Title of the Lesson: Can Students Generate Essential Questions that Relate to Jewish Knowledge that is Enduring? Part One

When mentoring our pre-service and in-service teachers we need to describe and model both research-based and clinically tested best practices. This is one of many lessons we will be sharing on teaching Judaic content, lesson planning, models of teaching, differentiated and individualized instruction and learning activities designed to transform the classroom into a Jewish community of cooperative learners. The title of this lesson is “Can Students Generate Essential Questions that Relate to Jewish Knowledge that is Enduring? “ Since there are 13 elements in each lesson plan we will divide this lesson plan into four parts. Here is the first part of the lesson on student generated questions relating to enduring Jewish knowledge.

Enduring Jewish Knowledge Rationale for the Lesson: Enduring Jewish knowledge such as the Torah and the Talmud contain a body of wisdom that guides a person regarding how to lead a righteous and meaningful life.

Essential Question/s: What is enduring Jewish knowledge? How do I find enduring Jewish knowledge? What makes Jewish knowledge enduring? Can students generate their own essential questions that can lead to enduring Jewish knowledge?

Assessment/s: (Initial, ongoing, and final activities designed to measure what the student has learned)

Students individually, in pairs, via classroom discussion and as a homework assignment discuss the answers to these essential questions. What is enduring Jewish knowledge? How do I find enduring Jewish knowledge? What makes Jewish knowledge enduring? Can students generate their own essential questions that can lead to enduring Jewish knowledge?

Objective/Learning Outcome: (What the student is supposed to learn from this lesson) In his or her own words, the student will be able to generation essential questions relating to enduring Jewish knowledge.

Name of the Active Learning Procedure: Think-Web, Pair-Web, Share

An Explanation of the Steps of Think-Web, Pair-Web, Share from the Toolbox

Step 1. Pose a question to your students. Ask each student to write an essential question (i.e. What is the Torah?), in the middle of a sheet of paper, and draw a circle around that question. See the graphic organizer #1 at the top of the post.

Then ask each student to draw a few spokes around that circle, and write important questions that he or she would like to explore in class. See the web, a visual depiction of student- generated questions and thoughts, in the diagram #2 at the top of this post.

Note: Each of your students has now created an individual web of his/her questions and thoughts. This completes step one of the Think-Web procedure.

On the next post we will share the second part of this four part lesson on how students can generate essential questions relating to enduring Jewish knowledge.