Click here for larger version אבד-lose, בטח-trust, בין-understand, גאל-save, גדל-grow, גור-live, גלה-reveal, דרש-seek, הלל-praise, הרג-kill, זבח-sacrifice, חלל-profane, ירה-shoot, יתר-remain, כבד-heavy, נבא-prophesy, נגע-smite, נוס-flee, נסע-travel, סבב-surround, ספר-tell, עזב-leave, פנה-turn, קבץ-gather, קדש-make holy, רוץ-run, רעה-shepherd, שאר-remain, שבע-satisfy, שוב-return, שכח-forget, שלך-send, שמח-happy, שנא-hate, שפך-pour, שרת-serve  Read More →

Click here for larger version אהב-love, אמן-believe, בוש-embarrass, בכה-cry, בקש-seek, זכר-remember, חזק-strengthen, חטא-sin, חיה-live, יטב-do good, ישע-save, כון-prepare, כסה-cover, כפר-atone, כתב-write, לבש-dress, לחם-fight, לכד-capture, מלך-throne, נגד-tell, נגש-approach, נכה-hit, נצל-save, סור-turn, עבר-pass over, קבר-bury, קרב-bring close, רדף-chase, רום-raise, שאל-ask, שבר-break, שחת-destroy, שכב-lie down, שכן-dwell, שלם-complete, שמר-guard, שפט-judge, שרף-burnRead More →

I made these online games a few years ago – they are arcade style games to learn the top 125 shorashim. I don’t teach this way anymore because I like to teach shorashim in context only but it might be a good review for the middle of the year. students.   Shorashim Common List 1  Click here for full screen version אכל- eat, אמר- say, אסף- gather, בוא- come, בנה- build, ברך- bless, דבר- speak, היה- was, הלך- go, ידע- know, יכל- able, ילד- birth, יסף- add, יצא- go out, ירא- fear, ירד- go down, ישב- sit, כלה- finish, כרת- destroy, לקח- take, מות- die,Read More →

I changed the name of my blog. It was Chinuch Thoughts. Now it is Chinuch ENERGY! I decided the vision for this blog had to change. I was going to write my thoughts and ideas about the chinuch world. Then I realized that there are so many people doing that already. Every crises that gets written about online and in the papers has the following words halfway through the discussion: SCHOOLS SHOULD . . . I’m a teacher so that when it says SCHOOLS SHOULD it means me or my overworked principal or my dedicated colleagues. when I see Yoni can’t get married, feel religiouslyRead More →

I know I won’t have time to keep this daily blogging up but a few more posts won’t kill me. A. Tefillah time – It’s Rosh Chodesh! So we will not have much time for the pre tefillah talks since the boys daven with the older boys and the girls join the older girls to sing hallel. B. Chumash: פרק ל:ט-יד: translationThese pesukim have some difficult words with the continuation of the birth of the shevatim. Before the class – review who has been born, reason for the names. See if students can remember all shevatim and with partner remember reason for names. Then we will do our “noteRead More →

[purchase_link id=”462″ text=”Add to Cart” style=”button” color=”blue”] This was a very cool Parsha lesson for any parsha having to do with the mishkan. All it takes is 3 8 x14 pieces of paper, some colored pencils, glue, and scissors.  I like projects that won’t increase tuition costs.   Figure out if you want this to be a fine-motor skill building exercise. if yes, just hand out the 3 sheets and have the students cut. If not, cut out the shapes because kids with weak fine motor skills can slow things down a lot for this project.   PDF – Complete Instructions and Mishkan Model Using 3Read More →

So, now that I am teaching elementary school, I have noticed how many texts for young kids don’t include nekudos. It really helps with comprehension but it is a pain to type out all the nekudos. I just found this resource that has saved me SO much time. Nakdan allows you to paste a short amount of text and it adds nekudos for you automatically.Read More →

Today was a fun day. Tefilla – we talked about how it is pretty cool that Hashem cares about each of us individually after all – we wouldn’t care about each fly in our room and we should be equally as important. We also talked about how wonderous it is that we get rewarded for each deed we do. We learned 4 Mishnayos from Perek 1 of Pirkei Avos and did paper folding projects to illustrate them. They are included here. I’ll try to post pictures of them soon. I am sending the kids home with a translated perek to learn over Shabbos I also loveRead More →

I know I won’t have time to keep this daily blogging up but a few more posts won’t kill me. A. Tefillah time – Reviewed yesterdays ideas. ברוך שאמר.  I had the class try to figure out what was similar about the words אומר, עושה, מרחם etc. Once they got they were הווה words, we had a conversation about ה’s ongoing presence, the מכות, Rav Chanina Ben Dosa lighting vinegar instead of oil. B. Chumash: פרק ל: ד-ט. These were much easier pesukim. No deep questions. I had students read it without any preteaching since the kids knew at least 94% of the words and grammar rules as tested before onRead More →

I hope to write a complete, well documented post about how and why I present the biography of a great Torah leader to the class. Until I have the chance to research and write the post, I’d like to mention how transformative teaching about gedolim to young children can be. Every week, we read a biography of a gadol that I have written and edited. Most of the information, I am sad to say, is from wikipedia or other online sources but you use the tools you have to do what you can. Gedolim time provides an opportunity to teach character building in a holistic way.Read More →

  Rav Chaim Soloveitchik (1853-July 30, 1918) PDF of biography Rav Chaim Soloveitchik was born in Volozhin to his father Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, the Beis HaLevi, who taught in the famous Volozhin Yeshiva. When he was a few years old, his fathhr became Rav in Slutzk. Rav Chaim quickly became known for his brilliance and remarkable understanding. When Rav Chaim was 20, he married Lipsha, the daughter of Rav Raphael Shapiro, and the granddaughter of the Netziv who was the Rosh Yeshiva of Volozhin. After Reb Raphael moved to become a Rav, Rav Chaim became a Rosh Yeshiva with the Netziv in the yeshiva.Read More →

Before a new unit (1/2 perek – whole perek) a) the students try to translate every word/root/prefix/suffix on the PPP (pre-Perek-Prep) as they can.     I divide each section into 2-3 levels so the students can always feel mastery over a section. This mastery gives them confidence as well something for which to strive.  Pre Perek Prep for פרק ל. b) they look up the rest on the reference sheets in the front of their binder.  Vayeitzei Shorashim List  Vayeitzei Noun Word List Binyanim charts c) the students put flashcards for each word on large felt pieces. Orange is for verbs Yellow is for common nouns and adjectives.Read More →