Monday, November 9, 2015

Peer Pressure and Social Conformity




Students watched the video clip of Solomon Asch's initial social conformity experiment in conjunction with our discussion of the negative peer influence of Yishmael upon Yitzchak.(Genesis 21;9-11)
Of special interest to them was the reflection upon Asch's motivation for the experiment as a post Holocaust inquiry.

 Students created their own version of a peer conformity experiment by wearing their sweatshirts backwards to lunch and watching as their fellow middle schoolers (and teacher :) joined in the fun! 

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Birth Order Debate



 Birth Order Debate


Students in 8th Chumash class are studying Bereshit/Genesis through the lens of sibling rivalry exploring the role of the bichora/ the rite of the first born. After studying the conflict between Kayin and Hevel, student pairs researched their family position status.Seventh graders served as impartial judges!

Presenting opening statement addressing middle child syndrome

Rrebutting arguments of oldest, middle and youngest postilions


Main point advocating for first born ambition and accomplishment





Presenting research of Alfred Adler on birth order position

Addressing the uniqueness of the only child position

Citing Tanach examples of the youngest position highlighting Moshe and David

Injecting passion into her youngest position's concluding arguments 

Captivating the audience with his strong social/mediator skills as a middle child referencing the middle tribes and numerous world leaders