Jewish American History and Culture

Jewish Americans and Jews all over the world observe Yom Kippur at sunset on October 8, 2008 and it ends the next day, October 9. According to the Jewish religion, Yom Kippur is the "dead-line" for changing one's ways and being forgiven for bad deeds. The meaning of the name "Yom Kippur" is "The Day of Atonement."

In order to be inscribed in God's "Book of Life" (and be granted a happy new year), it is not enough to pray and be forgiven by God, but a person must also make sure he hurt no other people, broke no vows, and was forgiven by others for any sorrow he accidentally caused them. One cannot be forgiven by God for hurting other people, and therefore it is customary to do soul-searching at this time of the year, and apologize to others for anything that may have caused them pain. At the end of Yom Kippur, God's "Book of Life" is closed and sealed until the next year.

Yom Kippur, which is observed on the 10th day of the the Hebrew month "Tishrei", is the most sacred of all Jewish holidays. It is a day of reflection and penitence. In practice one may say that Yom Kippur is a day of NOT doing things: It is forbidden to eat and drink, to wash, to use perfumes and lotions as examples. During this day Jews meet in the synagogue and say prayers from the Machzor.

In contrast to the fasting and praying on Yom Kippur, the day before Yom Kippur is a day of eating and asking other people for forgiveness. Before sunset each family usually has a big meal, and then the fast begins. That evening, at the synagogue, a prayer named "Kol Nidre" ("all the vows") is said three times, which signifies the importance of keeping vows in the Jewish tradition.

ProQuest has created a BookCart learning activity for students: "Jewish American History and Culture."

This BookCart includes all the learning resources, student instructions, and essential questions for critical thinking that students will need to complete the research assignment. There's no time wasted searching multiple resources for relevant and credible information. It's all there in one place so students and teachers have more time to spend on reading, analyzing, and synthesizing rather than spend most of the time on searching.

Teachers or librarians can copy and adapt this BookCart model and hundreds of other models from the ProQuest Carts collection.

• Logon to the eLibrary CE Teacher Edition.
• Click the BookCart Admin link at the top right of the Teacher Edition.
• Click the ProQuest Carts tab.
• Type "Jewish American History and Culture" in the Search box to locate it quickly.
• Click the Copy icon in the Actions column to the right of this title.
• Click Return to My Local Carts.

This BookCart already includes all the information that a student needs to complete the assignment. But, teachers can edit it to tailor it for the specific need of their students.

To edit each CourseCart for your students to use:

• Click the first new BookCart Title with the prefix "Copy of."
• Delete "Copy of" and then type your name in the Author boxes and your email.
• Optional: Edit the existing directions for your students to use in the Description box.
• Scroll down and click Save.
• Return to My Local Carts.

Assign students to learn about Jewish American authors and their works. Students should select two Jewish American authors using the following pathfinder -- type "Jewish American authors" in the Quick Search box, then click More in the Reference section.

Using this information, students should return to eLibrary and research each of the authors they selected. Students should write a report of at least 100 words on each author that summarizes their life, their favorite genre, their best known work, and a major theme of their works.

A major concern of the Jewish American community is Anti-Semitism. Assign students to learn more about the prejudice and events that contribute to Anti-Semitism both here and in other parts of the world.

Students should write a report of at least 150 words (or a PowerPoint presentation of at least two minutes and seven slides) that cites at least three resources and addresses the following essential questions for critical thinking:

• What are the major causes of Anti-Semitism?
• What are three major examples of Anti-Semitism in the U.S.?
• What are three major un-truths about Jews that help perpetuate Anti-Semitism?
• How can Jewish Americans help to reduce Anti-Semitism in the U.S.?

Pathfinder: Click Study Units > type "Anti-Semitism" in the Search box > click Anti-Semitism link.

Use our custom ProQuest models for written or PowerPoint reports written and PowerPoint-style reports.

Another opportunity for librarians to copy the new ProQuest CourseCarts

If you missed last newsletter, ProQuest introduced the first collection of model BookCarts that address a specific course and the textbook used to teach that course, "U.S. Government and Civics." ProQuest calls this collection "CourseCarts." Here's the list of CourseCarts for U.S. Government & Civics.

Here's another opportunity for librarians and teachers to add these CourseCarts to your local school collection.

• Logon to the eLibrary CE Teacher Edition.
• Click the BookCart Admin link at the top right of the Teacher Edition.
• Click the ProQuest Carts tab.
• Scroll down list of Folders on the left, then click U.S. Government & Civics CourseCarts.
• Click the Copy icon in the Actions column for the first CourseCart.
• Click Return to My Local Carts.
• Repeat the process until all CourseCarts are copied.

With editing, each CourseCart can include information that students can use to complete the assignment (example: write a report of at least 150 words that cites at least three resources and addresses each of the essential questions listed).

To edit each CourseCart for your students to use:

• Click the first new BookCart Title with the prefix "Copy of."
• Delete "Copy of" and then type your first and last name in the Author boxes.
• Type your email address in the email box.
• Type any brief STUDENT DIRECTIONS for the assignment in the Description box.
• Scroll down and click Save.
• Click the My Local Carts tab to return to your collection.
• Repeat the process until all CourseCarts are edited.

You can continue to use and share these CourseCarts each year with minimal future editing.

Innovative Librarians & eLibrary BookCarts

Each of these librarians had a BookCart vision for increasing librarian-teacher collaboration. Their stories (read here) will provide motivation and strategies for other librarians who subscribe to any of the eLibrary family of learning resources and want to get started on building their own collections of 21st Century resources for learning through inquiry-based activities:

Ana Banos
Sweetwater Union High School District, San Diego, CA

Ann Martha
Philadelphia School District, PA

Diane Gallagher Hayashi
Stelly School, Saanich SD, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Elizabeth Golden + Johanna Lawler
Greater Essex County SB, Ontario, Canada

Carolyn Hoye
Coyle & Cassidy HS, Taunton, MA

All Stories: Read here!