Student Visits to the JMM!
This week, the Jewish Museum of Maryland welcomed students from Mount Washington Middle School and the Jewish Community Center to visit our exhibitions and synagogue.
On Monday, students from the 6th grade class at Mt Washington Middle School, along with their wonderful teacher Mr.Kaiser, learned about the American Civil War, American immigration history from here in Baltimore, and toured the Lloyd Street synagogue, the oldest synagogue in our entire state.
While in our new exhibition “Passages Through the Fire: Jews and the Civil War,” the students saw a glimpse of the war that most had not seen, the role of Jewish people in the Civil War. Here the students participated in two hands-on learning activities. First, students read a letter written by a girl to her father who was off in the war and then the students wrote a similar letter of their own. Second, the 6th graders created their own civil war monument just like the many monuments that can be found at battlefields across the country.
Next, the students learned more about the life of a Jewish immigrant right here in Baltimore, Maryland in the Voices of Lombard Street exhibition. While making their way through the exhibition, the students participated in a scavenger hunt to enhance the tour.
Finally, the 6th grade took a tour of the Lloyd Street synagogue, the oldest synagogue in the state of Maryland and the third oldest synagogue in the entire country. On their tour, the students learned about the essential parts of a synagogue, the history of the building, and hidden aspects of the building that have been revealed through archeological work. To go along with the tour, the students participated in an archeological activity in which they did a mock excavation to find artifacts that are in the museum’s collection.
For more information on the 6th grade’s visit to the museum, head over to Mr. Kaiser’s blog.
On Wednesday, kindergartners from the Jewish Community Center (JCC) came to learn about immigration here in Baltimore and tour the historic Lloyd Street synagogue
First, the students toured the upstairs of the synagogue and participated in a scavenger hunt activity. Next, the students went downstairs to the Synagogue Speaks exhibition to learn more about the history of the building and participate in hands-on learning activities. The kindergartners built a new synagogue of out blocks, modified the Star of David stained glass window that can be found in the synagogue, and used matching cards to learn more about Jewish religious objects.
After their tour of the synagogue, the students explored the Voices of Lombard Street exhibition to learn more about life of Jewish immigrants here in Baltimore, Maryland. In the exhibit, the kindergartners played dress up with historic clothes and partook in another scavenger hunt.
Both groups of students seemed to have a great time exploring and learning at the museum this week. It was truly a pleasure to have both groups at the museum and we can’t wait for them to come back again soon!
A blog post by fall education intern Andrew Hallman. To read more posts by interns, click here.