Explore the stories and artifacts featured in the Skirball’s permanent exhibition, Visions and Values: Jewish Life from Antiquity to America. Drawing on Jewish traditions, these FREE lessons invite young people of all cultural backgrounds to explore their family histories, create original works of art, and become agents of change.
Lesson Plans
Welcome to the Skirball
Learn about the Skirball Cultural Center, our essential Jewish values, and the exhibition that inspired this curriculum.
Build Community
Consider personal and cultural values and engage in writing and discussion activities to identify shared classroom values.
Honor Memory
Listen to the true story of one family’s journey from Eastern Europe to the United States more than one hundred years ago. Then make connections to life today.
Seek Learning
Get to know more about a loved one or role model and create a work of art that can help carry these stories from one generation to the next.
Pursue Justice
In the spirit of tzedakah, or "justice" in Hebrew, identify a need in your community and make a plan to effect change.
The Power of Storytelling
Using an everyday, meaningful object as a primary source, students will learn how to tell a story as a creative way to express emotions, create cohesion, and build community and connection.
Curriculum Extension
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Community Collage
Build upon the Honor Memory lesson plan with this collage-making activity developed by Los Angeles artist Stephanie Mercado. Combine Mercado’s illustrations with personal artwork and photos of family and friends to express the memories, values, and ideals you carry wherever you go.
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How Much of Learning is Inquiry?
Students will study artist Chloë Bass’s multimedia artwork and discuss the power of questions to prompt close looking and discovery. Then students will make their own artwork as a tool for reflection.
