Religious School Curriculum 5781 / 2020-2021 - Temple Beth Torah

5781 / 2020-2021

Religious School Curriculum

               Sarit Ferreira & TBT Teachers (2018)
               Nicole Glick, Education Committee Chair

TBT Religious School Curriculum 2020-2021

Vision
At Temple Beth Torah, we wish to create an ever growing variety of engaging and well planned educational programs for students and their families in order to
provide a foundation for building strong and lasting Jewish identities.

Philosophy of Jewish Education
We believe that children and adults learn best by doing. Examples of our Jewish learning experiences include:

 Experiencing the celebration of holidays and Shabbat                                         Connecting with Judaism via music, art, drama, debate, and more
 Building community (Kehila) with fellow students and Temple members                          Praying with the community at real services
 Impacting others in the real world by practicing Tikun Olam & Mitzvot                        Connecting with Israeli kids to learn from their first hand experiences
                                                                                               Using Hebrew as an everyday language through the use of
 Meaningful Judaic long term projects that build a lasting Jewish identity
                                                                                                conversational words and terms as well as prayer

Curriculum Design                                                                      Experiential Jewish Education
                                                                                       (Adapted form: http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/what-exactly-is-experiential-jewish-education/)
Our currciulum is of a spiral design, in which the illustrated topics are
learned each year with growing depth and changing                                      Experiential Jewish Education is the process of teaching Jewish life, and Jewish
sub-topics as students advance in grade.                                               values, by building meaningful Jewish experiences – creating programs that
The capacity for understanding continues to                                            combine traditional methods of text study, learning, and service, with physical and
develop as children grow from early childhood             Hebrew,                      emotional interaction between learners. Experiential Jewish education works to
to elementary school, through middle school                 T’fila                     inspire learners to
and into high school.                                                                  embrace meaningful
                                                                           Values,
A spiral curriculum begins with          Israel                                        Jewish lives.
                                                                            Ethics
the belief that “any subject can                                                       Project Based Learning
be taught effectively in some
intellectually honest form to any                                                      PBL moves students from
child at any stage of development”                                                     the traditional Hebrew
(Jerome Bruner, 1960) and can                                                          school setting of listening
help to maximize retention of          Holidays,                        Temple life,   about Judaism to “really
                                        Rituals                         Community      engaging in Judaism and
learning. (Excerpt from USCJ                              Torah,                       taking ownership of it.”
guidelines for congregational schools)                  Jewish law                     With project-based
We consider each of the star’s points to be an
                                                         & history                     learning, the teacher
access point for a Jewish person to connect to
                                                                                       moves from lecturer to
Judaism in a way that is personalized and meaningful
                                                                                       partner, and teacher and student work together to create a project.
to him or her.
                                                                                       Adapted from: http://ejewishphilanthropy.com/project-based-learning-offers-deeper-and-better-way-to-teach-judaism/)

