Challenge and Change: History of the Jews in America
The Twentieth Century and Beyond
Book 3
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The concluding book in the three-volume Challenge and Change series grapples with issues that confront the American Jewish community today, including Jews in politics, the spirituality movement, and the changing role of women in Jewish religious life. As students examine the lives and deeds of American Jews from World War One (1914) to today, they are invited to consider the effect their own lives will have on the future of American Jewry.
The Challenge and Change series has been written for 7th- through 9th-grade students, students who are developmentally ready to be thoughtful and critical readers. The book will appeal to students of varying ability levels: the language is accessible, the style and the material challenging and thought-provoking.
It is not enough to look at history as a series of events that happened long ago and far away. The Challenge and Change series helps students examine American Jewish history in the context of Jewish culture, religious observance, and tradition. As students read about an historical event and its impact on the people of the time, they are encouraged, through a variety of questions and activities, to think about it through the lenses of Jewish thought, tradition, and law, and are provided with background information to help them do so. They are also asked to relate these historical events to current events and to their own lives, assessing their importance, not only in the past, but also in today's world and the future.
The Challenge and Change series is written from a co-constructivist view of education, based on the curriculum and professional development work of Dr. Morton Botel of the University of Pennsylvania. Students are encouraged, through the activities and questions provided in the pupil edition and by the teaching strategies in the carefully developed teaching guide, to actively engage with the material in a variety of ways and to construct their own meaning as they do so.
The Student Textbook Includes:
Reflect On It, at the beginning of each chapter alerts the students to important ideas in the chapter and encourages students to answer these questions as they read. |
Learn It, words or phrases, either in English or Hebrew, that students need to know to understand the material. |
Think About It, critical-thinking questions that should prompt students to stop reading and take stock of their reactions to and understanding of the material. |
Do It, writing responses directly in the textbook, or active involvement with people, places, and things that will further the students knowledge. |
Look At It, draws students' attention to primary source documents and maps. |
Click On It, websites that will enhance student learning. |
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Classroom Resource Available on CD! |  |
Photos, images, maps, music and more. Enhance classroom presentation of the 3-volume textbook series. |
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The Teaching Guide* Includes:
Learning Objectives, a statement of the specific performance objectives for the chapter.
Get Ready! a set-induction activity designed to introduce the chapter and motivate students to think about the ideas developed in it.
Use the Time Line, suggestions for active involvement with the time line found at the end of each unit.
Reflect On It, repetition of the question, or questions, that appear at the beginning of each chapter in the textbook in order to alert students to important ideas in the chapter, and suggest ways to encourage students to answer these questions as they read.
Read the Chapter, an active reading technique designed to encourage students to think about and engage with the text as they read, thereby enhancing their understanding.
Teaching Tips, practical suggestions for completing the activities included in the textbook.
Final Thoughts, a closure activity that will help students summarize what they have learned.
Beyond the Text, additional critical-thinking questions.
Extend Your Learning, supplemental activities that students may complete outside the classroom.
People, Places, Things to Know, helpful background material for teachers.
*The Teaching Guide can be viewed with Adobe Acrobat Reader 
