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Connecting with Lifelong Learning The ARS Curriculum Curriculum Quick Links
“V’shinantam L’vanecha” -- and teach them to your children – is the guiding principle of our religious school. Together, the education staff, clergy, teaching faculty and parents strive to provide a enriching educational experiences for each and every one of our students. Our goal is to facilitate a sense of community and connection among students and to engage each student, meaningfully, with the cornerstones of Jewish life. By integrating formal and informal approaches to education students are able to teach and learn from each other in order to synthesize their Religious School experience into their own lives. All school activities are grounded in a sense of community, connectedness, and a joy of learning.
The Hebrew program emphasizes the study of prayer, and classroom experience is reinforced with T’filah, weekly worship sessions. Students are introduced to the Hebrew language beginning in Kindergarten and in Grade 1 they begin basic Hebrew studies. In addition, the program offers an introduction to Modern Hebrew. All of our Hebrew textbooks are published by Torah Aura www.torahaura.com
Our Hebrew curriculum has five overarching goals:
Our overall curriculum is integrated with music, arts, youth group and family programming. Beginning in Grade 2 the Jewish students and Hebrew programs are taught as separate and distinct subjects, allowing the teachers to specialize in their curriculum areas.
At Sunday B’Yahad (All Together), students enjoy a half-hour of group activities and class presentations. This special time enriches our children’s sense of Jewish spirit and creates a feeling of community throughout the school. The wonderful resources of the Gopen Family Library, music, and art enhance the curriculum and create a link with our people and the land of Israel.
Click here for more information about our curriculum:
Kindergarten
The start of a child’s life-long study of Judaism is a cause for celebration. Therefore, we celebrate the beginning of Jewish learning with a consecration ceremony on Simchat Torah, the holiday of rejoicing with the Torah. In Kindergarten we introduce the children to the cycle of the Jewish calendar. The major symbols, themes, food and rituals of each holiday are introduced using a variety of methodologies such as music, movement and creative arts. These concepts are presented in the context of what they mean to the child and how they can be related to her/his family and home. Students in the Kindergarten are also introduced to the concept of Tikkun Olam, repair of the world throughout the year.
Hebrew language is introduced in kindergarten through oral expression. Each week, a new Hebrew letter is presented to the children in a creative and fun way. Vocabulary associated with classroom routines, holidays, family members, and parts of the body are introduced. The kindergarten eats snack together each week, which provides an opportunity to further Hebrew language skills by reciting the appropriate brachot (blessings) for food and drink. Kindergartners also begin to learn a variety of holiday blessings. Parents have an opportunity to be involved in the Kindergarten classrooms through a unique reading program, the Parent Connection.
Grade 1
The grade 1 students embark upon Bible study by enjoying stories from B’reshit (Genesis) and Shemot (Exodus), the first two books of the Torah. Torah stories and themes are taught in such a way that a connection is made between the happenings in the Bible and each individual child’s life experience using text, puppets, arts and crafts, music and more. The BJL (Building Jewish Life) Synagogue curriculum teaches about the different things that happen in the synagogue, different people who work in the synagogue, the parts of the sanctuary, the kinds of “simhas” that are celebrated in the synagogue, the way to treat a sefer Torah, the role of the synagogue in learning, the meaning of prayer and the chance to have a good conversation about God.
In the Hebrew curriculum, the students learn letter-sound recognition and other reading readiness skills introduced in the text Journeys Through the Aleph-Bet. This text provides students the opportunity to develop a working vocabulary and perform letter discrimination exercises. In addition, the students begin to blend some consonants and vowels to learn basic words. Oral Hebrew is used in the class as frequently as possible.
Grade 2
Judaica
The second grade concentrates their studies on an in-depth examination of the Jewish holidays. Students will be able to identify each holiday’s major themes, blessings, and traditions. They will also be introduced to the vast array of symbols, rituals and legends as well as a variety of holiday vocabulary for each holiday as it arrives on the calendar. Each student will have the opportunity to take home the ARS Shabbat Box over the course of the year. Inside each box will be a variety of tools which will help families celebrate Shabbat in their home and share some of their family traditions with their classmates and families.
Rooted in stories, the BJL Mitzvot packets invites families to join their children in living core values of the Jewish tradition. Mitzvot are Jewish things to do (and Jewish things not to do). These folders turn ethical mitzvot into values that can be easily lived. Through stories and hands-on activities, simple explanations and family involvement, students not only learn about “the things God wants us to do,” but are encouraged to make them part of their lives.