TBT Religious School Curriculum 2020-2021

                                                                                   Whole School

                                                 Torah/Tanach/                                      Community /
   Jewish values        Holidays / Rituals                                      Israel                                         Hebrew                    Music                    Art
                                                 Jewish History                                       Temple
 Kavod – respect      By the end of my        By the end of my         By the end of my         By the end of my        By the end of my         By the end of my        By the end of my
 Savlanut –           Jewish education at     Jewish education at      Jewish education at      Jewish education at     Jewish education at      Jewish education at     Jewish education at
  Tolerance            TBT:                    TBT:                     TBT:                     TBT:                    TBT:                     TBT:                    TBT:
 Kabbalah –            I know the             I understand the        I know what             I know who the         I know that             I am familiar with     I know there are
  Acceptance             background for          Torah is central to      Zionism is               key members of          Hebrew is the            many chats and          forms of art unique
 Todah –                each Jewish             Jewish life as a        I understand that        the Temple              language of the          prayer melodies         to Jewish culture
  appreciation,          holiday                 book of our Jewish       Israel is the only       community are           Torah, most of our      I have connected       I have created
 gratitude              celebration – the       history, Jewish law      Jewish country in       I understand the        prayers and is the       with certain Jewish     some art work that
 L’shon hara –          story behind it and     and is considered        the world                function of a           spoken language in       tunes and               is Jewish in nature
  speech/bullying        the reasons for         to be the word of       I understand the         Temple as the           Israel                   melodies.              I have expressed
 Kehila – teamwork,     celebrating             God                      importance of            center for the         I know that             I understand the        my Jewish self
  community             I know how to          I know the Torah is      Israel to the Jews       community Jewish        Hebrew is read           different between       creatively
 Tikun Olam –           celebrate each          a parchment scroll,      as the Jewish            life                    from right to left,      a song and a chant     I am familiar with
  repairing the          Jewish holiday          hand written, and        homeland                I have participated    I can read and          Through                 some artifacts and
  world,                 with its customs        is carefully handled    I have learned           in celebrating          decode Hebrew            memorization OR         specific images
 Chesed – charity,      and traditions         I know that Tanach       about the conflicts      holiday                 print with vowels        Trope reading I can     that are unique to
  caring for others     I can name all the      is made out of           and challenges           festivities/events      from the Siddur          chant                   Jewish culture.
 Vahadarta pnei         artifacts and items     three parts –            Israel faces             together with the       and other text           Torah/Haftorah.
  zaken – caring for     used for each           Torah, Prophets          politically and with     TBT community          With practice, I can
  elderly                Jewish holiday          and Writings.            security.               I enjoyed musical       read Hebrew from
 Mishpacha –           I can recite the       I am familiar with      I know the basic         T’fila with John on     the Torah with no
  family                 blessings and           many Bible stories       geography of             Sunday mornings         vowels
 Gvura – inner          prayers specific to    I understand the         Israel, its location    I have attended a      I recognize, can say
  strength               each Holiday            connection               and neighbors            variety of Shabbat      and can translate
 Savlanut –            I know some songs       between the             I can name main          and holiday             about 30 Hebrew
  patience               that are relevant       Biblical people of       cities and regions       services                words
 Achrayut –             to each Jewish          Israel and todays        in Israel               I have participated    I may recognize
  responsibility         holiday.                Jewish people           I know that              in Family               some Trope notes
 Tzedakah – helping                            I know about             Hebrew is the            education               and the sounds
  the less fortunate                             major events in          official and spoken      programs                they make
                                                 modern Jewish            language of Israel      I have taken part
                                                 history such as the                               of Tikun Olam
                                                 Holocaust,                                        through various
                                                 Zionism, and the                                  opportunities with
                                                 birth of the state                                the TBT
                                                 of Israel.                                        community and in
                                                                                                   the real world

TBT Religious School Curriculum 2020-2021

                                                                       Torah Tots
                            Holidays /         Torah/Tanach/                               Community /
   Jewish values                                                       Israel                                    Hebrew                Music
                              Rituals          Jewish History                                 Temple
 Kavod – respect       I know the story      Creation         I know that Israel    I can identify       I understand        Holiday songs
 Kabbalah –             context of these      Judah and the     is a Jewish            some Jewish           that Hebrew is a    Some “Fun”
  Acceptance             Jewish holidays:       Maccabees         homeland               ritual objects        different            songs.
 Todah –                    Rosh             Abraham and      I know that Israel    I know who the        language than
  appreciation,                  Hashanah       Sarah             is far away            Rabbi is and what     English
  gratitude                      and Yom       Isaac and        I know that the        her job is           I understand
 L’shon hara –                  Kippur         Rebecca           lives of kids in      I can sing some       that people in
  speech/bullying            Sukkot           Jacob, Rachel     Israel are similar     Jewish songs and      Israel speak
 Kehila –                   Chanukkah         and Leah          and different          prayers               Hebrew
  teamwork,                  Purim            Moses and         than mine.            I participate in     I can recognize
  community                  Passover          exodus           I have tried some      Tikkun Olam           some Hebrew
 Tikun Olam –          I am familiar with    Esther saves      Israeli foods          initiatives and       letters
  repairing the          customs and            the Jews         I know some            projects.
  world                  artifacts used for                       Hebrew names of
 Chesed – charity,      celebrating each                         cities in Israel
  caring for others      holiday.                                I know some
 Vahadarta pnei        I understand                             conversational
  zaken – caring for     what Shabbat is                          words in Hebrew.
  elderly                and how to
 Mishpacha –            observe it
  family
 Gvura – inner
  strength
 Savlanut –
  patience
 Achrayut –
  responsibility
 Tzedakah –
  helping the less
  fortunate

