| |
Goals for
University Synagogue Religious School
5770 / 2009-2010 |
| |
| |
| Katantan/Pre-School: |
| At the
end of their Kantanan year, families will… |
|
Gain familiarity with
Jewish holidays and the basic rituals associated
with them. |
|
Establish a positive connection with the
Religious School. |
|
Become closer to their
parents through exploration of Jewish life
together. |
|
|
Make friends and help create a synagogue family. |
|
| |
| |
| Gan/Kindergarten: |
| At the
end of their Gan year, students will… |
|
Gain familiarity with
and a knowledge of Jewish holidays, symbols,
and concepts. |
|
Be able to locate and identify key synagogue
objects and explain various roles of people
in the synagogue community. |
|
Know key Torah stories
from the book of Genesis and how they relate to their lives. |
|
Apply the Jewish values
found in Torah and holidays to their own
lives. |
|
Be able to identify
Hebrew letters and their sounds. |
|
Chant the following
prayers, and know when they are to be recited:
|
| |
|
Motzi |
|
Kiddush (Borei
P’ri Ha-gafen) |
|
Sh’ma |
|
Shabbat candles |
|
Hanukkah
candles |
|
Shehecheyanu |
|
|
| |
| |
| Alef/1st grade: |
| At the
end of their Alef year, students will… |
|
Be able to recount
the stories and identify the symbols of
each major Jewish holiday. |
|
Understand that the
Torah is told/read in a cycle and express
how those stories relate to their lives. |
|
Connect with the land
of Israel. |
|
Begin to discuss ideas
about God. |
|
Recognize Hebrew letters
and their sounds. |
|
Understand and recite
the order of the prayers for Shabbat evening
(candles, Kiddush, Motzi). |
|
Be able to recite the Barchu and
the Shema. |
|
| |
| |
| Bet/2nd grade: |
| At the
end of their Bet year, students will… |
|
Explore Jewish value
concepts and apply them to their own actions. |
|
Gain personal meaning
from study of values, family, and holidays.
Consider what values to practice. (i.e.
covenant, g’milut chasadim, derech
eretz, mitzvot, lashon hara, kavod, teva,
pikuach nefesh, etc.). |
|
Begin to explore Hebrew
writing/sound making/word building. |
|
Be able to retell the
story behind each Jewish holiday. |
|
Identify differences
between American and Israeli food through
cooking traditional Israeli treats. |
|
Chant the following prayers, and know when
they are to be recited: |
| |
|
Borei P’ri
ha-eitz |
|
Borei p’ri
ha-adamah |
|
Passover blessings
and four questions (Mah Nishtanah) |
|
|
| |
| |
| Gimel/3rd grade: |
| At the
end of their Gimel year, students will… |
|
Develop Hebrew speaking
and reading skills. |
|
Relate the importance
of Hebrew as the language of Israel, the
Jews, some prayer, and Torah. |
|
Identify Jewish values
in practice and explain personal choices
in “Jewish” terms. |
|
Apply holiday knowledge
to personal holiday practice. |
|
Discuss holiday celebration
in a modern context. |
|
Recognize Hebrew vowels
and their sounds. |
|
Retell the story of
the founding of Israel and explain its significance
in their lives. |
|
Ask and discuss big questions about God. |
|
Understand that our concepts of God are
constantly developing and changing. |
|
Recognize that Judaism acknowledges a multitude
of theological ideas under the umbrella of "there is one God." |
|
| |
| |
| Daled/4th grade: |
| At the
end of their Daled year, students will… |
|
Decipher Torah narrative according to patterns
and clues in the text. |
|
Synthesize Torah and value knowledge to
express how one can emulate Torah, and how/why
one would or would not want to do so. |
|
Locate important historical sites in Israel,
and explain their biblical significance. |
|
Understand that Jewish values are part of
our rich Jewish heritage, woven into folk
tales and biblical stories. |
|
Create a personal code of ethics incorporating
Jewish values as a guide to ethical living. |
|
Chant/recite to the following prayers: |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
Be able to recognize and define key Hebrew
word roots (i.e. bet-resh-chaf, shin-mem-ayin,
etc.) |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
Be able to explain that the Barchu is a
call and response prayer that readies individuals
both to pray and to belong to a prayer community. |
|
Demonstrate and explain
the reasoning behind any prayer choreography
in the Barchu, Sh’ma, and V’Ahavta.
|
|
Understand that Yotzer
Or is a prayer about creation that we read
only in the morning service. |
|
Explain the metaphor
of “light” in the Yotzer Or,
and determine individually which metaphor
has the most personal meaning. |
|
Interpret the idea
of love in Ahavah Rabah and analyze ways
they show love to others, and feel loved.
|
|
Recall that the Torah
is one of the ways that God shows love to
the Jews. |
|
Identify the Shema as the most important prayer in the prayer
service and explain its significance. |
|
Discuss how the Shema and V’Ahavta moves us from God’s
love into actions, and will demonstrate
how to “live” that God is one. |
|
Understand that the Mi Chamochah is about
the redemption of Israel, and name where the
prayer came from. |
|
Rank the prayers learned in order of personal
importance, and explain their list. |
|
Explore their personal connection to prayer
through written journals. |
|
| |
| |
| Hey/5th grade: |
| At the
end of their Hey year, students will… |
|
Become familiar with
Jewish lifecycle and explain Jewish milestones
and their personal meaning. |
|
Combine knowledge of
Torah narrative with creativity and imagination
to delve into deeper meaning/rabbinic understanding. |
|
Understand that Jews
around the world have different holiday
food traditions and practice preparing various
holiday foods. |
|
Gain understanding
and appreciation of major cities and areas
in Israel. |
|
Be able to locate major
cities and areas in Israel on a map. |
|
Chant/recite the following
prayers: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Be able to recognize
and define key Hebrew word roots |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
Demonstrate and explain
the reasoning behind any prayer choreography
in the Avot V’Imahot, G’vurot, and K’dushah.
