CHAPTER FOUR |
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PURIM – THE FESTIVAL OF LOTS |
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1 BACKGROUND |
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Purim, or the Festival of Lots, is a joyous
Jewish festival celebrated on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar. It commemorates the survival of the Persian Jews who in the
5th century B.C.E were marked for death by their rulers. |
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The story of Purim is told in the Book of Esther in the Bible. The Book of Esther was written during the period from 400 to 200 B.C.E and deals with the theme of Jewish survival in the face of hardship. An additional 107 verses were written and inserted into various points in the story, but they do not appear in the Biblical book. These verses written in approximately 100 B.C.E are now part of a collection of religious writings called the Apocrypha. Their sense of devotion and prayer stands in contrast to the Book of Esther, which omits religious references. |
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The ritual observance of Purim begins with a day of fasting referred to as Ta’anit Esther (the Fast of Esther) on Adar 13, the day preceding the actual holiday. On the day of Purim the Book of Esther is read during synagogue services. Whenever the villain Haman is mentioned in the story, the congregation, especially the children, makes a lot of noise to blot out his name. At Purim the Jewish people are also commanded to send gifts of food to their friends and neighbours. This is referred to as mishloach manot in Hebrew. Furthermore, donations are given to the poor. The eating of three-cornered pastries called hamentaschen (Haman’s ears) is a custom associated with this holiday. Purim plays, which became popular during the 17th century, contribute to the carnival atmosphere especially enjoyed by the children who dress up in costumes. |
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The day after Purim is called "Shushan
Purim." According to the Book of Esther, the fight against
the anti-semites in the capital city of |
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THE STORY OF PURIM |
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Purim commemorates events
that took place 2,500 years ago just after King Ahasuerus
consolidated his rule over the |
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In the city of |
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Soon after Esther became queen, Mordechai
overheard an assassination plot against the King. He reported the
conversation to the palace, and the two perpetrators, Bigthan
and Theresh, were apprehended and killed. The incident was recorded in the king’s
chronicles, and, although Mordechai saved the
king’s life, his efforts went unrewarded and were quickly forgotten. |
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Meanwhile, Haman was appointed as the
King’s new Prime Minister. Haman quickly passed an
edict that all must bow before him. Mordechai
incurred the wrath of Haman by refusing to bow.
After complaining to his wicked wife, Zeresh, Haman decided to take revenge on Mordechai
and convinced King Ahasuerus to issue an edict calling for the
destruction of all the Jews in the land. Lots were cast and a day was chosen
for the annihilation of the Jews. That day was the 14th of Adar, the
day today celebrated as Purim. |
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Mordechai pleaded with Esther to save the Jewish
people by talking to the King. After some initial reluctance, Esther agreed,
and in preparation, she and her people fasted and prayed for three days
requesting divine assistance. |
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Esther decided to visit the king uninvited, an act normally
punishable by death, and invited the King and Haman
to a special banquet. At the banquet she eluded Ahasuerus‘s questions and invited the King and Haman
to a second banquet. |
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Haman was elated that he was so honoured, and hurried home to tell his wife. On his way,
he bumped into Mordechai. Impatient Haman couldn’t wait for the day of the planned massacre,
and on the advice of his wife, he erected huge gallows in his yard. He rushed
back to request the king’s permission to hang Mordechai
the following morning. |
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That same night, King Ahasuerus had trouble sleeping. To pass the time,
he asked that his book of chronicles be read out loud. The chapter read to
him was about the time Mordechai revealed an
assassination plot against him. He was told that Mordechai
had never been rewarded. When Haman arrived at the
palace, he was asked to come to the King who asked him how to reward such a
man. |
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Haman, who assumed the King wanted to honour him, advised the King that the lucky one should be
adorned in royal robes and crown, paraded through the streets on the King’s
horse, and proclaimed as the King’s
most honoured subject. Liking Haman’s suggestion, the King informed Haman
that the man to be honoured in this way was Mordechai. Haman had to carry
out the orders and led Mordechai through the
streets of Shushan. |
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After this humiliation, Haman attended
Esther’s second banquet. It was there that Esther revealed her Jewish identity
and exposed Haman as the evil plotter against her
people. In anger the King ordered Haman |
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executed. However, the King was unable to rescind
Haman’s decree against his Jewish subjects since it
already had the king’s seal. Instead, he allowed the Jews to arm themselves
and fight. |
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So, on the thirteenth of Adar, the Jews defeated their enemies
in the provinces, and on the thirteenth and fourteenth of Adar, the
Jews defeated their enemies in Shushan and in the
other cities. |
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And so today Jews celebrate the survival of their people with great joy and merriment. |
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It is important that you read the introduction in order to put the activities that follow in their correct framework. |
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2 LEXICAL ITEMS |
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Ahasuerus,
Esther, Haman, Mordechai,
Vashti. |
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hamantaschen (Haman’s ears), Scroll of Esther, costume, masks and crowns. |
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Ideas for different levels |
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Grade 4: Purim word search. Word search together with word bank. Have the pupils divide the words into 2 groups – people and other words. Have the pupils use the words in sentences |
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Grade 5: Purim word search. Use this word search without word bank - find words related to Purim and use them in sentences. |