TBT Religious School Curriculum 2020-2021

                                                                  Gan (Kindergarten)
                                                    Torah/Tanach/                                 Community /
    Jewish values         Holidays / Rituals                                   Israel                                        Hebrew                 Music
                                                    Jewish History                                  Temple
 Kavod – respect         I know the story        Creation,            I know that Israel    I can identify some    I understand that     Holiday songs
 Savlanut –               context of each         Noah,                 is a Jewish            Jewish ritual           Hebrew is a           JC prayers and
  Tolerance                Jewish holiday.         Tower of Babel,       homeland               objects                 different language     songs (Friday
 Kabbalah –              I am familiar with      Abraham and          I know that Israel    I know who the          than English           night)
  Acceptance               customs and              Sarah                 is far away            Rabbi is and what      I understand that     Some “Fun” songs.
 Todah –                  artifacts used for      Isaac and Rebecca    I know that the        his job is              people in Israel
  appreciation,            celebrating each        Jacob, Rachel and     lives of kids in      I can sing some         speak Hebrew
 gratitude                holiday.                 Leah,                 Israel are similar     Jewish songs and       I know that the
 L’shon hara –           I understand            Joseph and coat,      and different than     prayers                 siddur and Torah
  speech/bullying          what Shabbat is         Moses and             mine.                 I participate in        are written in
 Kehila – teamwork,       and how to               exodus,              I have tried some      Tikkun Olam             Hebrew
  community                observe it              Jonah and the big     Israeli foods          initiatives and        I can identify the
 Tikun Olam –             (including               fish                 I know some            projects.               Hebrew letters
  repairing the world,     Havdalah)               Esther saves the      Hebrew names of                               I am can translate
 Chesed – charity,                                 Jews                  cities in Israel                               3 Hebrew words
  caring for others                                                      I know some
 Vahadarta pnei                                                          conversational
  zaken – caring for                                                      words in Hebrew.
  elderly
 Mishpacha – family
 Gvura – inner
  strength
 Savlanut – patience
 Achrayut –
  responsibility
 Tzedakah – helping
  the less fortunate

TBT Religious School Curriculum 2020-2021

                                                                   Aleph (1st Grade)

                                                  Torah/Tanach/                                   Community /
    Jewish values         Holidays / Rituals                                  Israel                                         Hebrew                 Music
                                                  Jewish History                                    Temple
 Kavod – respect         I know the story      Abraham and          know that Israel is     I can identify many    I can identify and    Holiday songs
 Savlanut –               context of each        Sarah                 a Jewish homeland        Jewish ritual           sound all the         JC prayers and
  Tolerance                Jewish holiday.       Isaac and Rebecca    I can identify the       objects                 Hebrew letters         songs (Friday
 Kabbalah –              I am familiar with    Jacob, Rachel and     Israeli flag            I understand the       I can sound out        night)
  Acceptance               customs and            Leah,                I have compared          Temple is the           the 5 basic vowels    Some “Fun” songs.
 Todah –                  artifacts used for    Joseph in Egypt       celebration of           center of the          I can read some
  appreciation,            celebrating each      Moses and             Jewish holidays in       community and           Hebrew words
 gratitude                holiday.               exodus,               the US vs. in Israel     many people make       I can translate 6
 L’shon hara –           I understand what     Jonah and the big    I have made and          it work                 Hebrew words
  speech/bullying          Shabbat is and         fish                  tried some Israeli      I can sing some         some Hebrew
 Kehila – teamwork,       how to observe it     Esther saves the      foods                    Jewish songs and        words
  community                (including             Jews                 I can identify some      prayers
 Tikun Olam –             Havdalah)                                    Israeli                 I participate in
  repairing the world,                                                  regions/cities on        Tikkun Olam
 Chesed – charity,                                                     the map                  initiatives and
  caring for others                                                    I know some              projects.
 Vahadarta pnei                                                        conversational
  zaken – caring for                                                    words in Hebrew.
  elderly
 Mishpacha – family
 Gvura – inner
  strength
 Savlanut – patience
 Achrayut –
  responsibility
 Tzedakah – helping
  the less fortunate