|
|
Understand that the
Amidah is a series of prayers that work
in a certain order. |
|
Explain that in the
Amidah we praise God, ask God for things,
and thank God. |
|
Interpret that through
the Avot V’Imahot, we remember our
ancestors and connect to God through our
families. |
|
Weigh the value of
hesed described in the the Avot V’Imahot.
|
|
Identify the G’vurot as a prayer where we value God’s power. |
|
Demonstrate ways we
can be like God, according to the G’vurot. |
|
Explain that the K’dushah is in many ways the climax of a service. |
|
Remember that some
of the K’dushah relates experiences
that our prophets had with God. |
|
Discuss how God’s
holiness becomes real through our own holy
actions. |
|
Evaluate how each student
is holy, and how he/she can perform holy
acts. |
|
| |
| |
| Vav/6th grade: |
| At the
end of their Vav year, students will… |
|
Identify various prophets and their messages. |
|
Evaluate personal
and societal actions regarding prophetic
messages: what are we doing "right,"
what can we do better? |
|
Understand key characters in American Jewish
history and evaluate their contribution to
the Jewish community and American society. |
|
Be able to identify the various religions
and cultures represented in Israel and explain
how their presence impacts the country. |
|
Connect the biblical past of Israel to the
modern-day present Israel. |
|
Further cultivate a relationship with the
state of Israel. |
|
Evaluate and discuss challenges in Israel
(i.e. environmental, land, religious, etc.) |
|
Know the history of Israel and express personal opinion regarding controversial moments in Israel's founding and development. |
|
Chant/recite the following
prayers: |
| |
|
Torah Service
– blessings for before and
after Torah and Haftarah readings
|
|
Aleinu |
|
Mourners' Kaddish |
|
Havdallah blessings |
|
|
Be able to recognize and define key Hebrew word roots. |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
Demonstrate and explain the reasoning behind
any prayer choreography in the Aleinu and Mourner’s Kaddish. |
|
Understand that the Torah is a source of
life and strength for Jews. |
|
Explain why reading the Torah is like going
“up.” |
|
Recognize that by reciting the Torah blessings
they put themselves at the moment that the
Torah was given to Israel. |
|
Judge how the Torah is a gift to the Jewish
people. |
|
Explain why reading the Haftarah parallels
reading the Torah. |
|
Know that Aleinu is a summarizing
theological statement at the end of our services. |
|
Describe how Aleinu acknowledges
what God has done for us. |
|
Evaluate the idea of chosenness, as explained
in the Aleinu.
|
|
Analyze our responsibility to do tikkun olam (heal the world) as it is expressed in Aleinu..
|
|
Identify why the Mourner’s Kaddish
is a prayer to comfort those in mourning. |
|
State that the Mourner’s Kaddish
is a prayer in Aramaic, not Hebrew. |
|
Describe why the Mourner’s Kaddish
can bring communities together. |
|
Understand that Havdallah is the
ceremony that transitions us from Shabbat
to the rest of the week. |
|
Explain the various symbols we use in the
Havdallah service. |
|
Discuss what it means to be holy and ordinary. |
|
| |
| |
| Mechinah/7th grade: |
| At the
end of their Mechinah year, students will… |
|
Identify challenging
issues in holiday practice. |
|
Explain personal meaning
behind celebrating various holidays. |
|
Develop leadership
skills in communal participation: |
| |
|
Leading t’filah
(both in and out of the Religious
School) |
|
Performing
hands-on tikkun olam (healing
the world) projects |
|
Assessing
a variety of charitable agencies
and deciding where to donate funds
collected through the Religious
School tzedakah fund. |
|
|
Understand and relate
personal responsibility in making the world
a better place. |
|
Identify major events
in Holocaust history. |
|
Review all prayers
already learned for meaning and fluency.
|
|
Identify key historical figures both in
Jewish history and in the founding of the
state of Israel. |
|
Name and summarize a number of the books
of Writings. |
|
Be able to debate big questions about God,
faith, and the afterlife. |
|
Read basic modern Hebrew conversations. |
|
Practice Hebrew reading through reading Hebrew children's books. |
|
Feel a part of the Tichon (high school)
program, and build community with post b’nei
mitzvah students. |
|
| |
| |
| Tichon/High School: |
| At the
end of the Tichon experience, students will… |
|
Have a chevre
(social friend group) of other Jews. |
|
Feel a connection to
Judaism. |
|
Develop a deeper understanding
of a variety of topics including God, Torah,
morals and ethics, and history. |
|
Have a positive Jewish
identity and be able to express their personal
practice and beliefs. |
|
Explore their “core
selves” as they relate to their Jewish world
around them. |
|
| |
| |
| Goals for Shira (Music): |
|
To foster a sense of
enjoyment, appreciation, pride of Jewish
music. |
|
To connect to Judaism
through Jewish music. |
|
To be “literate”
in music of the Reform movement and camps.
|
|
To increase students’
interest in Hebrew and Judaica studies.
|
|
To connect students
to Judaism and the Jewish narrative through
different senses and modalities of learning
than the typical classroom. |
|
| |
| |
| Goals for Rikud (Dance): |
|
To teach students basic
body movement skills. |
|
To give students a
sense of community and community involvement.
|
|
To connect students
to Israel. |
|
To appeal to different
learning styles in the student community.
|
|
To connect students
to Judaism and the Jewish narrative through
different senses and modalities of learning
than the typical classroom. |
|
To demonstrate for students that Israel
is a diverse nation. |
|
To teach world and Jewish history through
an alternative modality of learning. |
|
| |
|
ABOUT US
