Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

Learning does not have to be regulated to just a classroom. This is evident at Orlando Torah Academy, the learning spills out into the hallways and beyond. During the first half of the school year the hallways, multipurpose room, and the kitchen were transformed into learning spaces.

Using a hallway floor as a backdrop, the first and second graders employed a Design Thinking cycle to arrange miscellaneous items into a page for an "I Spy" book. Another time, one may have seen these same students jumping on a student-sized number line as they explored numbers and addition. Or determining directions on a neighborhood map.

Working on the floor in the hallway at Orlando Torah Academy.

The OTA middle school students have done literature thinking and engineering challenges in the multipurpose room. Other times they have done robotic coding in hallways. Applying fractions to cooking has been a focus for a number of the classes in the kitchen. Orlando Torah Academy teachers take advantage of these additional learning spaces to conduct guided reading sessions, encourage paired reading, and collaborative activites.

Walking into the multipurpose room on some days, you will discover a new addition to the curriculum at Orlando Torah Academy: Art education. The first through fifth graders have explored landscapes and perspective as well as warm and cool colors. Looking at skylines, color creation and perspective in the art classes transitions to looking at novels and stories with a new perspective.

By using the variety of learning spaces around Orlando Torah Academy, the students are reminded that learning can be experienced in all God's places. If you think OTA may be the right choice for your family contact the office today for a tour at 407-270-4936 or email orlandotorah@gmail.com.