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Grade 5/6: Feast of Lots word search. Use this larger word search with or without word bank. Have the pupils divide the words into 2 groups – people and other words. Write clues for each of the people e.g. “My name is ___________ and I am the wicked man who wanted to kill all the Jews in the kingdom.” |
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Activity Purim Word Search |
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In the word search below you have words going in all directions: |
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There are 5 people and 5 words all |
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related to the title. |
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PURIM |
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M
A C P M O X X C N |
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O
U H A R V M O K W |
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R
A S A I Q S I I O |
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D
K D C S T U W N L |
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E
V P V U U H E G C |
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C
M U M J Y E S E H |
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H
R E H T S E R A N |
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A
H A M A N C M U V |
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I
T U I B K R G P S |
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Word bank
: AHASUERUS, CLOWN, COSTUME, ESTHER, HAMAN, KING, MASK, MORDECHAI, QUEEN, VASHTI. |
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Arrange the words into 2 groups: |
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PEOPLE |
OTHER WORDS |
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Activity Feast of Lots Word Search |
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In the word search below you have words going in all directions: |
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There are 15 words all related to |
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the title. |
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THE FEAST OF LOTS |
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E
P F P D U K O G D N I B O N |
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C
G A Q E G O B N O T Z N E S |
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V
M M H M R K X I X C Y E N E |
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A
S X A C V S S Z M A U E I M |
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S
K K C E E E I T I Q X N L U |
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H
S D S Y M D F A R A D A R T |
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T
L Z B A S U R E U S A H A S |
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I
F U K C M N T O P K X N R O |
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Y
Y E L S A K A E M W I Q P C |
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A
R O V H R E S T H E R N F F |
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S
W L S N A M A H P G W J G L |
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N E U Z Q T X B Z I P X Y G P |
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V
H P D P C I R C L X K D C U |
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S
P M O R D E C H A I T X Q L |
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Word bank
: ADAR, AHASUERUS, CLOWN, COSTUMES, ESTHER, HAMAN, KING, MASKS, MORDECHAI, NOISEMAKERS, |
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3 SONGS |
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A wicked, wicked man |
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O once there was a wicked, wicked man |
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And Haman was his name, sir |
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He would have murdered all the Jews |
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Though they were not to blame, sir |
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Oh, today we’ll merry merry
be (x3) |
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And nosh some hamentaschen |
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And Esther was the lovely queen |
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Of King Ahashverosh |
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When Haman said he’d kill
us all |
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Oh, today we’ll merry merry be (x3) |
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But Mordechai her cousin
bold |
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Said “What
a dreadful chutzpa! |
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If guns were but invented now |
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This Haman I would shoot,
sir.” |
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Oh, today
we’ll merry merry be (x3) |
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And nosh some hamentaschen |
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The guest of honor he shall be |
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This clever Mr. Smarty |
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At a little hanging party |
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Oh, today we’ll merry merry
be (x3) |
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Of all his cruel and unkind ways |
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This little joke did cure him |
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For this jolly feast of Purim. |
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Oh, today we’ll merry merry be (x3) |
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CHAG
PURIM (Begin in Hebrew, then go into English) |
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Chag purim,
chag purim, chag gadol lay'hudim |
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Masechot, ra'ashanim, shirim v'rikudim. |
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Hava narisha
rash, rash, rash, |
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Hava narisha
rash, rash, rash, |
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Purim's here, Purim's here, |
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It's a holiday so dear |
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Mask and song, bring along, |
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Groggers loud and clear. |
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Here go the groggers,
rash, rash, rash, |
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Here go the groggers,
rash, rash, rash, |
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Here go the groggers,
rash, rash, rash, |
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Purim time is here. |
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4 ACTIVITIES |
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Title: The clown. |
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Level: Grade 3. |
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Materials: Pictures and
flashcards of the lexical items (clown, head, shirt, pants, hat, eyes, nose,
mouth), and outline of a clown (optional). |
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Aims: |
