Transforming the School Community

Making Judaism Come Alive! in the Classroom

Presentation By:Shiri Bernstein Marketing & Outreach Coordinator

Areyvut

Change doesn’t have to be a bad thing!

All you need is a little kindness

Adding Mitzvot to Your Curriculum

Experiential Learning: Let students see first hand

how fortunate they really are. Taking kids to a soup

kitchen, lets them see who will benefit from their

good deeds and that is often enough reward to

motivate students to continue service learning.

Role Models: Ask older students, teachers and/or

celebrities who have volunteered speak to the

students and discuss their experiences and the

rewards they got out of volunteering.

Give your students a choice!

• Once the students understand the importance of social justice, allow them to chose what action they want to take. What are their needs & passions? What problems would they like to solve?

• Decide on a field that they want to work in (i.e. the environment) and let them choose an organization that fits their needs.

• Because the students have made the decisions, they will be more likely to take a bigger interest in the acts of kindness they are performing.

About You…

1) What do you enjoy doing?2) What extracurricular activities do you do?3) What are your strengths/skills?4) Below is a list of hobbies/interests. Circle the 3 that interest you the most.

Art Bike Riding Cooking Friends Hiking Internet Knitting Movies Music Playing

gamesReading Shopping Sports Television

Traveling

5) Below is a list of topics. Circle the 3 that interest/bother you the most.

Animals Anti-Semitism Education Environment Health

Homelessness Hunger Israel Jewish EducationLiteracy Disabilities Poverty Senior Citizens

Children

About Your Mitzvah Project…

1) Why do you want to do a mitzvah project? 2) If you can change anything about Judaism and/or the world what would it be? Why?3) What volunteer/community service tasks have you done? What did you like about them?

What didn’t you like about them? 4) Who do you know who can help you with this project/cause? 5) What days and times are you available to volunteer and/or work on your project?

Encouragement• Encourage students to stand up for their beliefs.

• Encourage students to do projects that interest them.

• Encourage students to be creative and start a project on their own if they can’t find one that fits their needs.

• Encourage students by participating in projects with them.

• Encourage students to do projects with their friends.

• Encourage students with rewards and incentives (i.e. community service hours).

Community Service Fairs

Arrange a personalized fair for students. This exposition

is a wonderful opportunity for students to begin the

process of choosing a meaningful mitzvah project.

Model A: Volunteer Fair

Representatives from various community organizations

introduce students and their families to a variety of

hands on mitzvah projects. Staff should offer guidance

on how to plan and execute mitzvah projects that best

meet each students needs.

Community Service Fairs

Model B: Hands-On Fair

Students are introduced to a variety of mitzvah

projects through participating in hands-on

activities that will help them decide what project

best fits their needs and interests.

Both models can also be combined into one fair.

Choosing a theme by classAlternatively, students can develop projects based around a yearly theme.

Examples1st grade- animals4th grade- hunger6th grade- environment8th grade- tolerance or Israel

The trick is- don’t change, but build on, the theme from year to year, that way, by the time graduation comes around, each student will have dabbled in every theme and have a better understanding of what they enjoy doing.

Areyvut’s Project Database: www.areyvut.org/Bnai/projectNew.asp

Evaluation

• Mitzvah Project Planning Journal• Log Community Service Hours• Discussions & Reflections• Be Creative!

Photography/Videos Writing (poetry, drama, music, etc) Skits/Performances Visual Arts (murals, crafts, etc) Technology (blogs, etc)

Mitzvah Essay Contestco-sponsored by JVibe

Invite students to share their Mitzvah project experiences with the entire Jewish community by participating in Areyvut's Annual Mitzvah Essay Contest.

Areyvut recognizes students who have made unique contributions to their communities. We will award winners with exciting prizes, invite winners to participate in the Bnai Mitzvah Panel Program and post winning essays on our website to serve as models for students who are just beginning to plan their Mitzvah projects.

Have students write an essay that describes how and why you incorporated the values of chesed (kindness), tzedakah (charity) and tikkun olam (social justice) into their Bnai Mitzvah celebration.

Questions• How did you make (or how are you making) the values

of chesed, tzedakah and tikkun olam an important part of your Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebration?

• Why did you choose to do a service project?

• Why did you choose this particular project?

• How did (or will) your project impact your Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebration?

• If you have already celebrated your Bar/Bat Mitzvah, how have you continued your project?

Contest GuidelinesEligibility: You must be between 5th and 9th grade

Format: Essay must be between 250-750 words, typed, and double spaced.

Judges: Essays will be judged by a panel of Areyvut staff, board members and outside experts. Winners will be chosen based on how well a project and its impact are described, the uniqueness of the project and the overall quality of the essay.

Deadline: December 1, 2007

To Apply: Please e-mail your cover sheet and essay to projects@areyvut.org.

To download the cover sheet, please visit www.areyvut.org/Action/cover08.pdf

Teach Social Action Through Media

• Videos

Hotel Rwanda (Genocide) Remember the Titans (Tolerance) Paper Clips (Holocaust) Pursuit of Happyness (Poverty) Obsession (Global Terrorism) Translating Genocide (Darfur) Sicko (Health Care) YouTube Videos Create you own videos!

Check out Areyvut’s Resource Database for books, articles, curricula, videos and more on many different service learning topics!

