In the first mishnah in Tractate Rosh Hashanah, four new years are mentioned: the first of Nisan as the new year for kings and festivals, the first of Elul regarding the tithe of animals, the first of Tishrei for counting the years, planting and the official new year for the Jewish people, and Shevat as the new year for the trees. Share and examine this text with your students. Why does the text explain four different new years? Why is each mentioned? What is unique about each of the dates? Are all these dates significant? Why or why not? You may choose to divide the class into four groups and assign each group one of the days and have the different groups explain the meaning of their day.

Examine Devarim 20:19 and Vayikra 19:23 regarding trees and planting. Ask: What do these texts teach about the relationship between trees and people? What relationship to the environment is being described? Do you agree with these perspectives? Why or why not?

Study Pirkei Avot 3:17 with your students. Following this discussion, give each student a large piece of construction paper. Using other colored sheets of paper and glue, ask your students to rip the paper to create the kind of tree they resemble. Upon completion, ask that, written or orally, they explain their tree and how it reflects who they are.

On Tu B’Shevat, it is customary to eat fruits grown in Israel, such as figs, dates, raisins, carob, olives, almonds, etc. Have a taste test of these foods with your students, teaching them about the fruits of Israel by examining the Biblical reference to the fruits of Israel in Devarim 8:7-8.

Plant potted seed plants with your class in honor of the holiday. Buy ceramic pots and decorate the pots with your students using paints or paint pens. Encourage your students to write the name of the holiday and/or draw pictures related to Tu B’Shevat on their pots. Once their pots are decorated, place soil in pots and plant different seeds in the soil. If you choose to plant parsley, it should be ready to harvest in time for use as karpas at the Pesach Seder.

Organize a Tu B’Shevat Seder to have with your class. Ask students to bring in different fruits, dried fruits, nuts, seeds and grape juice to have at your Seder. There are various versions of the Tu B’Shevat Seder available online and elsewhere, but because there are no required elements to the Seder, this is a good opportunity to be creative and shape the experience so that it is fitting for your class and reflects your students’ level. Some suggestions include: teaching and singing songs for the holiday, reading stories about trees and nature, discussions on the trees and the environment, etc. See www.hillel.org, www.jewish.com/holidays/tubishvat.shtml, jewishappleseed.org/apple/tubishevat.htm, or www.cojel.org for more information.

Read the story of “The Apple Tree” in Peninnah Schram’s Jewish Stories One Generation Tells Another. When telling the story, be sure to bring an apple cut width-wise as a visual prop. Also, the story allows for numerous follow-up activities, such as drawing the final tree described, an activity about personal strengths and “stars,” etc.

It is customary to plant trees on Tu B’Shevat, particularly in Israel. If possible, participate in a tree planting in your own community or coordinate a planting for your school or class. Also, many people buy trees to be planted in Israel on Tu B'Shevat. Through the Jewish National Fund, you and your students may order trees to be planted in Israel. For more information, see www.jnf.org or call (800) 542-TREE.

As Tu B’Shevat marks the beginning of spring, Tu B’Shevat is a good opportunity to teach your students the Hebrew words for the different seasons. One way to teach about the seasons is through art. Divide the students into 4 groups. Give each group a poster board (possibly a poster board cut in half), different colors of tissue paper, glue and markers. Assign each group a season and ask that they draw a picture of a tree during that season. What would the tree look like? What colors would you use? What happens during that season? What is the weather like? Have the students crumble the tissue paper into small balls and affix them to the poster to fill in their drawings. Included on their posters, ask that the students write the Hebrew word for the season. Once completed, display the panels in your classroom.