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-to introduce and/or revise lexical items connected to the festival. |
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-to practise listening skills. |
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-to practise following directions given in English. |
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-to revise the colours. |
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Description: |
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Begin the lesson by asking the pupils what they know about the festival. Tell them that you like to dress up as a clown. Use pictures and flashcards to talk about the clown. Have pupils draw an outline of a clown or provide them with an outline. |
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Teacher calls one of the lexical items (e.g. hat) and the pupils have to draw the hat in the correct place. Teacher continues calling the items until each pupil has a complete picture of a clown. |
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At this point revise the colours by having the pupils colour in their clown according to your directions (e.g. colour the hat blue.) |
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Optional: have the pupils label the different parts of the clown. |
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The completed clowns can be used to make a display and then placed in the pupil’s portfolios. |
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Title: Who’s who? |
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Level: Grade 4. |
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Materials: Who’s who work sheet of coded words. |
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Aims: |
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-to introduce and/or revise figures and places connected to the festival. |
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-to practise the order of the alphabet. |
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-to reinforce punctuation rule that all names have capital letters. |
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Description: |
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Begin the lesson by asking the pupils to help you make a list of who’s who in the Purim story. Talk a little about the events of the story. |
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Erase the blackboard and give the pupils the activity sheet to solve. Help them discover the code a=1, b=2, c=3,…….y=25, z=26. If you want your pupils to have a copy of the code there is one on page 51. Tell them to use small letters and only use capital letters for the first letter of a name. I always use my own name or one of the students’ as an example on the |
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blackboard. |
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Who’s who? |
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Here is a list of people involved in the Purim story. Find out who they are by cracking the code. Hint: my beginning is one and my end is twenty-six. My eyes are five and my mouth is thirteen. |
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__ __ __ __ __ |
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8 1 13 1 14 |
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__ __ __ __ __ __ |
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5 19 20 8 5 18 |
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__ __ __ __ __ __ |
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22 1 19 8 20 9 |
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__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ |
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1 8 1 19 21 5 18 21 19 |
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__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ |
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13 15 18 4 5 3 8 1 9 |
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__ __ __ __ __ __ |
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26 5 18 5 19 8 |
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Title: Words, words, words. |
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Level: Grades 5/6. |
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Materials: Pen and paper, example. |
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Aims: |
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-to provide an opportunity for pupils to revise lexical items connected to animals, foods, professions, general vocabulary. |
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-to practise following directions given in English. |
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Description: |
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Begin the lesson by asking the pupils what they know about the festival. On the blackboard list characters related to the festival. Hand out an example sheet or do one together on the blackboard. |
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Blank example which can be filled in together on blackboard. |
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Completed example. |
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Have the pupils do the same for Esther, Mordechai, Vashti, Ahasuerus. |
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Place the completed activities in their portfolio. |
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Optional follow-up: Have the pupils choose one of the characters of the story and write 2-3 sentences about him/her. |
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Title: Punctuating the Purim story. |
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Level: Grades 5/6. |
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Materials: Story activity. Flashcards of character names. |
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Aims: |
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-to review the story of Purim. |
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-to reinforce and revise lexical items connected to the festival. |
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-to practise using 3 basic punctuation rules (Every sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop. All names have a capital letter.) |
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Description: |
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Begin the lesson by
brainstorming for ideas associated with the festival. Elicit the story from
the pupils. During the brainstorming make sure that you develop a list of the
names of people associated with the story. (It is a good idea to have these
as flashcards and to put them on the blackboard as pupils mention them.) |
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Relate to the list of
names and point out that they all start with a capital letter. Ask the pupils
when else do you use capital letters. State the rule that in English every
sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop. |
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Explain activity and allow pupils to do the punctuation exercise. |
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After correcting the exercise have the pupils copy the text with correct punctuation and put it in their portfolio. |
