Final Chumash Project

Grade: 8th grade girls

Section in Chumash:
Goals:
1) The students should understand the relevance and overall message of the perek being learned.
There should be some middah or hashkafah that can be drawn from the lesson and incorporated
into their lives.
2) The students should gain greater skills in their ability to learn Chumash on their own. These skills
include translating the pesukim and reading .
3) The students should feel engaged in the process of learning Chumash.

Big Ideas for this Unit:

1) The pitfalls of jealousy and favoritism
2) Being
3) The righteousness of all the brothers

Lesson 1:
Lesson Goals:

TLW . . . know the reasons why Yosef suspected his brothers of improper conduct
and vice versa
TLW . . . know why Yaakov felt a strong favoritism towards Yosef
TLW . . . engage in a problem solving activity to discuss solutions for modern day
favoritism and jealousy

Lesson Activities:
1) The class will begin by reading - out loud in Hebrew and the teacher will say
the translation. Afterwards the teacher will read the in Hebrew and the class
will translate it into English.
2) The students will break into pre-assigned groups of two and read part of the
on ' - from until " . The
students will be asked to write down five examples of how and were similar.
Afterwards each group will share one or two of the similarities that they found most
interesting with the class.
3) The class will now break into new pre-assigned groups of three and will read the "
on the words and the accompanying ' . There will be a
chart to fill out as these two are being read (see below).
4) The final activity will be for the class as a whole to discuss the Gemara in :
which says:
, :
. , -
The teacher will then hang up a poster with the following four questions on the board:
a) What do you think are some of the root causes of jealousy and how can they
be avoided?
b) What could Yaakov have done differently?
c) What could Yosef and the brothers have done differently?
d) How should parents show appreciation for their children without overtly
favoring them?
The students will be given 5 minutes to jot down their responses to these questions.
Afterwards each student will be called on to share her thoughts and ideas on any or all of
the questions. As each student shares her thoughts the class will respond with their
feedback.

Worksheet to be completed while reading the "and :

Yosefs Accusation

The Brothers Defense

1.

1.

2.

2.

3.

3.

Lesson 2:
Lesson Goals:

TLW . . . know what happened in both of Yosefs dreams

TLW . . . know why Yosef thought it was a good idea to share his dreams with his
brothers

Learning Activities:
1) The class will begin by reading - out loud in Hebrew and the teacher will
say the translation. Afterwards the teacher will read the in Hebrew and the
class will translate it into English.
2) The students will create an illustration for each of Yosefs dreams. These illustrations
can either been done by hand using the art material provided in the classroom or they
can do it on the computer using the website www.bitstripsforschools.com. The
pictures will be accompanied by captions and the students will present their finished
product to the class.
3) The students will break up into pre-assigned groups of two and will read the
on the words . As they read they will complete a reading guide with
questions on why Yosef thought it was a good idea to tell his brothers his dreams (see
below).
4) One of the key reasons why there was such a disconnect between Yosef and his
brothers after Yosef related his dreams was because the brothers were already upset at
Yosef and only saw his actions in a negative light. Often our own biases cloud our
judgment when viewing a particular situation. The students will be given the option to
work individually or in groups of two to create a story about a situation which could
be interpreted both negatively and positively. The goal of this activity will be for the
students to show why it is important to be . The stories will be hung up in
the classroom.

Reading Guide for

1. What question is the coming to answer? ____________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
2. What is the first answer that the proposes? ___________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
3. What is the second answer that the proposes? ________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
4. What is the third answer that the proposes? __________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
5. Which answer do you think is the best justification for the s initial
questions? Why? ______________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

Lesson 3:
Lesson Goals:

TLW . . . know who the was and his significance

TLW . . . know the brothers reasoning for killing Yosef
TLW . . . know Reuvens role in preventing the death of Yosef become familiar
with strategies to use when encountering peer pressure

Learning Activities:
1) The class will begin by reading - out loud in Hebrew and the teacher will
say the translation. Afterwards the teacher will read the in Hebrew and the
class will translate it into English.
2) The students will read the "on the words to themselves. They will then
write down the identity of the on a notecard and hold it up for the teacher to see.
3) The teacher will write on the board the question why does the think it is
important to tell us this story about Yosef getting lost? The students will then break
up into pre-assigned groups of two and will read the "on the words .
After they have read the "each group will write their answer on a post-it note and
will come up and stick it on the board under the question.
4) In order to understand the rationale behind the brothers decision to kill Yosef the
teacher will divide the class into two large groups. The first group will read the
on the words and the second group will read the on the
words starting from until . The class will then come back
together to complete a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting these two
interpretations. A large Venn diagram will be hung on the board. The teacher will
call on students to share what they learned and one student from each group will be
designated to write the responses offered by their respective group.
5) - tell us how Reuven prevented the brothers from killing Yosef. There
were certainly many reasons why Reuven might have been wary to object to the other
brothers determined decision. As a class we will first come up with a list of thoughts
Reuven may have been thinking before and as he confronted his brothers. Afterwards
we will discuss the role that peer pressure plays in our lives. The question will be
posed what do you do when everyone else wants to do something that you think is
wrong? The class will create a list of responses and strategies to use in such a
situation. Then the class will be divided into groups of two or three and each group
will be given a scenario that contains a situation with negative peer pressure. They
will then have to choose a method of responding to the peer pressure and will act out
their scenario in front of the class. The class will then have the opportunity to offer
feedback about what they think the presenting group did well and what could be
improved.

Lesson 4:
Lesson Goals:

TLW . . . be able to use a range of and sources to find the answers to

questions on the text

Learning Activities:
1) The class will begin by reading - out loud in Hebrew and the teacher will
say the translation. Afterwards the teacher will read the in Hebrew and the
class will translate it into English.
2) The class will be divided up into four groups with each group being given three of the
total twelve to examine. Each group will need to come up with one or two
questions that they have on their set of . After all the groups have compiled
their questions a list of all the questions will be written down on the board.
3) Working individually the students will be given time to look for answers to the
questions posed by the groups. The students may use any of the in the
classroom in addition to their own . The students will only be allowed to use a
particular /source one time for any of the four questions (i.e. they can only
answer one question using Rashi).
4) After the activity has been completed the students will reconvene back into their
original groups and everyone will share the answers that they found for the questions.
5) Before leaving the class the students will be asked to write on a notecard the question
and answer that they found most interesting/informative. These notecards will be
handed to the teacher as the students leave class.