A "Yes I Can!" twist of a study unit on Alliance-Kol Israel Haverim
Yael Vishnevich
As part of their history studies, 9th graders learn about Alliance-Kol Israel Haverim. In correlation with the "Yes I Can!" tradition, the students researched the subject themselves, produced projects and taught their fellow students using alternative learning strategies.
The class was divided into five groups, with each group given a research task which was done online while learning how to use a computerized shared files and folders system.
Group A was in charge of the organization's ID card – its Hebrew and French names and meanings, symbols, moto, date of establishment and its founders. The group created a presentation consisting of both written and visual data.
Group B investigated the international controversy which led to establishing the organization – the abduction of Edgardo Mortara as a child by the Papal States in 1858 after he was secretly baptised by a family servant. The children read the story in a book written by Narcissus Leven, who was one of Alliance's founders and president. The children created a comic strip based on "The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara" by painter Moritz Oppenheim.
Group C made an interactive map of Alliance's historic schools. They searched the web for mentioning of schools in various cities around the globe and placed them as pins on a shared Google map.
Group D made an interactive map of places and sites in Israel to do with Kol Israel Haverim – institutions and streets named after people related to the organization. They pinned these alongside pictures and explanations on a shared Google map.
Group E used Google Translate by Speech to create a dialogue in French between a 9th grader from the Ort Sapir School in Yerucham, and a fictitious Alliance student in Northern Africa from 150 years ago.
At the end of the group activity, the children came together in the classroom. Representatives from each group presented their topics using "the Jigsaw teaching technique". Throughout the whole learning process the children showed enthusiasm, curiosity and creativity. They demonstrated a high motivation to learning as well as treating their peers with respect.
This is the third year that "Yes I Can!" has been active in the Ort Sapir School in Yerucham, and with great success. The fruitful cooperation with the educational and managerial staff has resulted in this teaching method which stems from our fundamental outlook which sees great importance in meaningful learning. All this is alongside adjusted teaching strategies in order to express the various learning skills which reflect the versatility among the student population. I came up with this method as part of an interdisciplinary thinking process which combines teachers from different fields and was assisted by Yair Kleitman, Haim Tzvi Elboim and Yehudim Ben Hemo. This is without a doubt proof that yes, they can!
Yael Vishnevich is a Teacher's Guide - Yes I Can - Shaar Kol Israel Haverim
