Preparing our Jewish History Timeline

Our school year is nearing its end (May 20th this year!), but we still have lots to look forward to up to the final day.  This coming Sunday, April 29th, all our fifth graders will participate in a special workshop, entitled "Journey on a Magic Carpet."  Keep an eye out next week for my blog describing the workshop. The following Sunday is Mitzvah day (May 6th), when the students and their families help out on various service projects on and off of Isaiah's campus.

The Edot class, meanwhile, has begun to prepare for our annual Edot Fair, on May 15th and 16th this year, when the students are given the opportunity to share what they have learned about the cultures of various Diaspora Jewish communities (edot) with the rest of the weekday classes.  The Fair kicks off with an introductory skit, which explains what the edot are, and how they came to exist. As part of this skit, the students have begun to prepare a Jewish history timeline, noting specific events and eras we have studied over the past year. This timeline is HUGE - it usually takes 5-6 students to hold it up after it's been unfurled during the skit.  This past Sunday, the students began the process of creating the timeline by cutting out photographs and pictures from various magazines which I've collected over the years - Biblical Archaeology Review, Odyssey, DIG, Archaeology, Smithsonian, Hadassah, and Eretz (the national geographic of Israel!). It's fun for the kids, and a wonderful learning experience at the same time - introducing them to these magazines and to the exciting world of Biblical archaeology, Jewish history, geography, and culture.

Over the next four sessions, we'll spread out the butcher paper on which the timeline will be drawn (it takes 8 long tables to do so!), and begin to decorate the different eras we've studied with the magazine photos, as well as with student drawings. The final product will certainly be a sight to behold!