Political Cartoons

Music: Where is the love- Black Eyed PeasWhat's wrong with the world mama?People living like ain’t got no mamasI think the whole worlds addicted to the dramaOnly attracted to the things that bring you traumaOverseas yeah we tryin’ to stop terrorismBut we still got terrorists here livin’In the USA the big CIA the Bloodz and the Crips and the KKK But if you only have love for your own raceThen you only leave space to discriminateAnd to discriminate only generates hateAnd if you hatin’ you're bound to get irateYeah madness is what you demonstrateAnd that's exactly how anger works and operatesYou gotta have love just to set it straightTake control of your mind and meditate Let your soul gravitate to the love y'all

People killing people dyingChildren hurtin’ you hear them crying Can you practice what you preachWould you turn the other cheek?Father Father Father help us Send some guidance from above Cause people got me got me questioning Where is the love? (where is the lovex3) (the love2x)

Music: Heal the World- Michael Jackson

There's A Place In Your HeartAnd I Know That It Is LoveAnd This Place Could Be MuchBrighter Than TomorrowAnd If You Really TryYou'll Find There's No Need To CryIn This Place You'll FeelThere's No Hurt Or Sorrow

There Are Ways To Get ThereIf You Care Enough For The LivingMake A Little SpaceMake A Better Place...

Heal The WorldMake It A Better PlaceFor You And For MeAnd The Entire Human RaceThere Are People DyingIf You Care Enough For The LivingMake A Better PlaceFor You And For Me

More Music…

For more songs about social change,

visit www.ocap.ca/lyrics.html

Using the “A Kindness a Day” Calendar in the Classroom

The “A Kindness a Day” Calendar contains 365 suggested activities that exemplify the values of kindness, charity, social justice and character improvement. The calendar is great for adults and children, for homes, schools and organizations, both as a guide to help inculcate these values into one's life and as a springboard for discussion and study.

The calendar is used daily in classrooms around the country as an educational tool, motivating students and teachers a like to make kindness a reality. 

For Elementary School

• Share a sampling of suggestions with your students and create a “Mitzvah Tree” to keep track of each time a student follows a suggestion.

• When introducing a new suggestion, read a picture book in which characters emulate the suggestion.

• Add a “World Repairer” to your job wheel. It is the World Repairer’s job to read a new suggestion for the week and let the class know when s/he witnesses tikkun olam in action.

• Pick classroom themes and projects based on the suggestions in the calendar.

 

For Middle/High School• Develop a list of suggested chesed activities and

information on agencies where students can perform those actions.

• Add a “World Repairer” to your school newspaper or bulletin board and regularly highlight students and people who actively participate in tikkun olam.

• Encourage your students to teach younger kids about Jewish values and create collaborative tzedakah projects.

More Ideas…• Have your student’s think of their own ideas of how they can help

others and make their own tikkun olam calendar.

• Post a new suggestion in a prominent place in your school or classroom.

• After synagogue services read the suggestion of the day.

• The sources in the calendar are traditional Jewish sources provided in English. Have students find the source in Hebrew or teach the sources and their meaning in a Hebrew or Jewish Studies class.

• Present one of the daily suggestions without revealing the source and ask students to develop a source (Jewish or general) to coincide with the action. Similarly, present one of the sources without revealing the action and ask students to develop an action to relate to the source.

• Look for articles, programs, movies and people who highlight these suggestions and try to learn more.

Even More Ideas…• Teach about famous people who emulated these values. Students can

dress up as these people and share their lessons with the class. You can also find “regular” people or “Mitzvah Heroes” who live these vales daily and invite them to come speak.

• Annually publicly recognize people in your community who excel in kindness.

• Set up a monthly or regular tikkun olam trip. Each trip can be based upon a theme from the calendar, and all sources relating to the theme can be taught beforehand.

• Assign each student or class a different theme from the calendar to incorporate into a tzedakah project. Have a school and community wide program featuring the various projects.

• For each holiday, choose a different theme from the calendar and initiate a related tzedakah project.

Getting Involved in “Make a Difference” Day

We invite you to dedicate your day to helping

others.

Areyvut’s “A Kindness a Day” Calendar is already

uniting Jewish communities across the country in

an effort to inspire acts of kindness. On “Make a

Difference” Day, thousands of families will turn the

calendar’s suggestions into action with the help

of educational resources that Areyvut will provide.

March 23-25, 2007

“Make a Difference” Day Video

When is “Make a Difference” Day 2008?

On April 4th, 2008, the “A Kindness a Day”

Calendar encourages people to:

“Try to be totally unselfish today.”

Building upon this suggestion, “Make a Difference”

Day has been scheduled to take place on this day

and throughout the entire weekend for those who

can’t participate on Friday. (April 4-6, 2008)

Where is “Make a Difference” Day?

In YOUR local community!  That’s right…

“Make a Difference” Day is a national effort that

takes place everywhere and anywhere around

the globe. 

To bring “Make a Difference” Day to your

community, all you need to do is get involved in

a community service project between April 4th-

6th, 2008.  It’s that simple. 

Preserving the Environment

The themes for the 2008 “Make a Difference”

Day will be “Preserving the Environment” and

“Thinking Out of the Box.” Educational

materials will be available to help you address

the theme. The materials will include texts

relating to these values, hands on activities to

do with your students, suggestions for follow-

up and other educational resources.

Should I do any pre-planning?

Introducing your students and community

members to the “A Kindness a Day” Calendar

will add meaning to “Make a Difference” Day

by putting it in the context of an ongoing

focus on tikkun olam. We also encourage

participants to pre-plan their projects in order

to make the day an even greater success.

Video Contest!

Do you think you have what it takes to make

the most creative mitzvah video in the

country? Areyvut challenges you to take

video footage of your mitzvah project and to

send it to us. The community that produces

the most exciting video of their mitzvah

project will have their video featured on our

website and e-Newsletter.

Registration

You do not need to pre-register to be a part of

“Make a Difference” Day. However, we encourage

you to register so that we know in advance who is

participating and are able to develop programming

that is specific to the participants' needs.

To register on-line, please visit:

www.areyvut.org/Action/makereg.asp

More Information

Shiri Bernstein

(201) 244-6702

shiri@areyvut.org

Check it out!

www.areyvut.org