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Intro: The students were able to find the words on the second page of the worksheets but weren’t able to do the matching. So it was back to the drawing board for another way of teaching it so it sticks. I asked the students questions from each line. “What word in line 1 tells us that Hashem made the world with his words?” שאמר This specific reading of the text led to some very interesting questions that showed a deep comprehension. Why does it need to repeat the word מלך so many times? (we discussed themes in poetry.  I have a son in the class so I know thatRead More →

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Intro: Give out these worksheets as a conclusion to ברוך שאמר – Chumash:   New Unit: Yaakov earning his own sheep by outsmarting  Lavan Pre Perek Prep: Part 1 – without the binder for help Part 2 – with the binder for help Differentiation: Enrichment – kids who finish all words hang up cards Remediation – Kids who don’t know Part 1 words look up in binder Other Remediation – Only do half of the words in Part 2, if they look familiar Other Prep: The rest of this perek is dependant on understanding what are the goats and sheep referring to. We will  color andRead More →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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A. Tefillah time – the class tried to move the water bottle today by saying “Move!” no luck. I asked them to think of how I can change the world using just my words – one student figured out the riddle. We did Think, Pair, Share to think of positive things we can say to others to change the world. B. Chumash: Acting out the shorashim was a huge hit. Future note: the students will be MIMES (no sound) and must remain seated to qualify. After the first round of teaching, we did a rapid fire round of MIME shorashim.  The students filled out their linear translation independently orRead More →

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I have so many ideas I’d love to write about but 1. I don’t have time, 2. it would be a waste of other peoples time. So here is a short post of what I may be doing tomorrow in school. A. Tefillah time – After brachos, we do an activity to make few words in tefilla come alive. We just began ברוך שאמר. Today: I asked the class today to try to move a pencil by looking at it. Then, the class said, “Move!” but the pencil didn’t move.  how amazing it is that Hashem said and the world came from nothing into something. Tomorrow:Read More →

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I spent some time teaching students who insisted they couldn’t translate a pasuk. I tried to create a systematic way of reaching them. Here are my ideas Rationale for system – The best learning comes through authentic involvement in the process. The process is modeled after being an apprentice rather than a student. An apprentice is involved to the best of his ability, while a student is perceived as an empty vessel to be filled by the teacher. To be authentically involved, the student must be provided with scaffolds so that they can act like the experts and can learn gradually how to be an expert. TranslatedRead More →