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These live lessons had a festive theme, perfect for the end of the school term. Students were transported to the USA to meet a Jewish girl called Mackie as she prepared for and celebrated Hanukkah in LA with her family.
Our in-house teacher, Noel, started the lesson by showing the students the Lyfta globe and asking them to think about what religious traditions or festivals they were familiar with or celebrated at home. The students were quick to mention Eid, Ramadan, Diwali, St Patrick’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, Chinese New Year as well as Hanukkah.
360° scenes and soundscapes
Noel then opened the ‘Hanukkah in LA’ storyworld and presented the classes with a 360° scene and soundscape of Mackie’s home in LA. Students could look around this scene and make observations in class about the things they saw and heard. This sparked interesting discussions and questions from the children about what the family were celebrating, what they were eating and singing and how they had decorated their home.
Noel then took the children over to another 360° scene outside a Chinese restaurant where lots of people were waiting, and then finally into the busy, rather cramped kitchen of the restaurant. This promoted lots of questions and observations from the children. “It would be so hot, busy, loud”, “What are they cooking?”, “What is the food like?”, “Is it dangerous?”.
Chinese food for Hanukkah
Students watched together the film from the storyworld and learnt about how Jewish people in the USA often eat Chinese food during Hanukkah. The film promoted more questions and discussions and also provided an opportunity for students to discuss and share their own experiences about how they and their families celebrate different religious festivals
“In Africa, we don't decorate the house but we do still open presents on Christmas morning.”
“At Easter, in Greece, we dye eggs red. We go to church and then we return to home and have a special meal of soup with the eggs.”
“We fast for Ramadan for 30 days and then we are rewarded with Eid afterwards.”
“Giving to the homeless is a tradition we do at Christmas time”
As usual, students joined this lesson from all around the country, from Staffordshire, Essex, Bristol, Rotherham, Leicestershire and Cornwall to name just a few.
Feedback for the lessons was extremely positive and children seemed to love this festive-themed lesson which allowed them to reflect on their own family celebrations.
“The class really enjoyed hearing from other children of their own age about their religions and traditions. They also enjoyed getting to see inside places they would not normally have access to (eg. the restaurant kitchen).”
“We loved hearing about other people's traditions!”
“We had some really interesting discussions about different religious holidays”
Missed the live lesson? No problem!
If you are already subscribed to Lyfta you can explore the Hanukkah in LA storyworld and watch the film here.
If you don't yet have a Lyfta account, sign up for a free Lyfta Starter account now and you will be able to access all the storyworlds, including Hanukkah in LA free for 14 days..
Building Imaginations: International LEGO Day
Why not join us for our next live lessons to celebrate International LEGO Day? These sessions will be taking place on Wednesday 24 and Thursday 25 January. ‘Building Imagination’ is a Lyfta storyworld which introduces Wei Wei in China. She is the only female LEGO Certified Professional in the world and she is passionate about building and creating with LEGO. This fun and fascinating storyworld is one that your children will love. Your class will also have the chance to be part of an exciting Lyfta competition. Watch this short trailer about the storyworld and book your place at the next Lyfta live lessons here.
Lyfta live lessons - what are they?
Lyfta live lessons are delivered by our brilliant resident teacher live, via Zoom, bringing together many different schools for a shared Lyfta experience.
Since we started our live lessons, we have delivered sessions to over 2059 classes in total (over 61,000 student sessions)!
New to Lyfta?
Our Lyfta storyworlds are at the heart of what we do, offering learners intimate windows into the lives of people from across the globe. Students and teachers can explore real human stories through 360° spaces and soundscapes, high-quality documentary films, and rich media articles.
Our Lyfta films depict personal stories that open up a wider, societal issue.
Our live lessons provide a great opportunity to experience some of the content with your students with no preparation required.
