Grade Level: 8th grade

Goal: Students will learn about Yehoshua by researching his past interactions with
Moshe, and participate in leadership activities to stress the importance of the
qualities learned
Procedure:
Hook: (12-16 minutes) Tell students in advance and also
have a sign on the door that tells students to meet in the
school courtyard for an activity. The students will be
challenged to lift a bucket of water with bungee cords
(see photo) and move it to another destination without
spilling it. The catch is that the people holding the
bungee cords are blindfolded and are paired with a person not holding the bungee
cord that will communicate to them what to do. The key of the game is to have clear
communication of the people without blindfolds, so there is not constant yelling of
individual pairs of stop and go.
Return to class and have a discussion on what went wrong and what went well and
why. Everybody will write on a notecard prepared for them these two and I will
choose a few to share. (4-5 minutes)
Begin textual learning:
After discussing different leadership qualities that are needed for the activity, I will
give a small frontal lesson introduction to Yehoshua. I will introduce the various
concepts in the sefer, but stress that today we will learn the value of Yehoshuas
leadership.
Transition to chavrusa with the smartboard-(8-10 minutes) I will turn on the
smartboard that will have the following instructions
1) You will be paired with chavrusa where you will get one of the following
sections to learn:
a) Shemot 24: 12-13 Rashi on 13
b) Bamidmar 14:1-10
c) Bamidbar 11:24-28
2) Your task will be to: translate the pesukim and discuss with each other what
quality Yehoshua is showing
3) If you are done look up Bamidbar 27:16-17 and figure out what Moshe says a
leader needs to have
4) Scroll down on the smartboard with the pairs they will be working with and
what verse they will be studying and tell them to find a spot to work in
I will be walking around the classroom to monitor their discussions as well as
taking questions for words that may be difficult

After they are done put each section on the smartboard and I would shortly read
over the pesukim and translate them with enthusiasm. After reading each section,
ask the groups that received that section to come up to the smartboard and
highlight the words with magic pen that will assist in telling the group what they
interpreted.
Overall, the following short summary that will be on the smartboard will help most
likely put their findings together: (6-8 minutes)
5) He waits patiently
6) He does not rebel
7) He defends his leader
Then a discussion about the themes discovered in the game previously played will
help concretize the qualities in modern day. The discussion will be led by questions
like:
-Why would Yehoshua be good at the game?
-Where would his faults be? Would he have faults?
I will be cold calling on people as well as taking responses to make sure everyone is
participating.
-Put your thumb up if you could imagine playing with Yehoshua and how his
qualities could help you in the game
(3-5 minutes)
Each student will than write a one minute paper on concepts they learned in their
one minute journal
I will tell them the importance of learning about someones past before exploring
their present life in order to fully understand the bigger picture.
Students will be assigned to read Yehoshua 1:1-9 and shortly write down the words
of strength Hashem gives to Yehsohua. In the remaining class time, they can begin
and then finish the rest for homework