By:
On:
In: Uncategorized

It’s a week after school let out and I realized in all the excitement I didn’t post anything online. So I will hit the highlights of an awesome end of school year. Things really came together in a big way. Monday June 11 The General Studies teacher, a parent, an aide and I took the kids to Corning Museum of Glass. Mrs. S. is an awesome teacher. Back in January, the kids wrote her persuasive letters about what they would like changed in the classroom. One student wanted to go on a field trip. She helped the class organize an ice cream sale and they raisedRead More →

By:
On:
In: Teaching Chumash, Theory

Today was one of those days that teachers dream about. A chance to see all my efforts over the year come full circle. Here is how it happened. We only had three pesukim left to learn in Parshas Vayeitzei. I had the class read the pasukim aloud without teaching them at all. Of course, as we were reading about Yaakov meeting up with the melachim, the class exploded with questions. Was Yaakov in Eretz Yisrael? How could the melachim of Eretz Yisrael come to greet him as Rashi says? Which malachim did he send to Har Seir? Surely not the melachim of Eretz Yisrael. InRead More →

By:
On:
In: gedolim

This week we have been finishing Vayeitzei, our ivrit curriculum and independent yedios klalios study. But since it is Thursday here is our weekly biography.  Today it is for  Reb Shraga Feivel. I want my students to really appreciate the education they have and the effort spent to allow them to sit in a classroom with their peers. Read More →

By:
On:
In: Lesson Plans

Today was a great day – Chumash: how far we have come this year. In the beginning of the year, the students needed me to get them to learn new information. Now they are learning study skills. First, I had the students cover the English in their linear for pesukim כה-ל, read it and underline any words they didn’t know. Then we identified the עבר,הווה,עתיד and the שם גוף (pronoun) for all the verbs in pesukim לא-לה. We started to learn the pesukim but quickly got sidetracked by some very interesting discussions of the pesukim and Lavan and whether yaakov and Rochel had spoken lashonRead More →

By:
On:
In: gedolim, Lesson Plans

Here are some of the things we did today: Tefillah: for the new tefillah, one student was the chazzan. He read each phrase, stopping at the comma or the period, then the class repeated it after him. This method really helps with fluency for each new tefilla. Improve fluency, and have students assume responsibility for tefillah Chumash: פרק לא: כה-ל   First, the  students filled out the Shorashim and Pronoun column for new pesukim in their linear translation. Goal: word attack skills, pre teaching knowledge that will stop comprehension the 1st time. Vayitzei Perek 31b Linear Then we read the pesukim כד & כה whereRead More →

By:
On:
In: Lesson Plans

Tefillah – Today, we started saying the first הללוי-ה in Davening. Whenever we learn a new tefilla, we have the same system. For the first few days, I say each phrase in the tefilla, stopping at the commas and periods. Then, the class repeats after me.  For the next two weeks after, each student gets to lead by reading the tefilla in phrases with the class repeating after them. This method really helps with fluency and gives them confidence and pride in their reading. During Chumash it was Test day! We had our test, and then set up the classroom for the second half ofRead More →

By:
On:
In: Lesson Plans

Baruch Hashem, school started at 10. As it was, the kids all staggered in with their post 3-day Yom Tov hangovers. Some had stayed up all night on Motzei Shabbos, all had stayed up for the meals that began at 10. Having school start a little late meant that everyone showed up to school and functioned better than they otherwise would have. With only one hour of class time, I focused on reviewing half the perek for the test on Wednesday. I gave students a strip of paper and had them cover up the English in their linear. I told them to underline any wordRead More →

By:
On:
In: Lesson Plans

Chumash – finished through pasuk 25. At recess, there was some playground politics about including the younger kids. I asked for input from students who have a rule in their house that they must include their younger siblings how they can do so without fighting. Here were their suggestions: After recess, we started learning parsha. Each student got an information sheet about all the shevatim, Shevatim Info and one flag of a shevet to color. Shevatim Flags They also got slips of paper and had to make one stick figure per 5,000 men in their shevet. After we all finished, we went to the backRead More →

