Explore Jewish History With Passover Activities

Passover is one of the major Jewish holidays and one of the three pilgrimage festivals in the faith. It celebrates the Biblical story of the Israelites and their escape from Egypt. Those who celebrate host a special meal called a seder, and recite traditional prayers. Today, we’re sharing some Passover activities for ELA and social studies to help teach your students more about this religious holiday.

• Explore the significance of Passover stories in ELA
• Discover Passover history and traditions in social studies

[Explore the significance of Passover stories in ELA](id-ela)

Storytelling is a rich part of the Jewish faith. Students can learn more about its significance in the context of Passover with the following lessons:

See why storytelling is a powerful communication tool

Humans tell stories to share ideas, empathize with others’ experiences, and teach and learn about the world around them. Students can see how storytelling affects religion and culture by completing the following activity:

• First, assign an article about the Freedom Seder of 1969, an anti-racism dinner party that blended civil rights and Jewish liberation struggles.
• Next, in small groups, ask students to answer the compelling question, “How can a story affect a social movement?”
• Finally, extend the lesson by asking students to think of another story that’s part of a cultural tradition or faith, and how it has shaped societal perceptions of that group.

Dissect the parts of the Passover story

Bring your Passover lessons down to the elementary school level with a story analysis lesson:

• First, have students read or review the Passover story.
• Next, share guiding questions—like “What do the people in the story want,“ or “How did they resolve the conflict”—to summarize the story.
• Finally, ask students to create a comic that showcases the most important moments in the Passover story, using their summary as a guide.

[Discover Passover history and traditions in social studies](id-ss)

Build students’ background knowledge about Passover and other spring holidays, and start discussions about diverse perspectives with these resources:

Learn about common Passover traditions

Help students learn more about the holiday that celebrates the end of Jewish enslavement in ancient Egypt with the following lesson:

• First, read about the history of Passover, discover what the term means, and explore common Passover traditions like avoiding all leavened foods.
• Next, share an article that busts five common myths about Passover and the traditional Seder meal.
• Finally, use Newsela Writing to have students write a short-form opinion piece about what they think is the most interesting Passover tradition.

See how Passover compares to other religious spring holidays

Give your students an overview of the histories and traditions of various religious celebrations that happen during the spring:

• First, discover the similarities and differences among Christian, Jewish, and Muslim holidays like Passover, Easter, Ramadan, and Eid al-Fitr.
• Next, break students into jigsaw groups and assign each group a holiday to study and create a presentation for the class.
• Finally, have students share their presentations with the class. Encourage the listeners to ask questions and take notes about information they find interesting.

Cover all the major spring holidays in your classroom

Passover is one of many religious and cultural holidays celebrated during the Spring. With Newsela’s suite of subject products, you can access various content and resources—like news articles, primary sources, literature selections, and interactive videos—to help you teach about all of them!

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