CU+2

=Curriculum Grade 2 (Template)(Actual Lesson Plans)(Grade 2 FAQ)=

•Observing the Jewish calendar is a way of being Jewish. •Many Jewish holidays have non-Jewish historical origins or associations which often are related to the calendar •Jews have used holidays to create/maintain community and to shape their identity and values •Jews have always adapted and modified their holidays to better represent their changing identity and values •Many of the holiday stories are etiological(Just So Stories, i.e. invented to explain then current practices) •What are some of the holidays you talked about this year? •Why are these holidays important? •Are the holidays you observe celebrated differently from the way earlier Jews celebrated them? •What stories were invented to explain the meaning and practice of a holiday? Second grade expands the students’ understanding of how Jews mark time including when a day begins, calendars, life cycle celebrations and seasonal holidays. Students will explore the accuracy of the calendar and the relation of holidays to natural events (the seasons, full moons). Students will examine the antecedents of our seasonal holidays in Canaanite and other stories and celebrations. The preferred source for curriculum material will be literature, including the Bible, and other materials about Biblical times. Students will also explore what it was like for Jews to live during those times.
 * Synopsis**
 * Questions:**
 * Objectives:**


 * Lessons**
 * # || Title || Goals ||
 * 1 || Calendars - Marking Time in relation to Holidays, Observances, Commemorations and life cycle events  ||  Students will review the measurements of time (day, month, season, year) and their relation to observable events (sunrise/sunset, phase of the moon, solstice, equinox) and then review the names of secular Jewish celebrations and observances. Students will relate the holidays, etc. to the measures of time and determine when they occur in this year’s solar calendar (http://bnaibrith.org/caln.html). The lesson presages much of the material to be covered in the remainder of the year.  ||
 * 2 ||  Festivals - Origin as end of one farming year and beginning of the next   ||   Students will review the origins of the fall festivals (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot) in the non-Jewish celebration which marked the successful completion of the preceding year and the “clean start” of the coming year. Students will review the use of ceremonies to encourage future rains   ||
 * 3 || Sukkot Celebration: Beach Combers  ||  Goals  ||
 * 4 || Rosh Hashanah: Beginning of lunar year and anniversary of the birth of the World  ||  Students will review the desire to explain the origins of the world and the adaptation of Rosh Hashanah to its anniversary. Students will look at Jewish and non-Jewish creation myths and create a myth of their own. Students will be introduced to the concept of “Just So” stories and how it applies to creation myths.  ||
 * 5 || Sukkot – End of fall harvest – Feast of Ingathering || Students will review the occurrence and celebration of Sukkot and how it is derived from the pagan holiday of Asif. Students will review the practices during the times of the Temple with emphasis on rituals for payment for harvest, inducing rain and rekindling decadent sun. ||
 * 6 || Solar Calendar – Relation to agricultural cycles || Students will review the planting/harvesting schedules and domestic animal life cycles in relation to the seasons and the seasonal holidays. ||
 * 7 || Hebrew Calendar - Names of months and their Babylonian Origins || Students will learn the names of the Hebrew months and the Babylonian origins of the names. Students will lean the Hebrew year and date of their birth. ||
 * 8 || Hebrew Calendar - Relation of Moon phases to Holidays  || Students will learn where Jewish holidays fall in relation to phases of the moon. ||
 * 9 || Lunar Calendar - Need and form of correction || Students will learn why and how the Lunar Calendar is adjusted to be in sync with Solar Calendar and why the adjustment is in the form of an extra month every few years rather than an extra few days every year. ||
 * 10a || Thanksgiving – origin and example of harvest festival || Students will research harvest festivals and practices from different cultures and learn the secular origins of the American Thanksgiving. ||
 * 10b || Thanksgiving Celebrating Biblical vs. Present Times || Students will compare thanksgiving rituals from biblical times to present. ||
 * 11 ||  Hanukkah – Winter Solstice and Lighting of Candles  || Students will compare the date of original Hanukkah with current celebration and relate it to other winter solstice events. Students will review origins of the candle-lighting method to the amount of light from sun and moon and will learn some “Just-So” stories explaining why 8 candles are lit. ||
 * 12 || Hanukkah: Prepare for School Assembly (possibly give play on the multiple origins of the lighting ceremony or invent a “Just So” story for the lighting ceremony or enact the first Hanukkah as a delayed Sukkot with dancing under lights in the Temple courtyard) || Goals ||
 * 13 || Hanukkah – School Assembly (the order for this and the preceding lesson on Hanukkah may occur earlier because of the floating nature of the date of the holiday) || Goals ||
 * 14 ||  Calendar - Celebrating birthdays on Solar vs Holiday Anniversary  || Students will compare where their birthdays fall in relation to Jewish Holidays. Students will estimate their Hebrew birthday and discuss how birthday celebrations would change if they were only celebrated on the nearest holiday instead of on the anniversary of the birthday ||
 * 15 || **Shabbat:** Possible origins, current pratices || Students will review some of the possible origins of Shabbat and the independent development of days of rest in many cultures. Students will review the “Just So” stories explaining and requiring a day of rest on Shabbat. Students will review secular and religious Jewish practices for observing (not celebration) Shabbat and discuss how observing Shabbat can be helpful ||
 * 16 || Tu B’Shvat – Farming origins and relation to Jewish Polytheism || Students will learn the origins of Tu B’Shvat in the worship of Asherte and its relation to the farming cycle. Students will learn the modern association with the Tikkun Olam ||
 * 17 || Tu B’Shvat / Tikkun Olam – Healing the world and idol worship || Students will review the advantages and disadvantages to not taking care of our earth. Students will learn the Jewish view on anthropomorphizing inanimate objects (e.g. Mother earth). ||
 * 18 || To Be Determined || Goals ||
 * 19 || Purim – Mythical Origins, Modern analogs || Students will review the story of Purim and learn some ideas about its origins. ||
 * 20 || Purim – School Assembly || Goals ||
 * 21 || How Biblical Jews lived: Visit to U of P Museum of Archeology || The class will visit the U of P Museum of Archeology to see the kinds of dwelling and get an indication of what is was like to live during biblical times. In preparation for the Passover lesson, find out where the grain was stored, how much of it was lost and why (vermin, disease), what animals did they have and where did they sleep. ||
 * 22 || Passover – Origins in two spring festivals || Students will review the story of Passover and learn about its origins in ancient farming holidays and celebrations. Students will see the continued influence of the farming harvest rituals in current practices of the Passover Seder. ||
 * 23 || Passover – School Assembly || Goals ||
 * 24 ||   Life Cycle - Survey   || Students will review the notion of a life-cycle and which major life-cycle events are observed by secular Jews ||
 * 25 || Life Cycle – Birth/Baby Naming || Students will review the differing Ashkenazi and Shephardi traditions of giving Jewish names and comparing/getting their own Jewish names ||
 * 26 || Life Cycle – Bat/Bar Mitzvah || Students will review the practices of the Folkshul to plan this ritual ||
 * 27 || Life Cycle - Marriage || Students will review the Jewish history of marriage ||
 * 28 || Shavuos – Origins in spring festival. Modern associations and observances || Students will learn the origin of the agricultural activities of Shavuos and how these later became associated with the modern secular Jewish celebrations of first fruits. Students will learn how the festival became associated with the Giving of the Law and the modern secular Jewish celebration Torah/Talmud study ||
 * 29 || Title || Goals ||
 * 30 || Title || Goals ||