Challenge and Change: History of the Jews in America
Early Settlement (1492) Through Central European Migration (1880)
Book 1
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The history of the Jewish people in America is filled with courageous men and women, daring ideas, and triumph over adversity. It is the story of a people who brought their religion's history and their unique traditions, language, culture, and ideas to a new land where they intermingled them with its existing inhabitants in a bold experiment in creating a new country, a new government, and a new culture. Their Judaism affected almost every aspect of their lives in their new land, and their new land shaped the way they practiced their Judaism, as they influenced the growth and development of America.
This is an exciting story, one that every American Jewish child should know and take pride in. It belongs to each and every one of them, and it is their responsibility and privilege to claim it. Doing so will help them participate in building a strong and vital Jewish community for the future.
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.
Early Settlement (1492) Through Central European Migration (1880) is the first of three books in the Challenge and Change series. Each book is divided into three units, each consisting of three chapters. Some chapters are organized chronologically, others topically. This approach has been carefully designed by a team of educators to provide students with the most comprehensive and provocative material possible.
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, 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 