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Correction: |
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Many years ago there was a king of |
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Activity |
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Read the following carefully. There are no full stops or capital letters. Please put in full stops and capital letters. |
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THE STORY OF PURIM. |
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many years
ago there was a king of persia his name was ahasuerus he invited people to a party he called to his
wife vashti she didn’t want to come the king was
angry he chose a new queen the new queen was esther
she was beautiful and good haman was a bad man he
wanted to kill all the jews mordechai
told esther and she told the king king ahasuerus punished haman |
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Title: Presenting the Purim story. |
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Level: Grade 6. |
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Materials: Story parts. Story activity. |
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Aims: |
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-to review the story of Purim. |
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-to reinforce and revise lexical items connected to the festival. |
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-to practise reading out aloud. |
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Description: |
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Begin the lesson by brainstorming for ideas associated with the festival. Elicit lexical items and ideas from the pupils and put on blackboard. It is suggested that the blackboard be divided into two – one section for general vocabulary and one section for events of the story. |
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Hand out one sentence or part to each student. Allow a few minutes for practise and checking for understanding. |
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Have pupils read out the parts in order. Where necessary provide vocabulary as the pupils present their parts. |
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Some ideas for a portfolio assignment to follow this activity: |
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►Make a list of the people in the story. Write 1-3 sentences about one of the people. |
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►Dictation exercise. Dictate the parts title, 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3. |
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►Dictate the following paragraph beginning |
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"On Purim we dress up. This year I am __________ ". |
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Have pupils complete the paragraph by describing their costume. |
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THE STORY: |
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1.1 King Ahasuerus ruled over a huge Empire. |
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1.2 To celebrate the growth of his Empire from Hodu to |
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1.3. Queen Vashti refuses the king's request to appear at the celebration and display her beauty for the assembled guests. |
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1.4. The king's advisors counsel that Vashti be replaced with a new queen. |
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2.1 A Jewish girl, Esther, the niece of Mordechai, is brought to the capital of |
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2.2. Mordechai tells Esther to hide the fact that she is Jewish. |
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2.3. Esther is chosen to be the queen. |
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2.4. Mordechai learns of a plot to kill the king. Mordechai tells Esther, Esther tells the king, and the plotters are hanged. |
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3.1. King Ahasuerus makes Haman his Prime Minister. |
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3.2. Haman wants everybody to bow to him, but Mordechai refuses. Jews do not bow to others. |
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3.3 Haman is very angry and asks King Ahasuerus to kill all the Jews of Persia. |
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3.4. King Ahasuerus agrees to destroy the Jews. |
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3.5. The 13th of Adar is chosen as the date to destroy all the Jews. |
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4.1. Mordechai tears his clothes and puts on sackcloth and ashes as a sign of public mourning. |
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4.2. Mordechai asks Esther to speak to the king and save her people. |
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4.3. Esther tells Mordechai to ask the Jews to fast and pray for three days. |
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5.1. Esther goes to the king and invites him and Haman to join her at a banquet. |
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5.2. On his way home from the banquet, Haman sees Mordechai who once again refuses to bow. He is very angry and when Zeresh, Haman's wife, suggests that Mordechai be hung, the gallows are prepared. |
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6.1. That same night the king can't sleep and asks to hear the royal chronicles. |
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6.2. For the first time, the king learns that Mordechai had saved him and had not been rewarded. |
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6.3. That same night, Haman comes to see the king about hanging Mordechai. |
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6.4. Haman thinks that the King wants to reward him and tells him to honour the person by dressing him in royal garments, putting him on a royal horse and leading him through the streets of Shushan. |
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6.5 The King orders Haman to honour Mordechai in this way. |
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7.1. Haman goes to the second banquet where Esther reveals her identity and tells the King that she and her people are about to be destroyed. |
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7.2. Esther points to Haman and says he is her enemy. |
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7.3. The king has Haman hung on the gallows that had been prepared for Mordechai. |
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EXTRA PARTS |
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Title The Story of Purim |
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8.1 Adar 13th is a fast day. It is called “the fast of Esther.” |
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8.2 In synagogue the book of Esther is read. |
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8.3 We dress up. |
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8.4 We send mishoach manot. |
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