Lesson Plan
Our Pretend Trip to Israel!
Subject(s): Social Studies
Objectives: Children will know safety rules of airplanes; children will know about the physical appearance and important landmarks of Israel; children will know what passports are and what value they hold
Description: Before Israel's birthday, the children spent a few days learning about the country of Israel and why it is so important to the Jewish people. As part of this background information, the children learned about the design of the Israeli flag.
After looking at the similarities between an Israeli flag and a Tallit, a Jewish scarf-like shawl worn by religious members of the Jewish community to represent their faith and devotion to Judaism, the children then learned about traveling and passports. They learned that a passport is used when traveling to a different country. The children drew self-portraits in their pretend passports to prepare for our "flight" to Israel. After drawing, we were ready to go on our pretend airplane! The children enjoyed an in-flight snack while waiting for teachers to hand out their passports.
After eating their snacks and receiving their passports, it was time to look out the window to see the sights of Israel! The children saw the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Haifa, the Western Wall, and other Israel landmarks. Once arriving at the airport, it was time to go through customs and get our passports stamped!
When arriving back to the classroom, the children pretended they were in Israel by working on a kibbutz (Israeli farm) or running a local Israeli grocery store. The lesson was a great success, and the children loved learning about Israel and traveling!
