Limudei Code-Esh Enriches Jewish Learning at Pardes School

According to Ruth Joseph, Jewish Studies Teacher at the Pardes School in Scottsdale Arizona, “Limudei Code-Esh has enriched Jewish learning at our school and students are having fun developing their coding skills while deepening their knowledge about Jewish holidays”. Pardes is just one of the many Jewish Day Schools that has received a grant from the David Lear Sulman Fund to implement the Limudei Code-Esh program. Pardes launched the Limudei Code-Esh program this past fall on Sukkot with their first and second grade students as part of a new partnership between their Makerspace lab and Jewish Studies department. Pardes students were introduced to KIBO and Scratch Jr. during their Makerspace classes. Using the Limudei Code-Esh curriculum, students built vehicles and created dancing characters on KIBO robots. Students also learned how to scan the block codes to move KIBO around the room and activate the lights and sounds. For Sukkot, students constructed sukkahs during their Jewish Studies classes using Lego and recycled materials. Students then brought their sukkahs with them to Makerspace to continue the lesson. The students loved demonstrating the impermanence of the sukkah by programming KIBO robots to transport sukkot they constructed. In addition to Sukkot, Pardes also utilized the Limudei Code-Esh curriculum on Hanukkah and Tu B’Shevat which introduced students to Scratch Jr. The Scratch Jr. App helps to bring Jewish learning to life through animation and programming of Hanukkah traditions.  Students also programmed Scratch Jr. to show the natural resources trees need to grow as part of their study on Tu B’Shevat. According to Makerspace Teacher Nicole DePalma “it is exciting to see the students’ progression in coding with every holiday we celebrate at the Pardes School!” Contact Rose Jane Sulman (rj@sulmanfund.org), for more information about the Limudei Code-Esh grant program.