Hebrew
Grade 2 students will reinforce their aleph-bet recognition and reading skills while concentrating on phonetic reading mastery. Using the text, Tiyulim , Journeys, students will embark on a journey towards mastering the decoding skills for the Hebrew Language. It is punctuated with a journey through the state of Israel; through photographs and short texts that not only decorate the text but also connect Hebrew to Israel. "Ulpan" panels provide burst of three to five modern Hebrew words to explore in many chapters. The text also emphasizes Siddur, prayerbook, words, Siddur phases, and the mastery of the performance of short prayers such as the Shema. Students will use both the text book and the home workbook. In the home workbook, each class lesson is paired with a two-sided page to be completed at home and returned to the classroom. Each exercise, which should take no more than 15 minutes, can be completed by parent and child together, and enable parents (even those who have not learned to read Hebrew previously) to be successful.
Parents can use the website www.tiyulim.torahaura.comas an aid in completing homework assignments as the website “reads” every Hebrew word to the parents, word by word or line by line. It also has the answers to exercises for children to correct their homework. It motivates involvement and assures success.
Grade 3
Judaica
In Grade 3 the book Being Torah is studied which helps our students discover Jewish insights through Torah, develop Torah study skills and gain an increasing knowledge of the key themes, values and wisdom found in the Torah. Being Torah, unlike most textbooks for young children uses original Torah text. By using original text, we expose the students to the richness of Torah. A lifelong relationship with the Torah begins, as students are taught to analyze texts by finding hidden clues, surprising connections, and secret patterns. Students learn that it is not only the content of the story that is important, but the way (or the process by which) the story is told. Students are encouraged to interpret text in a way that is meaningful to their personal experience. We begin to train students to take a closer look at the text, and to find certain key markers which, when discovered, open up a deeper meaning beyond the story itself.
As our grade 3 students are always full of questions, the BJL (Building Jewish Life) God curriculum was chosen to supplement their Jewish studies class because it helps make “God talk” a bit easier for teachers, students and parents. As it is rooted in biblical stories, folk tales, and Jewish practices, BJL Mitzvot opens up discussions about God and it give our young learners a solid foundation of the many differeing ideas about God.
Hebrew
In grade three, students continue their study of Hebrew reading skills and master several decoding techniques. Basic vocabulary, the grammar of our liturgy, and Hebrew reading practice are stressed to develop prayer literacy. The beginning of the school year is spent doing a comprehensive Hebrew reading review so that each student has the proper foundation for their continuing T’filah (prayer) studies. Using the new Journeys curriculum, students are reintroduced to the prayers and blessings used for celebrating Shabbat at home. The curriculum focuses on helping students to understand the way that prayers go together to become services and also works with Hebrew roots, which allows students to generalize their understandings and recognize and comprehend roots in other contexts. The book also includes stories that lead to discussions help to unpack the kavanah (spiritual impact) of each prayer, hopefully enriching their personal relationship with each individual prayer and blessing.
Grade 4
Judaica
The grade four Jewish Holiday curriculum is a comprehensive look at the cycle of the Jewish year. Modern customs and celebrations are presented along with each holiday’s history and ancient traditions. Their study often focuses on bible stories and other classic Jewish text which enriches their overall understanding of the holiday and festivals as well as illustrates how the holidays build values such as tzedakah(righteousness), gemilut hassadim (acts of loving kindness), and rodef shalom (making peace).
Students continue Bible study focusing on Kings, Prophets, and Writings. The stories illuminate how Bible heroes and heroines lived, worked and behaved towards each other. Students are guided to apply the morals of these great stories to their own personal concerns. Students learn that there are many levels of study; Peshat (explanation), Drash (interpretation), and Remetz (allegory).
Students in grade four will participate in a variety of projects about the Jewish holidays including a trip to a Matzah baking factory around the time of Passover. They will also have a Prophet Pageant where each students will have the opportunity to “bring a Prophet to life” by researching his or her life and producing a brief skit for the entire class.
Hebrew
There are four main goals of the Hebrew curriculum in grade 4:
Classes will focus on the following prayers: food & mitzvah brakhot, Barkhu, Yotzer Or, Ahavah Rabbah, Shema, V’Ahavta, Mi Khamokha, as well as the Kiddush, Modeh Ani and Mah Tovu. In order to reinforce the material learned in class, Grade 4 students will participate in school prayer services and will “show off” their skills at the MOSTY Shabbat. Grade 5
Judaica
The fifth-grade will focus their studies on Modern Jewish communities this year. Through their text, Welcome to Israel, students will be introduced to Israel's history; geography; and political, commercial, and cultural life. The book also tells kids about Israelis their own age: what they do for fun, their favorite sports and foods, and what their schools are like. As they explore each region of Israel they meet the many different people who live there and also begin to discuss the complex history of the Jewish homeland.
