How might we inspire our students to think deeply about the Jewish roots of ethical principles?
How might we incorporate foundational texts into the conversations that we most want to have in this moment?
Part I: Finding Texts and Inspiration on Sefaria
- Topics pages surface relevant texts even for concepts that are never mentioned directly in traditional texts
- Sheets are a library of other people's materials to mix and match and use in your classroom
- Consider a collection of your core texts that can be used by others in your organization (or for you to return to!), with groups or saved texts.
Part II: Building our Resources
- Library, Sheets, and Google docs can all be effective ways to present your materials
- Consider setting, age, and access. Will teaching be in person? Are you considering a hybrid model? What scaffolding will your students and colleagues need to be set up for success?
- What is the most effective experience you can imagine to allow your learners to take in information and build skills? What other tools, media, or materials do you need to include?
Here are some samples to get your creative juices flowing....
- This sheet is a creation put together by educators in an elementary-aged supplementary school class. Parents and children joined together in building this digital piece.
- Student work, often paired with artwork or other media, can be a powerful way of putting children in the driver's seat. You can see a middle school sample here and a 4th grader's work here, as well as work from a second-grader here.
- Public groups are a great way to showcase the work your students have created. Here's a dayschool example from an 8th grade class.
- Sometimes sheets are a springboard for conversation or working on a school-wide question or issue. Here's a sample.
Credit: Original image can be found here. Pixabay License, Free for commercial use, No attribution required.
Part III: Today's Sandbox - Your Lesson Plan!
- Select a core ethical idea or principle to anchor your lesson (looking for inspiration? Browse our topics page!)
- Decide who are you building for and what scaffolding you will need to put in place to make this a productive learning experience for your learners.
- Take the first steps towards creating your lesson plan and/or materials. You can work in Sefaria, Google docs, pen and paper - whatever you want, or a mix of all!
Part IV: Sharing and Reflecting
- What did you learn?
- What questions do you have?
- What resources do you need to move forward?
Educator Resources
To put in to practice what we've spoken about this evening, check out Sefaria's educator page. You'll find resources for teachers, a link to sign up for our online and asynchronous Educator Course, and other resources. You can also sign up to receive our educator emails and resources.
FAQ
Sefaria's FAQ tutorials group is here. Check it out for lots of great answers!
Pedagogy on Sefaria
For a peek inside the classrooms that use Sefaria most effectively, take a look at our adaptable and reusable lesson plans.
For questions about Sefaria, or to schedule a workshop for your organization, email hello@sefaria.org
Follow up questions about the workshop? Email me! sara@sefaria.org