B”H

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Hebrew School Curriculum for grades K-2

39 2-hour lessons on Alef Bet and holidays/mitzvot each include: Concepts, group and individual activities, songs,

appendix, schedule, and more. 85 pages $50.00

TOPIC CONCEPTS Pesach (4

weeks)

Jews were slaves in Mitzrayim, Moshe is sent to Paroh by Hashem, 10 plagues, Jews are free, sea split!, before

Pesach we clean for chametz, we also sell all our chametz, how matzah is made, items we need for Pesach, we have

a Seder

Lag B’omer Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai’s Yahrzeit is on Lag B’omer. He “lit up” the Torah with his teachings. He had to hide

from Romans because was teaching Torah. Rabbi Akiva’s wife told him that it’s never too late to start learning

Torah, he became a great Rabbi, taught love of fellow Jew, his students stopped dying on Lag b’omer

Shavuot Torah is present from Hashem to us, we all make sure to go and hear the 10 commandments- (learn the 10

commandments), on Shavuot we eat dairy products

Holiday

Review

Review of names, items, and songs of the holidays

Creation

(why

shabbat)

Hashem created the world and rested on 7th

day, what He created on each day

Israel Eretz Yisrael (Israel) is a holy land, a present from Hashem to the Jews, it’s our land, place where Beit Hamikdash

was and will be

Honoring

Parents (2

weeks)

One of the ten commandments is to honor parents- it’s a big mitzvah. How we honor parents: listening, respectful

talking, helping, don’t sit in their seat, let them rest

Mezuzah (2

weeks)

Why do we have a mezuzah? Because it’s a mitzvah in Torah how it’s made (scribe, quill, ink and parchment), why

we cover it- to protect it and show its preciousness, difference between Torah and Mezuzah, where it’s put,

mezuzah protects us

Torah Torah is from Hashem to us, is all true, is best book in the world, it teaches us how to live (e.g.: what we need to

know about keeping Shabbat and the holidays, how to act to parents and friends, how to feed our body and

neshamah), learning it is a big mitzvah that Hashem wants us to do all the time.

from ‘Components of the Daily Schedule’ Component in schedule

Explanation Reason

Judaica Hour

Mystery bag (00:00 - 00:03)

A small decorated container. Students guess, through passing it around and feeling/listening/hints etc., what the object inside is

To pique curiosity, to give students a heads up on today’s topic, and to determine students’ prior knowledge and experience

Tefillah (00:03 - 00:08)

Can be done along with davvening CD/large class siddur/individual ones with pictures. These are basic tefillot but you can add as the year progresses

Encourages memorization of the prayers and a calm, introspective time between Hashem and the student

Calendar job (00:08 - 00:10)

Find the Hebrew date, the week’s Parsha, Shabbos start and end times, any upcoming holidays on a real Jewish calendar. Rotate this job w/students

Gives students general Jewish knowledge, and feelings of capability and routine

Lesson and activity (00:10 – 00:30)

Concepts of the lessons are taught through activities, minimizing frontal teaching

Students learn well through active involvement, and being challenged to use thinking skills. Whole-group activities make it a fun atmosphere and is a good time to build social skills.

Stations (00:30 – 00:50)

At their own pace, students do different activities suited to them that are set up around the room. Related toys and games that your school may have or that you bring from your home are great to have set out- such as: matching, sorting, board games, lacing, pegboards, puzzles, dramatic play props, books, tracers, stamps, puppets, etc. interest table is just there for the students to have something related to the lesson to see, touch, ask about, and play/

People learn in different ways. So to cement concepts, students experiment, discover, experience and create, with fun and appropriate stations set up in the classroom. Students need a rich environment in the little time they have at HS to get in whatever Yiddishkeit possible in that short time. Also prevents boredom. Not all stations are meant for all students to complete. Teacher should make sure that students do the stations that are better suited to their abilities, interests, and learning style. Students that are doing lower level stations but are capable of higher level ones should be encouraged to do higher level ones. And

Mezuzah 2 Mystery

bag

Concepts Group Activities Stations Books Supplies/ Comments

Quill

and ink

Ass

essm

ent

Qu

esti

on

:

1.

Wher

e do w

e put

the

mez

uza

h?

2.

How

is

a m

ezu

zah l

ike

an a

larm

syst

em?

Difference

between Torah

and Mezuzah

Where it’s put

(slanted, right

side, which

doorways)

Mezuzah

protects us

Ask them to tell what the

differences are (what’s in the

cases, where it’s put, size,

covering, etc.)

