1. By: Donna de Groot Lessons first created in 2012
Oasis Israel Project
By: Donna de Groot
Lessons first created in 2012

2. At Charlotte Jewish Day School our 4th and 5th graders are divided into 3 groups
for one section of their Judaica learning each day.
During each trimester they change teachers and learn a different subject in depth.
The following project was created to enhance the trimester that the students learn about modern
Israeli history.
The main idea is to bring Israeli history alive by interviewing people who lived through these major events.

3. The original program was part of the 5th grade curriculum that I taught in 2012. That year
I visited Oasis with the 5th graders twice and we used the first two of the videos for the introduction of
Those visits. Now that we have made some changes, I have added the Entebbe information for the
Students in the third trimester, so that each group can get a different view of history and the seniors
Will have a different experience each time the students visit.
Donna de Groot

4. During the first trimester the students learn about the brave teenagers who crept behind
The British forces during the Mandate era to blow a shofar at the Kotel at the end of the Yom Kippur fast each year.
From the end of the British Mandate in 1949, Jerusalem was divided and the Jordanians had control of this area which made access to the Kotel impossible until Jerusalem was reunited in 1967.
The students interview seniors about the Six Day War and create a “biopoem” about their
senior and their relationship to this era in History.

5. During the second trimester the students visit Oasis senior center when they
learn about the vote for the partition of Palestine in 1947.
First, they interview their senior about If they are too young to remember this
then the interview concentrates on the senior’s earliest memory of Israel as a
young country or perhaps a visit that they made to Israel.

6. During the third trimester the last group of 4th and 5th graders visits Oasis
after learning about the raid on Entebbe in 1976.
These students also create a poem about their senior in relationship to
This famous parts of Israeli history.

7. Each group learns about all of these events in modern Israeli history.
Each group has a different interview/poetry project based on one of the three
areas designated above. Each group begins by interviewing a classmate or family
member and creates a poem about the interviewee.

8. Fall Trimester

9. Introduction to the project for 4th and 5th graders at the Charlotte Jewish Day School
involves working with a classmate in a Judaica class on interviewing skills.

10. Each student tries to turn the information that they gleaned into a
Biopoem using this template:
(adapted from
First name
Three adjectives that describe the person
Relationship to our school
Two things or ideas that this person loves
Three feelings this person has experienced
Three fears that this person has
Two hopes
Where the person lives
Last name

11. After seeing the template… ask remaining questions of each other before writing the poem.
Work with your partner to write your own questions to get the information that you need.

12. The students produce a poem in Hebrew and in English.
They turn in a rough draft of each which is corrected by highlighting
areas that need improvement (spelling, syntax etc.)
The poem is revised until both teacher and student are pleased with
the results.

13. Oasis project for fall trimester:
The students review the history leading up to the historic Six Day War in 1967 through
class discussion and reading short stories about the history of Modern Israel.
See the film
“Echoes of a shofar” produced
By Toldot Yisrael ( and the I-center
( to document eye witness accounts of important
Events of the 20th century in Israel.

15. After viewing the film have the students write answers to these questions?
I saw______________________________________________________אני ראיתי
I heard____________________________________________________אני שמעתי
I felt_______________________________________________________אני הרגשתי
This discussion could be part of several class periods having the students share and
talk about their answers to each question.

16. Students visit the Oasis Senior center at the local JCC where active seniors come for day
programming. The students are each assigned a senior and they spend a few minutes
introducing themselves talking about how they are learning history from people who have
lived it.
The film is viewed by the students with their senior and then the students conduct the interview.

17. There is room at the bottom for students
to add their own questions because
they know what information that they
need for the poem.

18. Template for the poem from the oasis project
First name
Three adjectives that describe the person
Relationship to Israel or Jewish community
Two things or ideas this person loves
Three feelings that this person felt after seeing the video
Three fears that this person has regarding Israel
Two hopes
Where the person lives
Last name

20. The students produce a poem in Hebrew and in English.
They turn in a rough draft of each which is corrected by highlighting
areas that need improvement (spelling, syntax etc.)
The poem is revised until both teacher and student are pleased with
the results.

