Connecting Ideas by Working Together

In Beit Nitzanim, children have been building their interpretations of our Yosef text. Building is a way for children to express their ideas visually. Children can show with color, shape, or size the idea that might be tricky to communicate in words.

When children work together to build with a partner or in a small group, they naturally begin speaking about the choices they’re making. Through this back-and-forth dialogue, one based in compromise and a shared goal, they deepen their ideas.

Here’s how it worked in Beit Nitzanim: 

In one building group, children linked their interpretations.

Girl 1: Well I’m working on the family right now and then I’m going to work on the animals because you know every person had to have a lot of animals.

Boy 2: So [I’m creating] the building that they [Yosef’s extended family]  live in.

Girl 1: There’s only one problem, if I’m doing the family, how can you have people inside it?

In another building group, children offered each other different possible interpretations.

Girl 2: I think it’s a sandwich. One floor is sandwich. Two floor. I think that is blue tomatoes. (Talking about the food that Yosef and his brothers ate)

Boy 2: I think that is servants holding up the plates.

What a joyful building exploration we had today!