Why is this Night Different from All Other Nights?

Some ideas for teachers planning a Passover lesson plan. Some are designed for use with small children while others are meant for high school classes. The Passover lesson plan suggested in this article is a simple one, hold a Seder in your classroom. But it can be adapted for all ages and allows teachers to include fun crafts and activities.

Learning about other cultures expands the world for students. It enables them to recognize similarities with their own traditions and to appreciate the uniqueness of these same traditions through their differences from others. The Jewish holiday of Passover presents that type of teaching opportunity, especially since children are active participants and the ritual is designed to stimulate their curiosity about the festival. This is particularly true of one aspect of the celebration which involves children looking for the afikoman, the matzo which is the last food item eaten at the Seder (a feast marking the Jews Exodus from Egypt. It is held on the first or second night of Passover). This activity can be likened to an Easter egg hunt and presents teachers with the chance to bring Passover into their classrooms with Passover crafts and hunts.

I think one of the best ways to understand Passover is to have a Seder celebration in your classroom. The amount of background information given to students is an easy way to adapt the lesson plan for any age and the Seder celebration is refreshing change of pace in all classrooms. If it's age appropriate, you can have the students ask the four questions in Yiddish, or conduct an introductory lesson plan on the Exodus. The children's book, the 30-Minute Seder is perfectly suited for classroom use as it minimizes the time needed to complete the ritual. This book is geared towards young children but makes Passover meaningful for participants of any age. (Information about where to purchase this book can be found in the Resources section below.)

You can also combine Passover with Easter lesson plans through activities and discussion questions. Creating holiday cards and making holiday recipes are other ways of putting some fun into your Easter and Passover Lesson Plans.

Passover is an eight day religious holiday that commemorates the Jews Exodus from Egypt led by Moses. Passover means skipping and is referential to the Angel of Death passing over homes marked with lamb’s blood on the night of the tenth plague, or the slaying of the first born. The Seder is the focal point of the holiday. Seder means order and the word pays homage to the specific order the ritual must follow. The story of Passover is read from a book named the Haggadah during the Seder.

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Passover

http://www.30minuteseder.com/index.html