aidemia--modules-lessonstartideas_type	Give a creative idea how to begin a lesson
Which subject	Religion
What age group	Year or Grade 4
What topic	Introducing the month of Elul, rosh hashana and the concept of teshuva ( repentance and forgiveness). Achieving this by regretting our sins and doing better to return to HaShem
Quantity	1
Any other preferences

Starting Our Lesson: The Importance of Elul, Rosh Hashanah, and Teshuva

Activity: The "Journey Back" Map

Introduction

Hello, everyone! Today, we’re going to start our lesson with something special. We’re going to take a moment to think about the concept of Teshuva, which means returning to HaShem (God) by learning from our mistakes. To help us understand this idea better, we will create a “Journey Back” Map together!

Materials Needed

• Large sheet of paper or a whiteboard
• Markers or crayons
• Sticky notes (optional)

Getting Started

1. Gather Around: First, gather in a circle with your friends. We want everyone to feel included in our journey today!

2. Imagine Your Journey: Close your eyes for a moment and imagine a path you can walk on. This path represents your journey of learning about Teshuva, the month of Elul, and Rosh Hashanah.

3. Share Your Thoughts: Now, let’s open our eyes! Think about some times when you felt you could have done better. What can you remember about those moments? You can shout out your ideas, and I’ll write them on our map.

4. Draw Our Journey Map:

   • On the right side of our map, draw a big sun. This represents Rosh Hashanah, which is a time of light and new beginnings.
   • On the left side, we’ll create a winding path that leads back to the sun, representing our journey of Teshuva: realizing when we’ve made a mistake, seeking forgiveness, and promising to do better.

5. Create Stations on the Map:

   • Station 1: “Notice Our Mistakes” - Here, we’ll write down ways we can recognize when we've made mistakes.
   • Station 2: “Regret and Learn” - Let’s share how we can feel sorry for those mistakes and what we can learn from them.
   • Station 3: “Tikkun Olam” (Repairing the World) - Lastly, we will write down actions we can take to make things right and help others.

Conclusion

By the end of our lesson today, we’ll have a wonderful map that illustrates our journey of Teshuva, connecting it to the special month of Elul leading up to Rosh Hashanah. Remember, everyone makes mistakes, but what is important is how we learn from them and try to do better!

Let’s get started and create our “Journey Back” Map!