By:
On:
In: Lesson Plans

Tefilla – רצון יראיו יעשה – I asked if they would rather be the pawn or the king on the chess board – we have a choice which we will be based on how much we do of Hashem’s will, The more we listen to Hashem’s will, the more important we are in Hashem’s plan. Also check out Rav Hirschs explanation of http://www.dailyhalacha.com/m/parasha.aspx?id=98 the two goats on yom kippur Clean up time – guests were coming and so the kids straightened up a bit. Chumash / just the highlights – יח-כא I drew shorashim as pictures ג זז= two letters crossed to make a airRead More →

By:
On:
In: Lesson Plans

Almost done with Ashrei, we have started to say  it before עלינו. כל האומר תהילה לדוד ג פעמים ביום . . . Chumash https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/Public/chumash/vayeitzei/vayitzei%20perek%2031a%20linear.pdf?w=d2da30ea  יב-יז Chayeinu. – I asked the students to work on the pages having to do with the megillos and the Aseres Hadibros. After they completed these pages, I did a quick oral quiz to check for learning.Read More →

By:
On:
In: Lesson Plans

Tefillah: קרוב ה’ – focus on kavanah, and crying in truth.   Chumash: ח-יא https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/Public/chumash/vayeitzei/vayitzei%20perek%2031a%20linear.pdf?w=d2da30ea Limudei Kodesh: We have learned all about story of Rus – During Chumash, I realized the students didn’t know who Boaz was. We did a few activities to make the story memorable. 1. Powerpoint from chinuch.org 2. Rus Rebus 3. Story of Rus in hebrew We did one perek at a time. So the students knew the story line and the people in the megillah. Ivrit:  Next story in MigdalorRead More →

By:
On:
In: Lesson Plans

Tefillah: The 4/5 grade boys joined us for davening since their teacher was out of town. Using a quick Q/A with one word answers, we reviewed the concepts that we had learned so far about Ashrei. The 3rd graders were very proud that they knew the answers quickly to questions the older kids couldn’t answer. Chumash: We learned ה וז. The students first looked at the pasukim for hard words. The hard words got written on the board. Using the words on the board, one student tried to read each pasuk. Then I  read the pasuk. The students got to ask questions. To ask anRead More →

By:
On:
In: gedolim, Lesson Plans

What a busy day.   Today, we learned about צדיק ה בכל דרכיו. We were learning about the life of the 4th Belzer Rebbe later in the day, so I took the opportunity to connect the pasuk to how the Belzer Rebbe responded to the Holocaust after his wife, children and grandchildren were killed.  There were also a lot of questions. One child asked, “How come we say tehillim if everything Hashem does is right?” Each student shared a personal story, a mashal they had heard, or a story they had read. I let them share because I could see they were connecting and processing a veryRead More →

By:
On:
In: Downloads, Lesson Plans, Teaching Chumash

Chumash: test – I read recently that easy tests give as much information about the students’ knowledge as long tests. I made what I thought was a pretty easy test. Sure enough, the grades were pretty similar to my harder, longer tests. I included more application questions and the students had to illustrate some of the pesukim from the test. After the test, I had the students do some independent work. Th objective was for them to learn how to find a pasuk in the chumash. They chose the order of the exercises they wanted to do: 1. Find pasuk – This exercise teaches studentsRead More →

By:
On:
In: Lesson Plans

I am falling very behind in my updates – so a quick one will have to do. Chumash: review : How does it say it in pasuk, and review story Limudei Kodesh: Each student already wrote all they  knew about Shavuos divided into 4 categories. Today, we reviewed the minhagim and halachos they knew, as well as any other minh壯陽藥 agim and halachos I wanted to add in. Ivrit: Migdaolor – I am enjoying reading this book with the class more and more. Today, the students split up into groups, read a story, and answered the questionsRead More →

By:
On:
In: Lesson Plans

Tefillah: Review concepts by asking students to say first max three word that comes to mind (after raising hand) for each line of Ashrei I say out loud. Ashrei=smile Bchol Yom = say a bracha Dor L’dor = Generations Hadar – Zecher – talk, talk, talk Chanun – kind Tov Hashem Lakol – everyone & everything On to פותח את ידך, ומשביע לכל חי רצון –  the students are busy studying the food chain in science. My room is covered with food chain chains. This is a concept they will get and will get excited about. Chumash – The end of the Perek is fastRead More →