JEWISH STUDIES/HEBREW Chalav U’Dvash program imparts basic knowledge of spoken Hebrew that will also build a foundation for future study of the language. The program develops children’s ability to communicate in Hebrew, by providing them with a variety of opportunities and incentives to use the linguistic patterns and vocabulary acquired in the program, connects Hebrew to everyday social situations related to the children’s experiences in the home, at school, in encounters with friends and holiday celebrations, makes Hebrew a source of pleasure for the children and involves the entire family in the learning experience. JEWISH HOLIDAYS Art projects, songs, stories, class celebrations and cooking experiences will help give your child an understanding and appreciation of the stories and symbols of each of the major Jewish holidays. TORAH The students will learn Jewish values through Biblical Stories from Creation to the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai and explore them during class discussions and dramatic play. PRAYERS The students will be introduced to many of the basic prayers of the daily morning service and Friday evening Shabbat service. FIRST GRADE OVERVIEW First Grade is a year of tremendous academic, emotional and social growth. Our primary goal for our first graders is that they receive the foundation they need to be successful 21st century learners. To achieve this goal we strive to teach them to be positive contributors to collaborative conversations, independent, curious students, critical thinkers who strive to have a deeper understanding of material learned, and responsible members of our community who show respect for themselves and others. ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS The core of our language arts instruction is the Being a Reader program developed by the nonprofit learning organization, Center for the Collaborative Classroom. The goals of our work are to provide our students opportunities and skills to become confident readers, independent learners and caring members of a classroom community. The program’s academic strands provide students with a wide range of essential early literacy experiences. These strands combine to inspire the students’ love of reading, allow them to move at their own pace along a continuum of reading development, build their confidence, and establish their sense of identity as readers. The students participate in differentiated small group instruction that allows them to move at their own pace in their reading development. This work, as well as the instruction that takes place in whole-class lessons, provides many experiences using strategies to read and understand text. The students also utilize the Writer’s Workshop model developed by The Teacher’s College at Columbia University. The workshop model provides time for a mini-lesson, guided practice, independent active engagement, and collaboration/reflection.
5 LOWER SCHOOL GRADES K- 4 | CURRICULUM GUIDE
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