Jewish Communities Around the World at the Gottlieb Day School

Source: Langwitches Blog 

Silvia Tolisano, 21st Century Learning Specialist at Martin J. Gottlieb Day School in Jacksonville, FL, recently wrote in her blog about an authentic learning project being done by the school's 6th graders. They are preparing a Jewish History Fair on Jewish Communities around the World. In addition to doing research on the communities in print and digital resources, the students will interview members of Jewish communities around the globe via email, Skype, Twitter, FaceBook, texting, etc. The students will then produce their final products using a variety of media to be displayed at their History Fair.

Silvia contacted members of her global Personal Learning Network to search for Jewish community members around the world who would be willing to participate in the project. She shortly received numerous responses. As a result they will have Jews born or currently residing in different countries/continents being interviewed by the students. At this point there are Jews from 12 countries and seven continents who have agreed to be interviewed (Canada, USA, Costa Rica, Mexico, Argentina, Denmark, England, Scotland, South Africa, Israel, China, Australia) plus two people stationed (currently or in the past) in the Antarctica.

The Timeline of the Project looks like this:

1. Introduction to project
2. Introduction to different media for student interviews. Talk about required etiquette of different media…differences…similarities…
3. Students introduced to biographies of interviewees
4. Assign students an interviewee/country/continent
5. Students will research background information that will help them form a notion of the community interviewee has grown up/is residing
6. Students will develop questions for the interviewees that will be send ahead of time
7. Setting up date and medium of interview to be used
8. Students carry out interview
9. Students will connect the information gathered to create their own understanding of Jewish communities, especially commonalities, around the world.
10. Students decide in what shape and form they will demonstrate what they learned.
11. Students will produce final product to be displayed with globe and History Fair.

The project features: authentic conversation with people from around the world… based on a collaboration between the technology expert, sixth grade students and their Social Studies and Hebrew teachers.