Sort kosher and not kosher

mezuzot

Go on search around building

for mezuzahs, note the

positions of them, kiss them

Story of Persian king (see

Books→)

Have a real sofer come or see

short clip from “Let’s write a

Torah” video of mezuzah

making or one of chabad.org

videos or JEM’s Purim cd of

megillah making

Related toys and

games,

Interest Table: assorted

quills and ink

Art: Write/copy/fill in

the Shma/their Hebrew

name/ Alef Bet with

quill & ink on nice

paper

Other: “Where does the

mezuzah go?”: have

magazine pictures of

doorways for them to

point to correct place

or draw the mezuzah

on, or they could draw

a picture of a doorway

(on a house or room or

just a plain doorway)

and draw the mezuzah

in the correct spot on

plain paper

A Trip to

Mezuzahland

The Unusual Gift

– story of gift to

Persian king- a

mezuzah –

because we don’t

have to protect it-

it protects us (in

Our Sages

Showed the Way

vol. 4, pg. 155)

Songs

(Tune: Turkey in the straw)

I ran around the corner and I ran around the

block

And I ran right into a bakery shop

I looked at the door and you know what I saw

There! A mezuzah hanging on the door

So I stood up proud and I shouted out loud

Did you know I’m in the mezuzah crowd?

We love mezuzah (kiss, kiss)

ALEF BET

Letter

And hint

Decoration of

letter

Basket words Special Station Activity/ Review game Original

art

Supplies/

comments Mem

Mouth is open and

is losing it’s

marbles, *mem

went over the

mountain

Glittery crayons Melech-king

Malka-queen

Mezuzah

Meetah-bed

Matzah

Man, melon

Crayon rubbing over

the letter

-Mystery box -feel the shape

of the letter and guess which

one it is

-Run- Around –Pickup game

(teacher puts flashcards all

around room, then calls out a

letter, children run around and

try to be the first one to pick

up the letter that was called.)

Cotton

snow

Nun

Telephone,

When you sit/lie

like a nun, you

can do nothing

else, or else the

shape messes up

Rub colored

Chanukah candles on

the letter

Ner-candle

Naal-sandal

Nurse, nose

Shape from play

dough

-Show and talk about Ner of

Shabbos, Havdallah, and

Chanukah

-Step on it game – Place flash

cards all over – play music,

children dance, when music

stops, step near the closest

letter – When Morah calls

you, you say your letter

Tulle

Samech

Slanted on its side

Dip dreidels into

paint, spin on the

letter

Sevivon-dreidel

Sukkah-tabernacle

Seer-pot

Seerah-sailboat

Sefer-book

Seven, scarf

Alef bet soup-

children keep adding

(writing) letters in the

pot of soup (pot-

shaped poster)

-Spin assorted dreidels

-Make samech hats

Sea shells

Ayin

Has two einayim

on top

Googly eyes Einayim-eyes

Anan-cloud

Eeparon -pencil

Aleh –leaf

Ear, egg

Make the letter with

masking tape

-Talk about Mitzvahs we do

with einayim

-Put the letters in order

Colorful

pompoms

APPENDIX 23:

Ideas for extra Alef Bet letter practice at home for students in the summer or year round

1. Trace the letter

2. Shape from Wikki Stix, “magnetix”, Popsicle sticks, pennies, play dough, anything!

3. Write the letter in clay with pencil, do dot-to-dot

4. Sing: shalom, shalom, alef

5. Color the letter

6. Make up a story with that letter

7. From a deck of mixed alef bet cards, tell them to take only letters ___ through ___

8. Fill in the missing letter

9. Draw the letter with marker, then dab water on it for nice effect

10. Write a letter on the child’s back, they guess what letter it is

11. They draw a picture of something that starts with the letter

12. Write the transliteration

13. Write the letter without looking

14. Write letters with different things (marker, paint, chalk, finger in the air, etc.)

15. Rainbow writing

16. Matching alef bet cards

17. Crayon rubbing on a paper that’s on top of a cutout of the letter

18. Shape with body

19. Find the letter on the page

20. Memory card game

21. Make alef bet flags

22. Mystery box -feel the letter and guess which one it is

23. Draw the letter in shaving cream/ bag of paint

24. Paint the letter

25. Complete the letter out of blocks

26. Hebrew letter stamps

27. Make the letter with masking tape

28. Write the name of the letter

29. Write the English equivalent

30. What English word starts with this letter?

31. Alephbetize a bunch of cards. See who can do it faster