Jewish Portal of Teacher Education

Source: The National Library of Israel 

Interested in encouraging your students to explore their Jewish roots? Are you preparing your students for their Bar or Bat Mitzvah? Check out this new Family History Project!

In this special project, students will dig deep into their family history and learn more about their origins through a variety of activities, which will help them form a stronger bond to their Jewish identity.

This project is aimed at middle school students and up and consists of ten class periods, as well as homework. It combines different skills and methods, and can be done as a history project or as a Bar or Bat Mitzvah project.

We recommend implementing this project with other teachers, such as English teachers, Jewish Studies teachers, Computer teachers, and Art teachers.

This project consists of the following activities:

• Family History Project Plan
   
• Where Does My Family Come From?
   
• Oral History – Learning History to Learn About Ourselves
   
• Creating a Family Tree
   
• What Do I Gain from Learning about My Family History