Channeling Spring Fever with Group Projects

Group projects are a great way to bring energy to your classroom! The combination of autonomy, creativity, and competition inspires healthy productivity.
Criteria for Success are crucial when introducing the project. List the requirements with a clear and authoritative header, such as, “Your Project Must Include.” When outlining your project criteria, ensure it includes a list of nouns rather than verbs. Supply oak tags and markers to inspire artistic students and allow them to express their creativity.

Criteria for success are clear, specific standards used to evaluate whether a school project achieves its intended objectives. They guide students and teachers in assessing the project’s quality, effectiveness,
and completeness.

Sample Group Project: Yom Tov

YOUR GROUP’S SUBMISSION MUST INCLUDE:

A summary of the story/timeline of the Yom Tov – 5-10 sentences
A major theme of the Yom Tov, and explain in 3+ sentences
Five key facts about your category – ideas, signicant details such as names,
locations, timelines, or notable Pesukim.
2-4 Sources, as is age-appropriate (Pirkei Avos, Kitzur Shulchan Oruch,
Midrash, Rashi, Sefer Hatodaah, etc.)
One Limud L’maaseh that you can incorporate into your life now
Written in full sentences [specify language]
A list of your group members and their role (such as Researcher, Editor,
Designer, Presenter)

Sample Group Project: Chumash/Navi

YOUR GROUP’S SUBMISSION MUST INCLUDE:

Title
Picture
Why? A claim/reason for the event (support it with a passuk)
What? Give an overview of the inyan using 3-4 key passukim
What? 4-6 important words that encompass the inyan
Who? People
Where? Places
When? Create a timeline
Takeaway/Limud

Download Sample Projects

MORE TO EXPLORE

Preventing the Summer Slide

Small efforts, big impacts We know how quickly children grow when learning is consistent—and how quickly skills can fade when routines disappear for months. The “Summer Slide” is real. Children can lose foundational academic skills, and even social and emotional progress, over the break. For some, September feels less like a continuation and more like starting all over again. A few intentional moments each week throughout the summer can help reinforce and protect the skills students worked hard to master during the year. That said, summer was never meant to be a third semester. Young children still need rest, play, family time, and freedom—and the goal isn’t to push them toward new skills. It’s simply to preserve what they already know. The Balance According to one of Torah Umesorah’s leading Intervention Specialists, assigning summer homework three times a week is sufficient for maintaining students’ progress. The assignments don’t need to

What do you wish more people understood about your job?

Let Summer Refill You

If you had a quiet moment this summer, what would you want to get better at? This one isn’t for everyone. Some of you are busier in July than in January — summer jobs, kids home, camps, family. If that’s you, bookmark this for when things settle. But if you do find yourself with a quiet mid-morning once the kids are out, or a calm early evening before the night gets going — that might be exactly enough. Torah Umesorah is offering sessions built for exactly those pockets of time. As little as 20 minutes, and you walk away with something real and usable for your classroom. Live Zoom or phone sessions Scheduled during mid-morning and early evening hours, when things tend to quiet down. On your own time Recorded sessions Listen whenever works for you — folding laundry, on a walk, or with a cup of coffee.

For the Teacher Who Can’t Find the Words

For the Teacher Who Can’t Find the Words The last day of school has a feeling all its own. Backpacks bulge with the year’s worth of seforim and workbooks. The classroom looks a little bare already. Coat hooks hold one last sweater. And somewhere between the goodbyes, you find yourself wondering where the time went. And then they’re gone. Just like that, the room that held so much — the noise, the questions, the breakthroughs, the giggles — goes quiet. There’s a particular hollow feeling that settles in when the last talmidah walks out the door, a mix of pride and nostalgia that’s hard to put into words. You want to stop them on their way out. You want to tell them how much they’ve grown, how much you’ve grown, how this year meant something. But you also know — because you know them — that a heartfelt speech from