The long-standing Bnei Akiva educational network in the Religious Zionist sector has introduced a new card game inspired by the popular format, designed to encourage students and enable them to prepare for the English bagrut (matriculation) exam in a fun, engaging, and effective way.
The new game, called “Word Dash”, includes over 500 words taken directly from the official English exam's vocabulary list, and was launched during a special conference in Kfar Saba attended by approximately 80 English teachers from across the network.
The conference featured pedagogical creativity workshops, AI-based learning tools, and a lecture by Rabbi Yonah Goodman, Head of the Education Division, on the connection between language and values. Later in the day, all participating teachers received a full game kit, along with an instructional guide and ideas for integrating the game as an integral part of English lessons in their schools.
Teachers also got to try out the game themselves, a move initiated by Rina London, the network’s English coordinator, and to which they responded with great enthusiasm.
Pnina Kindermann, the network’s pedagogical director and one of the leaders of the initiative, explained: “In recent years, the English bagrut exam has placed a major emphasis on vocabulary - and this poses a real challenge for many students. We do not believe in outdated methods such as dictations or rote memorization, so we created a fun and effective alternative in the form of the Word Dash game, which enables students to practice 540 words through play. This way, the learning truly sticks, and students’ confidence in speaking English grows significantly.”