In addition, Grade Five students will participate in Yachdav, a partnership program between schools in Israel and the Diaspora. As part of this program, ARS students will exchange specific lessons with Maale HaCarmel, an elementary school in Haifa, Israel and participate in videoconferencing. Yachdav helps students learn how other Jews in other countries live, and also helps them understand that the Jewish community is really a global community.
During the second semester students will study the story of Jewish immigration to America is studied from the earliest colonial settlement in 1654 to the present time. Through stories, biographies and narratives, students will begin to understand the complexities of Jewish life in America both in the past and present. Students will meet a variety of personalities throughout their journey of Jewish history. Fascinating stories of the Jewish American experience are woven through the curriculum. This course also includes a variety of facts that most children don't learn in their secular schools about the Jewish role in the making of America from colonial times to our own day.
Hebrew
There are four main goals of the Hebrew curriculum in Grade 5:
In order to reinforce the material learned in class, Grade 5 students will participate in school prayer services and will “show off” their skills at the BOSTY Shabbat.
Grade 6
Because the sixth grade year is when B'nei Mitzvah preparation begins in earnest, curriculum focuses on the "nuts and bolts" preparation including; fluency with the Torah Service and Torah chanting skills.
Sundays Bnei Mitzvah Skills
On Sundays the grade 6 students focus on becoming truly comfortable chanting and understanding the Shabbat morning Torah service. Cantor Shana Onigman and Kim Singer, Bnei Mitzvah Educator, visit class weekly to teach and review Torah Trope (Cantilation marks) so that all students are ready for their individualized Bar/Bat Mitzvah lessons. Students will learn practical Synagogue skills and the choreography of Jewish worship to enable them to participate fully in the life of their congregation, while coming to understand and respect the differing customs of other congregations.
Tuesdays Judaica
Jewish History
The History of the Jewish People text provides a rich presentation of Jewish history from our earliest ancestors in the Land of Israel to our dispersion in the Diaspora through the Jewish experience in America in the 1880’s. Each chapter helps students consider how their lives compare with the lives of our ancestors, how each generation adapts Judaism to its time and place, and how the decisions of previous generations influence our own lives and decisions.
Fall Topic: Jewish Heroes, Jewish Values
Spanning the worlds of sports, science, film, and politics, Jewish Heroes, Jewish Values introduces the Jewish heroes of yesterday and today to those of tomorrow. Students discover how to live Jewish values by reliving some of the most dramatic moments of the twentieth century. Students also discuss the difference between heroes and celebrities as they begin to explore heroes in their lives. Each student will select a Jewish hero and learn about them in order to write a brief presentation about their hero for the class. The semester ends as each student becomes their hero for a day in order to introduce him/her to the others in class.
Spring Topic: The Holocaust
As a result of conversations with several different students, parents, and school committee members we have recently introduced an extensive unit about the history of the Holocaust using the text Ten Thousand Children. This particular text uses simple stories to educate about the Holocaust told from the perspective of children who escaped via the Kindertransport. Between December 1938 and September 1939, 10,000 children were rescued from Nazi-occupied countries and safely transported to England. This rescue mission was called the Kindertransport, and the remarkable experiences of these children are dramatically brought to life in this collection of true first-person accounts.
Grade 7
Adolescence is a time of discovery of self and one's relationship to the world around himself or herself, filled with intellectual and emotional change. Our grade 7 curriculum serves to support students on their personal journey through this challenging time as they prepare for Bar/Bat Mitzvah and beyond. Students are exposed to a variety of topics over the course of the school year through exploration of the following questions
Each unit includes several different elements including an introduction to the writings of the Prophets which is an exciting and engaging way to help students understand the significance of the characters and issues found in the Haftarah. Another significant part of each unit of the curriculum is an exploration of mitzvot as process of becoming B’nei Mitzvah is taking responsibility for making the world a better place. Our seventh grade students will begin to increase their level of Jewish commitment in concrete and practical ways. As they enter their young adulthood, they will begin to explore Jewish tradition through the study of mitzvot. Students will take what they learn one step further by participating in social action/mitzvah projects individually, with their families and together as a class. Several “social action field trips” will be scheduled throughout the year to provide a hands-on opportunity to make the world a better place.
The Ohabei Shalom High School
The ARS High School program is designed to challenge students to take an active and participatory role in their Jewish education. The courses and electives, along with other aspects of the program, are designed to encourage critical thinking and leadership skills as well as to stress that a commitment to Judaism does not end when one leaves the classroom.
Click here for our current High School calendar
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info@ohabei.org | 1187 Beacon Street | Brookline, MA 02446 | Tel: 617.277.6610
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