To celebrate Shavuot and the end of the school year, the Shorashim (1st and 2nd grade) and Nitzanim (3rd and 4th grade) Kvutzot each put together their version of a Tikkun Leil Shavuot for the other learners to participate. If those words have you confused, you are not alone– Shavuot, since is falls after the school year, is not as well known and many of our learners who are new to Makom knew very little about it until we embarked on this journey a few months ago. Fortunately, a Tikkun– a study session that often goes into the night to celebrate Shavuot and the receiving of the Torah– is all about learning, teaching, and embracing curiosity.
Our learners designed, researched, and facilitated a total of fourteen different activity stations that taught a different learning goal that was related to the Ten Commandments, Shavuot or a lesson from the Torah. This variety of learning options modeled what someone might find at a Tikkun Leil Shavuot. The experiences created by our learners were as unique as the learners themselves. They included:
- A station where learners decorate a picture frame to put a family photo in to learn about the commandment to kabed et avicha v’et imecha (honor your parents). While learners worked on their crafts, the first and second graders leading the station asked them discussion questions such as “what color represents your family? How do you honor your parents?”
- A dungeons and dragons-esque role playing game where learners created characters who accompanied Moshe and Bnei Yisrael on the journey to retrieve the 10 Commandments.
- A station where learners were given prompts of different conflict scenarios and were urged to come up with non-violent ways to address these issues as an age-appropriate way to unpack the commandment lo tirtzach (do not kill.)
- An activity where learners kicked a soccer ball to different points on the ground that corresponded with Hebrew words from our Tefilot to read and discuss.
At their stations, learners were in charge of teaching kids both older and younger than themselves, and reflected on the challenges and opportunities that arose from this activity. In our group discussion after the Tikkuns, learners said that through this experience they learned, “to take a breath when things seem overwhelming,” and “that not everyone learns the same way.” Through this experience, our learners were able to embrace the joy of learning– about the Torah, about Shavuot, about each other and themselves.
