Israel Fair 2017: Choosing How We Learn

5/9/2017

Take a stroll down the Lower School hallways and you’ll be transported to the land of Israel. While there, you will meet its historic figures, climb its majestic hills, travel to its famous cities… all thanks to the collaborative creative work of our Lower School faculty and students!

This immersive journey began back in January at our Professional Development day, when our faculty explored Academic Choice. Using this Responsive Classroom strategy, teachers set learning goals and then give students a list of options for what to learn and/or how to go about their learning.

This research-based strategy infuses our students learning with energy and a sense of purpose, and its benefits are many: it supports children’s intrinsic motivation to learn, encourages children to learn from each other and draws on different strengths, abilities, and interests.

The Academic Choice Process: Planning, Working, Reflecting

The Academic Choice learning process includes three distinct steps: planning, working and reflecting. In the planning phase, students and teacher brainstorm possible learning activities, which are executed in the working phase. Reflection allows the students to process both the work and learning they did, helping them make sense of their concrete experiences.

Lower School Principal Mrs. Nina Wand remarked, “It has been a powerful, challenging and rewarding process for our teachers who have worked so hard to make this an amazing experience for our students.”

Come see the final results of this intensive learning process at the Lower School Israel Fair. Stop by the Lower School hallways through Friday, May 12^th — just stop by the Lower School office to sign-in and get a map of the exhibit!

In the meantime, read our teachers recaps of their students’ experiences throughout different parts of the academic choice process:

PLANNING

Mrs. Hercenberg/Morah Shoshi – Kindergarten: The Dead Sea

After learning about the Dead Sea by looking at pictures, reading books and watching videos, Mrs. Hercenberg’s class considered how to show what they researched, including how salt water is heavier than regular water; how mud’s minerals are good for the skin; and the 2,000-year-old history of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Morah Maman/Mrs. Shirah – First Grade: Shuk Machane Yehuda

The teachers provided the initial learning and exposure of The Shuk—the history, geography, logistics, and more and then the class explored how each of their five senses is hard working while visiting the shuk.

Mrs. Diamond/Morah Stein – Second Grade: Ir David

The class learned about King David, the city’s namesake, who composed Tehillim (Psalms) and played the harp, and the discovery of what is presumed to be King David’s palace, filled with gold coins, jewelry and a signet ring with Jeremiah's seal, which were found during excavation.

Morah Bresler – Fourth Grade: Baha’i Gardens

After exploring the Baha’i faith and the Baha’i Gardens for two days, Morah Bresler’s class decided to demonstrate their learning by creating models of the garden using a variety of materials “bought” at the PreSchool recycling center, designing 3-D models or developing a video tour of the gardens; others designed a Jeopardy game about the Baha’i religion using PowerPoint.

Morah Erlanger/Mrs. Platt – Fourth Grade: Ein Gedi

Morah Erlanger and Mrs. Platt’s class took a virtual tour of Ein Gedi through video, books, websites and maps. For historical perspective, they studies a midrash about King David hiding in an Ein Gedi cave while being pursued by King Saul. They decided what projects they would make, what materials they would need to execute those projects and made a trip to the PreSchool recycling center to find those materials

WORKING

Mrs. Wilkins/Morah Shoshi – Kindergarten: The Kotel

The students created their own Kotel wall out of sponge-painted boxes and a model of a boy having his Bar Mitzvah at the Kotel. Once the wall was constructed, the students wrote notes to Hashem to put in the Kotel, which were placed in the real Kotel by BT seniors who are there right now on their senior trip.

Mrs. Waxman/Morah Shoshi – Kindergarten: Hadassah Hospital

Students recreated Hadassah Hospital’s famous Chagall stained glass windows by making get well cards and “stained glass” hamsas, to be delivered to Hadassah hospital patients by BT seniors currently visiting Israel. Some students also built a model of the hospital, while others made special glasses using diffraction film to demonstrate their learning about light and color.

Morah Ziffer/Mrs. Wolf – First Grade: Lake Kinneret

The students created a salt flour map of Israel depicting the country’s topography, a model water park, a color painting depicting the beauty of the Kinneret, and installed drip irrigation in the BT Lower School garden under the direction of Lower School science teacher Mrs. Corton.

Morah Kaplowitz – First Grade: The Negev

Morah Kaplowitz’s class built a Bedouin tent, complete with pillows and cushions, rugs, musical instruments and table, a tray on which they served the pita they baked, tassels and lights they hung from the ceiling and an oven. They also made small model airplanes to demonstrate what they learned about the forces of flight, and planted hydroponic pea plants like the Negev desert residents.

Morah Travis – Second Grade: Eilat

To demonstrate what they learned about Eilat’s tourist attractions, Morah Travis class created a model of an iPhone. When you lift the app’s flap on the model, you can view the information the students researched.

Neumann/Porter – Fourth Grade: Asheklon

Some students created a model of a Tanach, identifying passages where Ashkelon is mentioned. Another group interviewed an adult Ashkelon resident, and others wrote letters to teens Baltimore-Ashkelon teen leadership program. One student coded a virtual tour, and others created a 3-D presentation comparing the city’s past and the present. All of the students created replicas of archaeological artifacts and displayed them in sand for others to find.

REFLECTION

Morah Strum/Mrs. Norona – Second Grade: Tzfat

In addition to using technical skills like math to calculate how much of each material they needed to create their projects, Morah Strum and Mrs. Norona’s class got to practice problem solving, like when their projects didn’t quite work out as anticipated and needed redesigns. In their reflection period, the class learned that although the project is beyond amazing, they are and will always be things we could do better or differently – both as individuals and as teams working collectively.

“This has been one of the most meaningful projects we have done,” said Morah Strum. “It wasn’t just about Tzfat, it was deeper. It was a true understanding of what it takes to work with a group of people that different visions than you, and yet still create one project in a collaborative way!

Morah Cusner/Mrs. Kotlicky – Third Grade: Har Herzl
The students were truly engaged in the project and enjoyed the diversity of topics — some students learned about famous people buried at Har Herzl, while others learned about the cemetery’s design.

“The student knew that they really needed to understand the content in order for them to be able to produce a project,” said Morah Cusner. “We are so proud of the work that they did both in terms of the content that they learned and how they collaborated with their partner.” She adds that one student commented how “the learning went by so quickly because he was really enjoying himself.”

Morah Frankel/Mrs. Grand – Third Grade: The Hula Valley
The students depicted the Hula Valley, which was originally a swamp, through migration route maps, model birds, a history timeline and PowerPoint presentations about the valley’s native birds.

Morah Frankel shared how much the students looked forward to the special time set aside for the projects each day. “The pride that they felt when the display was put up was clear. We learned how the Hula Valley truly is ‘a place of miracles and wonders’ — how it went from being a swamp to becoming “a paradise for birds and people.”

Morah Laifer/Mrs. Harrison – Fourth Grade: The Biblical Zoo of Jerusalem

The fourth graders, who created a pop-up book, a storybook, a movie, a diorama and a PowerPoint presentation depicting the Biblical Zoo of Jerusalem, were engaged, motivated, and enriched throughout the entire process. “It was a delight to see them collaborate and create a project that was guided by them,” said Morah Laifer. “They were proud of their results!”

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Israel Fair 2017: Choosing How We Learn

Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School