isolation, general conditions

4A will focus on the Journey itself, what did it take for them to make it to Israel, how did they get there? Who helped, etc

In making movie trailers for this project, it was helpful to suss out each student's current tech abilities and resources in addition to other talents so that making the groups can be as successful as possible. Students will be able to play around with animation, documentary style productions and pretty much anything else that they can come up with that still will convey the process of Aliyah in a respectful way.

Lesson/Unit: Israel

D Gardner

• Students will gain exposure to  Israel’s major cities, historical sites, art and music as delineated in the  Assignment Section of WebQuest
• Layout of the lesson/scaffolding will be presented using a timeline, embarking  the first day of school when Israel is introduced as a major topic of study for 5th grade students, and concluding with presentations to the entire school the last day of class. Checkpoints include students selecting a topic by December; presenting a draft to the class in February; to parents in April and the school in May.
• Key technologies include:
• Teacher directed learning: wiki, webquest, timeline, YouTube, web sites, Google maps, virtual tours (cities and museums), flip camera, Google docs, and Diigo
• Student presentations: technology of their choice, with teacher approval re project design, or none (students opt to select means of presentation)
• Reflections
• This project based, year long assignment is the pride of the 5th graders. This year we  found that the written reports and posters weren’t as well researched as in the past. As a result, the WebQuest will direct students in their research and establish a common core of exposure/knowledge. Material selected is gripping, of high quality and intended to instill/foster  a love of Israel as well as set high standards for student reports. With the use of a YouTube capturing actual footage from Israel becoming a state, students will have a sense of the excitement in 1948 when Israel gained statehood. As eyewitnesses age, technology will become ever more important to capture their stories. I applaud the efforts of Facing History and Ourselves to embark on this, as well as the History Project in San Francisco.
• It was both fun and inspiring to pour over the wealth of material and resources available. How fortunate we are to have a homeland, after so many years in diaspora. Our rich culture, reflects the diversity of Israel’s population.


• I look forward to collaborating with the fifth grade teacher in presenting this next year.

Wiki for Ninth Grade Israel Beth El Class

Wiki for the Ninth Grade Israel Class at Beth El

Our second project for the Technology Fellowship was the creation of a Class Wiki for our Ninth Grade Israel Class, on which we could post Webquests and assignments and the students could post finished work , as well as answer the “question of the day”.  We have enough netbooks for each student to have one in class, so they can work on the projects in class.

The Wiki can be seen at http://bethel-grade9.wikispaces.com/. It currently has two projects.  The first is webquest for Wars in Israel  in which students are asked to make a Prezi  about one aspect of one war.  There is a Prezi I made as an example on the Wiki.  The second is a Webquest to research an itinerary in Israel that is based on the itinerary the class will be using next year on their tenth grade HiBur trip to Israel.  The project is to make a popplet about one of the places on the itinerary.

Mark and Judy