Ben Porat Yosef middle school, elementary school and early childhood grandparents and special visitors enjoyed nachat-filled days on Friday, December 22, for the middle school, and Monday, December 25 for the elementary school and early childhood program. Both days began with refreshments and a Dvar Torah about families and intergenerational bonds, given by Head of School Rabbi Saul Zucker. This was followed with activities prepared especially with “special guest” participation in mind to enable the guests to experience some grade-related learning and fun!

Some of the intergenerational lessons that took place in the middle school included a study of historical fiction and word play games that tested vocabulary and alacrity; a Kahoot game that tested participants’ knowledge of famous sites and cities of Israel and encouraged many to share their personal memories of these places; a Clue-inspired American history game in which participants had to match the colony with the crime; and a lesson on mesorah followed by individual family tree projects detailing each family’s unique traditions.

Elementary school students and guests explored clues in non-fiction texts that helped them understand the material, created personal timelines in conjunction with the students’ study of biographies and prepared family trees in Hebrew. They also participated in various math activities, made challah dough and mezuzah cases. The early childhood guests were treated to the students beautiful singing performance, after which they helped students decorate cookies, special treasure boxes and picture frames.