Grades 3-7: Overview
Prayer-based Hebrew Component:
In 3rd grade, students reinforce Hebrew letter and vowel identification and script writing skills. They progress from sounding out to decoding and reading Hebrew words. Beginning in 4th grade and continuing through 6th grade, students are introduced to the use, format and themes for blessings and the structure of the Shabbat evening and morning services. This lays the foundation for worship throughout each student’s lifetime. In addition, 3rd through 6th grade students will begin to build a Modern Hebrew vocabulary to enhance their connection with and excitement about the living language of Hebrew. In the 7th grade, students will explore Modern Hebrew in more depth, as well as learn about Israeli culture.
General goals for Hebrew for grades 3-7:
By 7th grade, each student will be able to:
- Read Hebrew print and script
- Write Hebrew script
- Identify letters, vowels and their sounds
- Read Hebrew prayers accurately with syllable to syllable and word to word fluency
- Follow along and read prayers comfortably during a service
- Understand:
- the meaning and content of prayers in the Shabbat liturgy
- the order of prayers in the service
- what the prayers say about our relationship to God, Israel, and other Jews
- the history of the prayers
- the present relevance of the prayers to the student’s life
- Develop a core Hebrew prayer vocabulary
- Develop facility at “unpacking” the linguistic elements of the vocabulary (root words, suffixes, prefixes)
- Chant selected prayers from the Shabbat service
- Develop a basic Modern Hebrew language vocabulary and form simple sentences.
Grades 3-7: Introduction to our Sacred Texts and their Relevance in our Lives
Torah component:
In 3rd grade, students are introduced to the Hebrew Bible through stories of the prophets. Beginning in 4th grade, our Judaic focus will be on the study of Chumash (Five Books of Moses) using the Torah text as our “textbook”. Through the stories contained in the Torah, students will learn the history of our people. They will also discover Torah as a guide to Jewish living. Students’ experience with genuine text study will help them uncover the many layers of meaning, interpretation, and questions that fuel our lively, ongoing dialogue with the Torah. In 7th grade the focus expands to include the study of Pirkei Avot and Mishneh Torah (Maimonides). This exposes the students to additional forms of Hebrew in different contexts.
Class Services
All students in Bet, Gimmel, and Dalet classes (4th – 6th grades) will have the honor of leading Shabbat services. Each class will lead a separate service or services during the school year. All students are expected to participate in class services as they are an important component of our Religious School program. Please consult the school calendar for class service dates.
YOUTH KEHILLAH (formerly Jr Congregation)
Students in 3rd - 6th grade are also encouraged to participate in monthly Youth Kehillah (youth congregation) services. These services, led by the students, offer our students consistent opportunities to worship and socialize with friends from religious school. Youth Kehillah provides another excellent opportunity to practice and reinforce Hebrew prayer skills. All students are invited to attend and tutored students are required to attend these services.
Please click on the following links to learn in more detail about the curriculum at each grade level:
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Last Updated on Sunday, 07 February 2010 21:44 |
Education