Israel @ 60 weblinks
Below you will find a selection of sites that are particularly suited to the teaching of Israel @ 60. Expanded lesson plans have been developed for several of the sites; links to these lesson plans are provided in the site descriptions. Questions or suggestions? Email mercaz@ujafed.org
(1) SITES FOR GRADES 4 - 6
www.akhlah.com/israel/israel.php
Akhlah, The Jewish Children's Learning Network, contains a section entitled "Israel for Children." It includes information on Israeli cities, symbols, history, coins, politicians - all geared for children.
See http://school.discovery.com/quizzes10/jlevine/SymbolsofIsrael.html for a self-test quiz set up on the Discovery site.
To build your own quiz go to http://school.discovery.com Click on Custom Classroom to create your own free quizzes and puzzles.
www.bus.ualberta.ca/yreshef/zionism/zionism.html
Originally designed for Israel at 50 and 100 Years of Zionism, Nurit Reshef's interactive site still offers solid material for children. There are sections on Israeli symbols, personalities (with synopses in English and/or Hebrew), timeline of Israeli history, cities in Israel, as well as puzzles and games. See Biographies assignments.
www.babaganewz.com
Babaganewz has a section titled Virtual Israel which includes crafts, history, music, Jerusalem, exploring. A novel addition is a section on the People of Israel which profiles eleven people and their stories. In addition to the Virtual Israel section the Jewpardy game asks simple questions about Israel. And finally, check out the archive for lesson plans on Hibbat Zion. Our focus was on a lesson plan entitled "From the Four Corners of the Earth." The Babaganewz site complements the Babaganewz classroom magazine; both are geared for grades 4 - 7 students.
www.zigzagworld.com/hebrewforme/
This site is lots of fun. Although not directly related to Israel at 60, Hebrew is the spoken language and this is a fun way to learn. The Hebrew for Me section of the Zigzagworld site has pictures of a variety of themes and a corresponding list of Hebrew words. Click and drag a word and it becomes the object which the user can place on the picture.
(2) SITES FOR GRADES 7 - 12
www.60israel.org
This is the Jewish Agency site for Israel @ 60. There is a great deal of good information on the site. Here are some highlights:
Go to Israel and Zionism (right navigation bar)
Click on Story of Zionism Scroll down to review the Educational Activities; focus in the workshop was on the Perfect Israel activity. Check that out as well as our alternative assignment.
Check out, as well, the Maps section.
Other materials can be found in the Activities and programming section (left navigation bar).
Finally, the Places in Israel section has a very extensive list of locations with photos and descriptions.
http://jeru.huji.ac.il/
The new section of the Jerusalem Mosaic site can be viewed in English at jeru.huji.ac.il/open_screen2.htm or in Hebrew at http://jeru.huji.ac.il/hopen_screen.htm. The site divides the history of Jerusalem into nine time periods, with short historical reviews, maps and information about each era - personalities, costumes, foods, water systems and sightseeing. The old section of the site includes information about the gates of Jerusalem.
www.israelhighway.org/
Israel Highway is a weekly newsletter geared for high school students. Its articles deal with issues from Israel as well as other topics of interest - music, art, sports and technology. One goal of the publication is "to prepare students for Israel-related encounters on college campuses". Students can subscribe and receive the newsletter by email.
See Israel Highway assignments for ideas for using this site in class.
(3) OTHER SITES OF INTEREST
www.tourism.gov.il/other/virtual%20tour/map_index2.html
Israel's Ministry of Tourism has developed a site that includes dozens of 360 degree photos of different sections of Israel. The user can scroll within each of the photos, and zoom in and out. Photos range from Banias to Eilat, with thirty photos just of Jerusalem.
www.knesset.gov.il
The Knesset site explains the Israeli system of government and the powers and functions of Knesset. Take a virtual tour of Knesset, read government documents, and much more. In Hebrew and English.
www.spielbergfilmarchive.org.il/kv/index.html
Virtual Cinema: The Steven Spielberg Film Archive includes more than four hundred films. There are sections on pre-state Israel and the early years of the state. Other sections document 20th century Jewish life, including footage from various Jewish communities and the Holocaust. The films range from short documentaries such as a ten-minute film Jewish Life in Cracow, to a 49-minute film, The Day Came, which depicts the struggle for Israel’s survival after the Declaration of Independence.
GOOGLE EARTH
Google Earth is free software that can be downloaded to your computer. Check out Israel's map and its neighbours. View photos posted on Google Earth and information for different locations.
(4) SOURCE MATERIAL FOR TEACHERS
These sites are also suitable for research for students in middle and high school
www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH00li0
This section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs site includes Israeli history from statehood to the present.
www.israelcelebrates60.com/israel_60_best.php
The site Israel's 60 Best has been developed by a consulting firm, Upstart Ideas. They have set up lists of the 60 best in these (and other) categories:
Intriguing Facts include a diverse range of information such as:
- Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per capita. Israel ranked second only to Canada in the average amount of hours spent online
- over the past 25 years agricultural output has increased sevenfold with hardly any increase in the amount of water use
- Michal Negrin is the great-niece of Ben Gurion
www.us-israel.org/jsource/index.html
The Jewish Virtual Library is an encyclopedic collection of information about Israel, personalities and other topics.
www1.cbs.gov.il/reader/?MIval=cw_usr_view_Folder&ID=141
The Central Bureau of Statistics provides data on many topics, from the economy to population to the environment. Charts are available in English and Hebrew.
click for other Israel links
