The Jewish Year track explores in Hebrew the personal meaning of Jewish life throughout
the year, and the distinction between life as an individual and as part of a learning group.
This track focuses on three themes: Everyday life, Shabbat, and Holidays.
|
|
Behazlacha (Everyday Life) |
This unit concentrates on four main themes:
(1) The Memory Box, which helps students recollect what
they learned in the past, and retain new knowledge acquired throughout the school year;
(2) The rules for successful learning and the ways to ensure fruitful and productive study;
(3) The concept of Multiple Intelligences, demonstrating how we can optimize learning using
different kinds of intelligences;
(4) A deeper acquaintance with the students of the Virtual
Classroom: their distinctive characteristics, hobbies etc., through which the children are
encouraged to become active observers of the people and things surrounding them.
The children are also introduced to Ronen, the new student, and experience through him the
process of integration and the significance of friendship and acceptance.
The unit consists of the following learning materials:
1 student workbook; 2 books for guided reading; 12 library books; 8 project library books; 1 CD;
1 set of flash cards; classroom posters; big pictures.
|
| |
|
Shabbat Mevarchim Etzlenu Bakita |
This unit opens with the retrieval of the central themes and concepts studied in Grades 1 & 2, mainly
the precept of Shamor ve Zachor - the mitzvot pertaining to Shabbat. The unit focuses on the term Shabbat
Mevarchim - the Shabbat during which we announce the coming Rosh Chodesh and bless the new month.
The children are introduced to each Shabbat Mevarchim of the calendar year through songs, games and a
library book linking the Shabbat to a key concept relating to the holiday celebrated that month (when applicable).
The unit consists of the following learning materials:
1 student workbook; 9 library books; 1 CD; 1 set of flash cards; 1 classroom poster; monthly
calendars available for download from the TaL AM website.
|
| |
|
The Holidays |
This sub-track consists of 4 units, covering the major Jewish holidays:
The High Holidays and Chanukah; Tu Bishvat and Purim; Pessach and Shavuot;
Yom Ha'atzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim. The holiday themes are spiraled from
Grades 1 & 2. Each unit opens with the Memory Box, which reminds the students
what they learned in previous years, while adding new dimensions and elevating the level of content and skills.
The unit consists of the following learning materials:
The High Holidays and Chanukah:
The High Holidays unit presents prayers and blessings specific to these holidays,
introducing the biblical and historical background of each holiday. The holiday of Succot,
for example, creates a link between the 4 Species and the regions in Israel these species are indigenous to.
The Chanukah unit reviews the concepts studied in previous years and introduces another dimension derived
from the holiday's historical setting, its halachot and Talmudic sources.
The unit consists of the following learning materials:
1 student workbook; 3 books for guided reading; 11 library books; 2 CDs; 2 sets of flash cards; big pictures. |
Tu Bishvat and Purim:
The Tu Bishvat unit opens with the Memory Box and with the reasoning stated in the Mishna for designating
the 15th of Shvat as the date on which the holiday is celebrated.
The unit focuses on the concept of machzorim - the cycles existing in our environment:
the water cycle, the vegetation cycle, and the cycles of the week, month and year.
The unit presents the significance of these cycles in our lives and their representation in Jewish life
(blessings and mitzvot), as well as the mitzvot and customs of Tu Bishvat.
The Purim unit opens with the Memory Box, reviewing the story of the megilah as well as the mitzvot and
customs of the holiday studied in Grades 1 & 2. The unit focuses on the story of the megilah using both
contemporary and biblical Hebrew, while examining the protagonists' actions using divergent thinking.
The unit consists of the following learning materials:
1 student workbook; 2 books for guided reading; 7 library books; 2 CDs; 2 sets of flash cards; big pictures.
|
Pesach and Shavuot:
The Pesach unit opens a review of the 4 names of the holiday and the story of the exodus studied in
TaL AM 1 & 2. The unit then focuses on the concepts of Avdut (slavery) and Herut (freedom), examining their
manifestations on our seder table, as well as in the Pesach Haggadah.
The Shavuot unit opens with the Memory Box, reviewing the concept of Sefirat Ha'Omer studied in Grade 2.
The unit focuses on the Ten Commandments and their significance in the children's' lives, as well as
Tikun Leil Shavuot - the custom of Torah learning on the eve of Shavuot.
The unit consists of the following learning materials:
1 student workbook; 1 Haggadah and 1 book for guided reading; 3 library books; 2 CDs; 2 sets of flash cards;
big pictures.
|
Yom Ha'atzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim:
The Israel unit opens with the Memory Box, reviewing elements studied in TaL AM 1 & 2,
such as Israel's flag, symbol and Hatikvah. The unit focuses on two central themes:
A virtual tour of the country familiarizing the students with Eretz Israel.
The students make 14 stops in different locations along the way, examining each location
through its biblical/historical context, as well as its present day reality.
The roles of Theodor Herzl and David Ben Gurion in the creation of the State of Israel,
including the main principles of the Declaration of Independence. These principles,
constituting the foundation of the State of Israel, are linked to the rules studied in
the Behazlacha unit for creating a successful class and maintaining successful learning,
and to the Ten Commandments, stipulating the fundamental rules of conduct enabling a
positive and productive life within society.
The unit consists of the following learning materials:
1 student workbook; 2 books for guided reading; 3 library books; 1 CD; 1 set of flash cards;
2 classroom posters; a floor map of Israel with a cutout bus for the virtual tour of the country,
including signposts for locations indicated on the map. |
| |
|
Kufsat Hazikaron - The Memory Box |
The TaL AM 3 curriculum is based on a constructivist model, continuously adding new information to knowledge
previously acquired in TaL AM 1 & 2.
The function of the Memory Box is twofold: retrieving knowledge the students acquired in previous years
(this function is activated at the opening of each unit), and identifying important themes and concepts
studied in the present, which the students would like to retain in the future (this function is introduced
at the conclusion of each unit). This process enables the students to gain "ownership" over their studies
and achieve independent learning.
There are two types of Memory Boxes: a class Memory Box, and individual Memory Boxes created by the students.
The class Memory Box contains material studied in previous years. With the completion of each unit, the students
decide which central themes and ideas they would like to remember about the unit, and add this information to the
class box and to their own individual boxes.
TaL AM periodically posts enrichment worksheets on its website, serving to reinforce and internalize material learned.
These pages may be downloaded and placed in the Memory Box, thereby enabling the children to record the information
they learned and would like to remember in each unit, and facilitating the retention of pertinent knowledge that can
be built on in the future.
|
| |
|
|