21. Winter trimester

22. Oasis project for winter trimester:
The students practice the interview and write a “biopoem” about a classmate or family member.
The students review the history leading up to the historic vote in November 1947 by the United
Nations through class discussion and reading short stories about modern
Israeli history.
See the film “November 29, 1947: The Story of a Vote” produced
by Toldot Yisrael ( and the I-center
( to document eye witness accounts of important
events of the 20th century in Israel.

24. After viewing the film, the students write answers to these questions?
I saw______________________________________________________אני ראיתי
I heard____________________________________________________אני שמעתי
I felt_______________________________________________________אני הרגשתי
This discussion could be part of several class periods having the students share and
talk about their answers to each question.

25. Students visit the Oasis Senior center at the local JCC where active seniors come for day
programming. The students are each assigned a senior and they spend a few minutes
introducing themselves talking about how they are learning history from people who have
lived it.
The film is viewed by the students with their senior and then the students conduct the interview.

26. There is room at the bottom for students
to add their own questions because
they know what information that they
need for the poem.

27. Template for the poem from the oasis project
First name
Three adjectives that describe the person
Relationship to Israel or Jewish community
Two things or ideas that this person loves
Three feelings that this person has about the film
Three fears that this person has regarding Israel
Two hopes
Where the person lives
Last name

29. The students produce a poem in Hebrew and in English.
They turn in a rough draft of each which is corrected by highlighting
areas that need improvement (spelling, syntax etc.)
The poem is revised until both teacher and student are pleased with
The results.

30. Spring trimester

31. Oasis project for spring trimester:
Practice interview and writing a “biopoem” about a classmate or family member.
Review the history leading up to the historic rescue of the hostages in 1976 by the Israeli
Defense Forces through class discussion and reading short stories about modern
Israeli history.
See the film “Miracle at Entebbe – 40th Anniversary” produced by the
Sydenham synagogue of South Africa to commemorate 40 years after this historic event.

33. After viewing the film, the students write answers to these questions?
I saw______________________________________________________אני ראיתי
I heard____________________________________________________אני שמעתי
I felt_______________________________________________________אני הרגשתי
This discussion could be part of several class periods having the students share and
talk about their answers to each question.

34. Students visit the Oasis Senior center at the local JCC where active seniors come for day
programming.
The students are each assigned a senior and they spend a few minutes introducing themselves.
They talk about how they are learning history from people who have lived it.
The film is viewed by the students with their senior and then the students conduct the interview.

35. There is room at the bottom for students
to add their own questions because
they know what information that they
need for the poem.

36. Template for the poem from the oasis project
First name
Three adjectives that describe the person’s relationship to Israel or Jewish community
Two things or ideas that this person loves
Three feelings this person has regarding the film
Three fears that this person has regarding Israel
Two hopes for Israel
Where the person lives
Last name

38. The students produce a poem in Hebrew and in English.
They turn in a rough draft of each which is corrected by highlighting
areas that need improvement (spelling, syntax etc.)
The poem is then revised until both teacher and student are pleased with
The results.

39. All of the poems written in Hebrew and English with a
picture of the student and the senior that they
Interviewed, are displayed as part of the Grand-friends
Day celebration at our school in May.

40. One of the poems written in 2012
By a CJDS student.
A poem about Maria
By Jordan Brofsky
I am in Oasis
I came to learn about history,
About Israel.
The first Independence Day she doesn’t
Remember.
Then she was only a girl
At the age of 20 she traveled there
She told me about the beautiful views
She gave me inspiration to travel.

41. Juliana Kantor, CJDS graduate of 2012 with her poem
From the Oasis Israel project from that year. The next
Slide is an interview with her from August, 2016.