Baby Bear Hugs

lesson in a jar

I am teaching about different parts of the Jewish life-cycle.  We are on the topic of Bar Mitzvah (the Jewish coming-of-age where they get to take on adult religious responsibilities) and my students are going to go through this ritual in the next year, so they know something about the topic already.  


I wanted a fun way to get them to teach each other about the parts of the Bar Mitzvah.  I got these cool glass jars- by posting on freecycle- to use for this project.   I gave them the assignment that they needed to put things in the jar so that if someone finds it they will be able to understand what a Bar/Bat Mitzvah is.  


They will get to go home and bring in objects/printouts/ religious texts/objects- etc to add to the jar.  They will also write instructions if it is not obvious how to use the items inside.   


There are so many different applications that you can use the 'jar' idea for.  The students love the look and feel of holding an empty jar that they get to fill with their knowledge.  

Let me know how you use it!