Teaching Tip #20There is a well known saying, "you remember 10% of what you hear, 20% of what you see, but 90% of what you do." Whether the numbers are accurate or not, the point is keep kids engaged and active or they will forget it by lunch. If there's a message to be learned, have them either figure it out themselves or at least personally verbalize it.
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About This SiteA couple of years ago, I was elevated from the position of regular shul group leader to Parsha Man. This meant that Read More
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Chayei Sara
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Discussion: Eliezer says, “Blessed is Hashem…who has guided me on the way.” Lavan and Betuel also say “This is from Hashem." Have you ever felt that Hashem was helping you out personally? Share examples. |
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Discussion: We've seen many acts of chessed the past couple of parshiot. But these are just a small sampling of the opportunites to do chessed we encounter every single day. Activity: Split the children into teams, and have each time line up. Start with A and work through the alphabet. At each team's turn, the person in the front of the line has 5 seconds to name a chessed that starts with the next letter of the alphabet. If you say one, your team gets a point, you go to the back of the line, and it's the next team's turn. If not, you go to the back of the line anyway and it's still the next team's turn. Feel at liberty to award double points for things like saying a chessed from the parsha, or if you actually did that chessed this week, or if you are the letter Z. No repeating chesseds. |
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Discussion: Avraham and Sarah are both described as "Baim Bayamim," literally they "came with their days." This is often interpreted as using they cherished every moment of their lives and maximized it to its fullest potential. Do we appreciate the value of time? Activity: Everyone closes their eyes. When you say start, everyone must count 60 seconds to themselves and silenty raise their hands when they think 1 minute is up. Once everyone has raised their hands tell them to open their eyes. The winner is whoever came the closest. |
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Discussion: Sometimes what is said on the surface isn’t the full picture and you have to listen carefully to hear the deeper message. Avraham “got the hint” that Efron did not want to give him the Cave of Machpelah for free. How closely do we listen to our friends when they speak? Are we just listening to the words or are we listening to the message? Activity: One person whispers a phrase to whoever is sitting next to him or her. The message is passed in whispers around the circle until the last person says what they think they heard out loud. Stress the importance of listening closely and what happens when we misunderstand our friends. |
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Discussion: Avraham was famous for saying a little and doing a lot, as in last week's Parsha. Unlike Efron in this week's Parsha who says a lot and does little. Sometimes you don't need to say all that much to get across what you need to, and you say a lot more through your actions. Activity: Give three kids a scene to act out. One of them can say whatever he wants, but the other two are each given a specific phrase they are limited to. By altering tone of voice and connotation, the sentences take on many meanings and the whole thing can be very entertaining. If necessary, you be the person who can talk to keep the scene moving. |
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