Creative Projects Form Connections

Where does a person’s creative ability come from? Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love, portrays Creativity as an actual separate entity in her newest book, Big Magic. Creativity waits for a person to be ready to receive its ideas and energy, and if the person isn’t ready for a creative experience, Creativity will find someone else who will embrace it. We all have creative ideas at different points in our lives, and I agree with Gilbert that they seem to appear out of nowhere.

This year TEC Religious School did embrace Creativity as we brought into our school the new approach to learning called Project Based Learning, or PBL for grades 4-6, Kitot Daled, Hey and Vav, as the next step after the hands-on learning they do in the younger grades. I can’t say that I know where creativity comes from, but I do see what it has accomplished for these children. One result of PBL was how the students in both classes, the combined Kitah Daled-Hey (4-5) and Kitah Vav (6), have connected with each other in new ways through their working in teams.

Kitah Daled-Hey (4-5): The big question asked by the class was, “What is a synagogue and how does it function?” The class delved into in-depth learning about synagogues in general and their own in particular. They went back into the Torah in the Book of Exodus to learn about our first structure for communal worship of God, the Tabernacle. They visited our temple to have a hands-on experience and learn about the ritual items used in the synagogue. They finally did an on-line exploration of different synagogues around the world as well as outdoor mediation spaces. Throughout their studies they kept a record in words and drawings of the elements they found most compelling during their studies, in order to design and create their own model synagogue.

Kitah Vav (6): Their studies of the beginning of the Jewish community in the New World centered around an historic novel about a Jewish girl who was kidnapped from her home in Portugal at the age of six. The story tells her journey of survival in the New World, now at the age of twelve, and how her Judaism plays a part. The students worked in cooperative teams of three to research about this period, using in-class computers, the text and outside references collected by the teacher. Students chose individual or group projects based on their own interest that demonstrated their knowledge of topics related to this period in Jewish history.

Amazing things happened as a result of this new model of learning. I heard that one child actually chose to come to religious school rather than sport practice! Now that is a switch. Also, new bonds were formed among the students who found common areas of interest as they worked in teams and engaged in a wider area of activities. These social connections among the students will have strong impacts on their future lives as they search for how to be engaged in Jewish life. With 21st century styles of learning we are helping our children to find their place as Jews in the 21st century.