TBT Religious School Curriculum 2020-2021

                                                                     Bet (2nd Grade)

                                                    Torah/Tanach/                                Community /
    Jewish values         Holidays / Rituals                                 Israel                                         Hebrew                   Music
                                                    Jewish History                                 Temple
 Kavod – respect         I know the story        King David         I can identify some    I can identify many   Bet:                      Holiday songs
 Savlanut –               context of each         Samson              more Israeli            Jewish ritual          I can identify by       JC prayers and
  Tolerance                Jewish holiday.         Elijah              regions/cities on       objects                  sight and sound all     songs (Friday
 Kabbalah –              I am familiar with      Others as time      the map                I understand the         the Hebrew letters      night)
  Acceptance               customs and              allows             I know some             Temple is the          I can sound out         Some “Fun” songs.
 Todah –                  artifacts used for                           conversational          center of the            the 5 basic vowels
  appreciation,            celebrating each                             words in Hebrew.        community and          I can read some
 gratitude                holiday.                                    I know who are          many people make         Hebrew words
 L’shon hara –           I understand what                            the various people      it work                I can identify and
  speech/bullying          Shabbat is and                               groups who live in     I can sing some          translate 9
 Kehila – teamwork,       how to observe it                            Israel                  Jewish songs and         Hebrew words
  community                (including                                  I can compare and       prayers               Bet Plus:
 Tikun Olam –             Havdalah)                                    contrast between       I participate in
                                                                                                                       I can identify by
  repairing the world,                                                  my life in the US       Tikkun Olam
                                                                                                                         sight and sound all
 Chesed – charity,                                                     and the life of a       initiatives and
                                                                                                                         the Hebrew letters
  caring for others                                                     Jewish child in         projects.
                                                                                                                       I can sound out
 Vahadarta pnei                                                        Israel.
                                                                                                                         the 5 basic vowels
  zaken – caring for                                                   I can identify the
                                                                                                                       I can read Hebrew
  elderly                                                               Israeli flag
                                                                                                                         words
 Mishpacha – family
                                                                                                                       I can read and
 Gvura – inner                                                                                                        recite some prayers
  strength                                                                                                             and blessings
 Savlanut – patience
 Achrayut –
  responsibility
 Tzedakah – helping
  the less fortunate

TBT Religious School Curriculum 2020-2021

                                                                     Gimel (3rd Grade)

