Matzah, bricks and ovens: Real world learning at JCDS

Over the past few months, fifth-graders at the Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island, in Providence, have studied slavery and brick-making as they learned about the first chapters of Exodus, which focus on the Israelites becoming slaves and then gaining their freedom.

As part of Judaic studies, taught by Rabbi Andrea M. Gouze, the students researched the history of brick-making and the role that slavery has played in society through the ages. 

To create the actual experience of making bricks, the students first collected about 80 half-gallon cartons, and then – with the help of their first-grade buddies – mixed together    clay, sand, straw and cement. 

While the bricks dried, the students learned about thermodynamics and researched different styles of brick ovens before deciding which style was best. The students then built the oven.

The fifth-graders also studied the laws for matzah preparation (i.e., the whole process must take less than 18 minutes from start to finish for the matzah to be Kosher for Passover). This unit culminated in the students inviting the other classes to make matzah. They mixed flour with water, and gave each student a small ball, which the children then kneaded and rolled out as thin as they could.  Students then poked holes in their dough to stop it from rising. The matzah was then baked in the fifth-graders’ oven.

The project gave students new insight into the harshness of the Israelites’ life in Egypt.  Afterward, at least one student said he was grateful that he only had to do the hard work of brick-making for a few hours, rather than every day of his life. 

This study unit was developed by Gouze, for which she received an honorable mention in the category of interdisciplinary integration from the Kohelet Foundation, a national educational organization. 

– Submitted by the Jewish Community Day School