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Lesson Plan Image

Passover Picture Game

Students will learn about some of the objects and historical figures associated with Passover, then play a game based on this Jewish festival of freedom.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

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  • Paper
  • Tape

Steps

  • Step 1

    Passover is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the exodus from Egypt in 1313 BCE when Jews escaped from bondage to Pharaoh. Have students learn about this holiday that is observed all over the world. In what season does Passover take place? How long were the Jews held captive in ancient Egypt? How did Moses facilitate their exit? What is a Seder? What are some foods associated with Passover, and what do they symbolize?

  • Step 2

    Have students form small groups and ask each group to draw images of items that are associated with Passover on separate pieces of heavy paper. Use a variety of colors to create a colorful border around each image. Objects they might draw include a piece of matzah (the unleavened bread that is eaten during a Seder), a pyramid, a goblet of wine, a Haggadah (the book that's read during the Seder), a frog (one of the plagues visited upon the Egyptians), Moses holding out his staff to part the Red Sea (Sea of Reeds), or any other symbol they researched.

  • Step 3

    Now ask students to use the images in a game. To play, stack the cards face down on a table. On each player's turn, they pick up a card without looking at it and hold it over their head or behind their back, showing it to other players. Have that player ask yes/no questions to determine what image they're holding so others can describe what the player can't see. For example, "Am I a food on the Seder table?, " "Am I a person?," "Am I an animal?" Then after a maximum of six questions, the player needs to guess what is pictured on the card. They can have a maximum of six guesses and if they don't figure it out, that card is put back into the deck for another player to randomly pick later.

Standards

LA: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grade level topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.

VA: Identify specific works of art as belonging to particular cultures, times, and places.

LA: Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

MATH: Draw points, lines, line segments, rays, angles (right, acute, obtuse), and perpendicular and parallel lines. Identify these in two-dimensional figures.

SS: Describe ways in which language, stories, folktales, music, and artistic creations serve as expressions of culture and influence behavior of people living in a particular culture.

SS: Explore factors that contribute to one's personal identity such as interests, capabilities, and perceptions.

SS: Identify and describe ways family, groups, and community influence the individual's daily life and personal choices.

VA: Use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories.

VA: Use visual structures of art to communicate ideas.

VA: Select and use subject matter, symbols, and ideas to communicate meaning.

Adaptations

Passover is a springtime holiday. Have students investigate other holidays that are observed in the spring, such as Easter, Ridván (Baha'i), Holi (Hindu), or any others.

Have students collaborate to write and perform a short play that tells the story of Passover.