                                                  Torah/Tanach/                                    Community /
    Jewish values         Holidays / Rituals                                  Israel                                          Hebrew                    Music
                                                  Jewish History                                     Temple
 Kavod – respect         I know the story     Torah stories that      I can identify the    (Mitzvot between          I can identify by      T’fila:
 Savlanut –               context of each      relate to holidays :     Israeli Flag          me and God)                 sight and sound all   - Friday night service
  Tolerance                Jewish holiday.       Jonah (Yom            I know the name                                   the Hebrew            - Saturday morning
 Kabbalah –              I am familiar with     Kippur),               of the Money used      I know what a             letters, including    service
  Acceptance               customs and           Maccabees              in Israel and have      siddur is                 final letters         - Havdalah
 Todah –                  artifacts used for     (Chanukah)             seen samples           I know how to use       I can sound out
                                                                                                                                                 - Holiday songs
  appreciation,            celebrating each      Esther (Purim),       I can identify most     a siddur                  most vowels
                                                                                                I have mastered         I can read Hebrew      - Hatikvah
 gratitude                holiday.              Exodus (Passover)      Israeli regions and
 L’shon hara –           I understand what     Mt. Sinai and the      main cities on the      some, and am              words and short
  speech/bullying          Shabbat is and         10                     map                     familiar with             sentences
 Kehila – teamwork,       how to observe it      commandments.         I am familiar with      prayers from            I can read and
  community                (including                                    the basic concept       Friday night liturgy      recite some
 Tikun Olam –             Havdalah)             Brief history of       of Zionism and         I understand              prayers and
  repairing the world,    I am familiar with     Israel                 Brief history of        sanctuary and             blessings
 Chesed – charity,        some midrash /                                Israel.                 prayer etiquette        I can identify and
  caring for others        interpretations of                                                   I can pray with the     translate 12
 Vahadarta pnei           holiday stories                                                       school community        Hebrew vocabulary
  zaken – caring for                                                                                                     words.
  elderly
 Mishpacha – family
 Gvura – inner
  strength
 Savlanut – patience
 Achrayut –
  responsibility
 Tzedakah – helping
  the less fortunate

TBT Religious School Curriculum 2020-2021

                                                                    Dalet (4th Grade)

                                                      Torah/Tanach/                                   Community /
    Jewish values          Holidays / Rituals                                      Israel                                      Hebrew                 Music
                                                      Jewish History                                    Temple
 Kavod – respect        I know the historical      I recognize the       I can make the        (Mitzvot between       I can identify by    T’fila:
 Savlanut –              context for each            names of and           connection            me and other            sight and sound      - Friday night
  Tolerance               holiday story               have learned           between               people)                 all the Hebrew       service
 Kabbalah –             I can name all              about important        Historical/biblical                           letters, including   - Saturday morning
  Acceptance              artifacts and tools         characters from        Israel and modern      I understand the      final letters        service
 Todah –                 used for celebrating        the Bible.             day Israel              Jewish context to    I can sound out      - Havdalah
  appreciation,           each holiday               I know who the        I have tried and        performing            most vowels
                                                                                                                                                - Holiday songs
 gratitude              I understand the            Ushpizin are           experienced some        Mitzvot between      I can read
                                                     I am familiar with                             people – keeping                           - Hatikvah
 L’shon hara –           literary reasons for                               modern day Israel                             Hebrew words
  speech/bullying         the customs and             Jewish historical      elements (food,         my word, acts of      and longer
 Kehila – teamwork,      artifacts used for          holiday heroes         culture, people)        loving kindness,      sentences
  community               celebrating each           I can demonstrate                              Chesed, Tikun        I can read and
 Tikun Olam –            holiday.                    knowledge of                                   Olam                  chant a growing
  repairing the          I am familiar with          holiday related                                                      list of prayers
  world,                  some                        biblical stories                                                    I can identify and
 Chesed – charity,       midrash/interpretatio                                                                            translate 17
  caring for others       ns of holiday stories                                                                            vocabulary words.
 Vahadarta pnei         I can recite the
  zaken – caring for      blessings / prayers for
  elderly                 each holiday
 Mishpacha – family
 Gvura – inner
  strength
 Savlanut – patience
 Achrayut –
  responsibility
 Tzedakah – helping
  the less fortunate

TBT Religious School Curriculum 2020-2021

                                                                    Hey (5th Grade)

