Clay Snakes

One of the features of the Tal Am program (which we now use to teach many of our  Judaic subjects in our 1st through 4th grade) that makes it so unique is it's focus on incorporating multiple intelligences into the learning process.  Most obvious to anyone who walks into a Tal Am classroom are the myriad of visual stimuli which cover the walls, as well as the songs which will likely be playing.  Perhaps less obvious, though, is the kinesthetic learning which takes place in the Tal Am classroom.  That is, learning through movement and actions.  A wonderful example of precisely this type of learning took place in our second grade classroom today. Under the guidance of Morah Rachel Goldberg, our second graders, who are learning the early stories of Bereishit in Chumash, created clay representations of the curses which Hashem bestowed upon Adam, Chava, and the Snake due to their failure to follow Hashem's command.  Doing so allowed those students who may not have fully understood the nuances of each passuk through visual and auditory means, to sink their hands into it and learn it that way.

Look closely at the picture to see their handiwork and the way in which it corresponds to the pesukim from the Torah.