Having already taught lessons this year on tzedakah and mitzvot, I thought the kids were ready to learn all about tikkun olam. And what a perfect time of the year–when so many people are focused on the winter holidays and presents, it’s so important to think about the bigger picture and the health of our world.
This lesson can easily stand alone, as is, or can be broken into the smaller sections and spread out over multiple classes. And if you have more time to devote to the subject in one class period, additional crafts, activities, books and songs can easily be added as well.
Lesson Objective
The main objective of this lesson on tikkun olam is to introduce the children to the concept of tikkun olam, that it is about repairing the world through social action. My other main point is to emphasize to the students that yes, every single one of them, all kids, have the power to do their part in saving the world.
Introductory Book
Rosie Saves the World
After this great introduction to the subject, we practiced saying tikkun olam in a repeat-after-me-fashion. Most of my students do not come from a household that speaks Hebrew so many of these Hebrew words are new to them and need to be practiced.
If there’s extra time, I think this would be a perfect spot to learn a song about tikkun olam. Not only would singing reinforce learning the meaning of tikkun olam, it would also give the children more practice at saying the phrase. And it would be super fun of course! Our schedule did not allow for a song, but if it did, I would have used one of these options:
Discussion Questions
After using a book to introduce a subject or theme, I always end with a few discussion questions. For this lesson, I wanted to emphasize how every single one of my students have the power to make change in our world, to help fix this world, to do tikkun olam. Therefore, the questions I used were all about that objective:
- Can children do tikkun olam?
- What are some ways you’ve helped to repair the world?
- What are other examples of fixing the world?
As a teacher (and a mom!) I love hearing the children’s responses to discussion questions like these. They had no doubt that children could do tikkun olam. Awesome! That’s the first step–believing in yourself and your ability to make change.
They were also very thoughtful when thinking about ways they have helped repair the world and what different ways there are to do this repair. It was a wonderful and inspiring way to start the lesson.
Tikkun Olam Craft: YOU Can Save the World Poster
To review the concepts the book and discussion introduced, we next did a fun craft called “YOU Can Save the World Poster.” It emphasizes that every child has the ability, and ideally the motivation, to help repair the world. As with most of my crafts, it is simple and easy to set up, allows the children their creative take on it, and includes a meaningful message that connects the craft to the theme of the lesson. Check out how to create the “YOU Can Save the World Poster” here.
I brought home the supplies so my own kiddos could make these posters too. They enjoyed the drawing parts the most. Just like with my students, I enjoyed seeing what they chose as their own “pledge” to save the world. It was so neat to see what acts of tikkun olam they could see themselves doing and promising the same. I also really like the discussion that arose when we talked about each tikkun olam choice. The reasons they chose certain ones for their personal tikkun olam actions were thoughtful and interesting.
Tikkun Olam Bingo
The final tikkun olam activity for this lesson was a fun Tikkun Olam Bingo Game. I love using bingo games to review concepts. We had a great time reviewing Hanukkah concepts with our Hanukkah Bingo Game during our classroom Hanukkah party. This Tikkun Olam Bingo game follows the same idea. Each child has a bingo game board. With each card drawn, the child identifies any matches by placing a special marker on it. But more importantly, each card gives the opportunity to discuss how it relates to tikkun olam. The questions we used for the cards were:
- How is this picture an example of tikkun olam?
- How does the example in the card help repair or fix the world?
I played this Tikkun Olam Bingo Game with my own children at home and elicited the same thoughtful discussion about the many ways people can do tikkun olam and help this world.
Fun, Meaningful, and Successful Lesson
I’m so glad we were able to do this lesson on tikkun olam in December, when everything is so busy and full of the holiday buzz. So often everyone is thinking about what they will be getting so I love teaching lessons on the importance of giving and helping others (we also had lessons on tzedakah and mitzvah this month).
Teaching a lesson on tikkun olam really helped the children to think about the world outside themselves. Reading Rosie Saves the World
To view the lesson plan in pdf format, click here.
In what ways do you teach your children or students about tikkun olam?