                                                   Torah/Tanach/                                    Community /
    Jewish values         Holidays / Rituals                                    Israel                                       Hebrew                   Music
                                                   Jewish History                                     Temple
 Kavod – respect         I know key           I can analyze a         I know what the         I understand the     I can identify by     T’fila:
 Savlanut –               phrases, blessings    Bible story (from        Holocaust was and        Jewish context to     sight and sound all   - Friday night service
  Tolerance                and Hebrew words      Torah, Prophets)         how it affected          performing            the Hebrew            - Saturday morning
 Kabbalah –               for each              and recreate it in a     the European             Mitzvot between       letters, including    service
  Acceptance              I can make            format that can be       Jewry                    people – how do       final letters         - Havdalah
 Todah –                  connections           shared with             I understand my          we treat each        I can sound out
                                                                                                                                               - Holiday songs
  appreciation,            between the           others.                  personal                 other, working        most vowels
                                                I can write a                                                          I can read Hebrew     - Hatikvah
 gratitude                stories of the                                 connection to the        together as a
 L’shon hara –            holidays and          Midrash about a          Holocaust                community and         words and longer
  speech/bullying          current topics such   Bible story             I can describe           team                  sentences
 Kehila – teamwork,       as antisemitism                                what Zionism is                               I can read and
  community                and social justice                            I am familiar with                             chant a growing
 Tikun Olam –            I can compare the                              the modern                                     list of prayers
  repairing the world,     celebration of                                 history of Israel as                          I can identify and
 Chesed – charity,        Jewish holidays in                             well as some                                   translate 22
  caring for others        Israel and                                     current challenges                             vocabulary words.
 Vahadarta pnei           elsewhere,                                     the country faces.
  zaken – caring for      I understand the
  elderly                  difference
 Mishpacha – family       between Mitzvah
 Gvura – inner            (commandment)
  strength                 vs. Minhag
 Savlanut – patience      (custom)
 Achrayut –
  responsibility
 Tzedakah – helping
  the less fortunate

TBT Religious School Curriculum 2020-2021

                                                                      Vav (6th Grade)

                                                    Torah/Tanach/                                   Community /
    Jewish values         Holidays / Rituals                                     Israel                                       Hebrew                   Music
                                                    Jewish History                                    Temple
 Kavod – respect         I can identify          I know what the        I have read and       I understand my        I can read full      T’fila:
 Savlanut –               holiday customs,         Hebrew “Parshat         discussed current      Jewish community        Hebrew sentences     - Friday night service
  Tolerance               I can recite the         hashavua” means.        events, news,          as circle of            with vowels          - Saturday morning
 Kabbalah –               blessings /             I have read,            media from and         support –              I can read and       service
  Acceptance               prayers specific to      analyzed and            about Israel           communal prayer,        chant a growing      - Havdalah
 Todah –                  each holiday             related selected       I can make             shiva, caring of        list of prayers
                                                                                                                                                - Holiday songs
  appreciation,           I can make               Torah portions to       connections            sick                   I can identify and
                                                                            between 21st          I have learned                               - Hatikvah
 gratitude                connections              everyday life.                                                         translate 28
 L’shon hara –            between the              (from: Bereshit         century Israel and     about various           vocabulary words.
  speech/bullying          holiday and the          (Genesis), Shmot        the biblical           streams in             Some students
 Kehila – teamwork,       world at large           (Exodus), some          homeland               Judaism and             can identify
  community               I can answer the         Vayikra (Leviticus)                            Jewish ways of life     Haftorah Trope
 Tikun Olam –             question: ‘How is                                                      I understand the        symbols and their
  repairing the world,     celebrating this                                                        challenges facing       corresponding
 Chesed – charity,        holiday relevant                                                        Jews in the 21st        vocalization.
  caring for others        to me?’                                                                 century
 Vahadarta pnei          I understand the                                                       I understand the
  zaken – caring for       meaning of the                                                          meaning of
  elderly                  holiday story and                                                       “becoming a
 Mishpacha – family       history as                                                              Bar/Bat Mitzvah”
 Gvura – inner            reflections on                                                          in traditional
  strength                 current events                                                          Judaism and for
 Savlanut – patience      and our own lives                                                       me personally.
 Achrayut –
  responsibility
 Tzedakah – helping
  the less fortunate