The following are examples of Student Projects. All photography of student work was generously donated by Michael Fox of Michael Fox Photography.

Map of Sarah and Abraham's Journey Out of Mesopotamia Many students are surprised to learn that Sarah and Abraham came from the Middle East and not from Europe, though students have studied Biblical stories numerous times. Our curriculum gives ancient Jewish civilization a clear geographical context. Revisiting ancient Jewish text through this lens challenges assumptions of who Jews are, where we come from, and what we look like.

Pyramids of Ancient Egypt Much of our curriculum involves revisiting and embodying the Jewish journey with a contemporary understanding of its relevance, so that the names, places, and struggles do not seem so remote from our American shores. As Jewish slaves built pyramids for the Egyptian rulers, so do our students build pyramids for their class! Although they seem much more cheerful about it...

	Current Events Project Students break into small groups and grapple with contemporary issues facing the Ethiopian Jewish community, using translated articles from an Ethiopian paper in Israel. For their writing & art project, students write up a summary of the article and a summary of their class-long discussion about it. They then make a poster out of these summaries, the original Hebrew article, and pictures of Ethiopian Jews.
	Traditional Ethiopian Jewish Food Parents use our website to look up and cook traditional recipes from each Jewish community, which helps them physically experience an aspect of the communities the children are studying. Parents then share the wonderful food they have made, at a family program. As part of their "homework assignment," parents write up and display cards identifying what the food is called, when it is eaten, and how it is eaten.
	Ethiopian Art Project After studying about a particular aspect of religious life or daily life in Ethiopia, students write up a summary of what they have learned. They then make a poster which includes their summary, pictures of Ethiopian Jews, and any other creative decorations.
	Queen Makeda and King Solomon Working with a theater specialist, our project has adapted the story of Queen Makeda and King Solomon into a play, which students learn and rehearse throughout the year. Not only do students learn their parts, but they also research traditional Ethiopian costumes and make their own variations.
Stay tuned for more samples of student projects!

	Class Discussion Collage The documentary about the Lemba always provokes many questions and a profound discussion following the video. Students are often surprised to learn about the genetic link of all Jews, disheartened to hear about discrimination the Lemba faced, and eager to find ways to heal ethnic tensions in our community. Students write up their thoughts and assemble them on a poster with pictures of the Lemba.
	Student Presentation As part of the JMCP curriculum, students develop skills in presenting they have learned, through facilitating discussion on their projects. A class is often broken up into independent study groups focusing on different aspects of Jewish life in a given region. At the end of an independent study period, students share what they have done, teaching and learning from peers. JMCP students are also encouraged to present to classes not using the curriculum, to help increase awareness of Jewish diversity.
Stay tuned for more samples of student projects!

	Chusham and the Wind Students perform a theatrical presentation of Chusham and the Wind, which our theater specialist converted from a Middle Eastern Jewish folk tale into a play. This children's story gives students the opportunity to find out about Middle Eastern Jewish costumes and customs and have fun while they learn.
	Quadous Cup A quadous cup is a ritual cup used for blessing wine on the Jewish Sabbath. As part of their studies on Middle Eastern and North African Jews, students create a mini-museum display of Jewish ceremonial objects. Student work has been displayed at the Oakland Museum, and the JMCP intends to work with additional museums in this capacity.
	A Middle Eastern Purim Purim happened in the Middle East! After telling the Purim story in a round-robin game, students find four Middle Eastern and North African countries on a map and study the many different Purim names and Purim traditions from the region. After voting on their favorite Purim tradition, students do a writing and art project presenting what they have learned.
	Dosa Haman drew lots to determine the day to kill the Jews. Instead, he was killed on that day. Dosa is one of the traditional gambling games for Purim, in honor of this theme of chance. After learning Purim gambling games, students teach the games at a booth in their school's Purim carnival.
Stay tuned for more samples of student projects!

	Flag Decoration While studying Central and East Asian Jews, students make flags of the countries where Jews lived. Students then decorate the classroom with these flags, as a visual reminder of Jewish diversity.
Stay tuned for more samples of student projects!

	Sephardi Food With the JMCP curriculum, parents are students too! We offer parent parallel programs on the history, heritage, and religious traditions about Jews around the world. For family education fun, parents research recipes for traditional Jewish food from each community. In addition to preparing the food, they write information about when the dish is traditionally served and how it is eaten.
	The Magic Sandles of Abu Kassim WIth the help of a theater specialist, the JMCP has adapted this Jewish folk tale from Tukey and turned it into a play. Students learn and rehearse this play throughout the year. They research traditional Jewish costumes in Turkey and make their own adaptations.
	The Many Faces of the Torah In the Sephardi community, the torah is parchment enclosed by a steel case made out of gold, silver, or wood. It is decorated with rimonim, silver ornaments on the top of the torah. Students make ceramic replicas of the torah and rimonim as part of their study of Sephardi religious traditions.
	Sephardim Traveled Everywhere! Students get a visceral feel for how far the Spanish-Portuguese Jews traveled, by making flags representing their history in Southern Europe and Latin America. Can you name which countries are represented in this picture?
Stay tuned for more samples of student projects!

The Bear and the Children Although our curriculum does not focus on Jews from Central and Eastern Europe, we have included a play based on a Jewish folk tale from Poland. As part of this fun play about a family of children and a bear, students learn about religious rituals of the Ashkenazi orthodox community.

Stay tuned! Curriculum under development.

Stay tuned! Curriculum under development.

	©2002 by the Jewish Multicultural Curriculum Project. All rights reserved. No portion of this article may be copied without the permission of the Project Director.