This Pesach the kids are the teachers. This past week students in grades 3rd - 7 th taught our Roshanim up through third grade students lesson plan about Pesach that they had been working on in the previous weeks. Each class was assigned an age appropriate topic to teach to a younger group.
Pardes instructors provided a broad framework by suggesting some approaches their students might use while teaching the younger students. The student-teachers might choose to craft functional seder plates with younger children, create colorful Power Points about the seder, or devise educational games about Ashkenazi and Sephardi traditions. As the students designed their lesson plans, Pardes staff also facilitated the use of iPads and web research so the final projects were content and information rich.
Regardless of the project our middle-graders choose, they discovered their inner teacher and flexed their muscles as role models. This project helped bridge the gaps between the grades and it became an opportunity to grow the sense of community among Pardes students of all ages. This has been a wonderful growth opportunity for students and teachers alike. Each has had to work as teams and learn as a community.
