Daniel Rothner
This http://lookstein.org/articles/kbr.pdf link from the 5th post below may be of interest.
Daniel Rothner
Founder & Director
Areyvut, Inc.
147 South Washington Avenue
Bergenfield, NJ 07621
P: 201-244-6702
F: 201-338-2427
dan...@areyvut.org
www.areyvut.org
From: lookjed list [mailto:LOO...@listserv.biu.ac.il] On Behalf Of Shalom Berger
Sent: Monday, March 24, 2014 6:05 AM
To: LOO...@listserv.biu.ac.il
Subject: Lookjed Digest XVI:47
The Lookjed list is a project of the Lookstein Center for Jewish Education
Topics in this issue:
I. Query:
Culturally sensitive textbooks (Lipsky)
II. Jewish History textbook (Frank, Moskowitz, Plaut)
III. Ivrit Benchmarks (Kanarek)
IV. Text translation contest on Sefaria.org (Wolkenfeld)
V. Research on the effects of proactive introduction of daily mitzvoth on kindergarten students (Fradkin)
VI. Rashi Project – AlHaTorah.org
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The Lookstein Center
ch...@lookstein.org
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I. Query:
From: Eliana Lipsky [etli...@gmail.com]
To: sha...@lookstein.og
Sent: March 18, 2014 5:04 PM
Subject: Culturally sensitive textbooks
Can anyone suggest middle school American and World history textbooks that are appropriate for more religious communities in which much of the information about and images of other religions is left out? While I believe such censorship and lack of multicultural awareness problematic and would never condone it, I currently mentor a 7th grade general studies teacher at one such Jewish day school. I want her to be as successful as possible in her given teaching environment. She herself is an outsider of the community and struggles with the restrictions placed on what she can and cannot teach her students. Instead of being able to devote her time to creative lesson planning she spends much of it censoring her students' textbook and library books.
I wish I could give you more information about the community itself in order to give a better sense of what materials might be appropriate, but I am hesitant to name the community in which she works because of potential negative responses.
Kol Tuv,
Eliana Lipsky
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From: Laura Frank [shaw...@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 2:15 PM
To: loo...@lookstein.org
Subject: Jewish History textbook
To respond to Miriam's query: First of all, there is a serious lack of good Jewish history teaching materials, whether in print or on-line format, for Jewish day school secondary schools. Jewish history educators end up cobbling together their materials from dozens of sources, which is a lot of work for teachers, and can be confusing for students. Having said that, we at Beth Tfiloh have had success using Stephen Bayme's Understanding Jewish History and even Jewish History in 100 Nutshells for weaker readers.
Laura Frank
Jewish History Dept. Chair
Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community High School
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From: Nachama Moskowitz [NMosk...@jecc.org]
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 3:11 PM
To: 'lookjed list'; Miriam Stein
Subject: Jewish History "Textbook" (actually a curriculum)
A really wonderful two year Jewish history curriculum (9th and 10th grade) was developed in partnership between the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland and the Fuchs Mizrachi School.
It was created using the model of Understanding by Design, very much depends on primary sources (i.e., no textbook, but lots of texts), and varies the modes of learning lesson-to-lesson.
The teacher guide and student resources may be downloaded at no charge from: http://curriculumjecc.wikispaces.com/History (scroll down to “Responding to God’s Knocks: Kol Dodi Dofek”). Note that the overarching Enduring Understanding fits a Modern Orthodox, religious Zionist hashkafah. You'll have to see how it works for your particular program.
The curriculum’s description is:
Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, in his master essay, “Kol Dodi Dofek,” writes about “knocks” – moments in time when God calls to B’nai Yisrael, signaling them to take an active role in history, to fulfill their mission as the Chosen People. Two curricular guides in Understanding by Design format were written for a multi-year Jewish history sequence for use in a Religious Zionist day school. The curriculum is adaptable to other settings, though the Enduring Understanding might not philosophically fit. Year One covers the time period from 589 BCE – 135 CE. Year Two picks up after the Bar Kohba rebellion and concludes with the Enlightenment.
Nachama Skolnik Moskowitz, JECC
Senior Director
Director of Curriculum Resources
Jewish Education Center of Cleveland
http://www.jecc.org
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From: <rita...@aol.com>
To: loo...@mail.biu.ac.il
Date: Thu, Mar 20, 2014 at 1:01 AM
Subject: Re: Lookjed Digest XVI:46
We use both Scharfstein's Understanding Jewish History 1 and 2 (Ktav) or Sarna's The History of the Jewish People (Behrman House) for Middle School -grades 6-8. The former is better for the older students and Sarna is good for grade 6.
Rita Plaut,
Chair, Jewish History, Krieger Schechter Middle School
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III. Ivrit Benchmarks
From: Tzvika Kanarek [tzv...@macam.ac.il]
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 9:15 PM
To: loo...@MAIL.BIU.AC.IL
Subject: Regarding Ivrit Benchmarks
Shalom Shalom!
My friend Professor Luba Charlap teaches "ivrit" teachers at Mofet college and sent me this attachment "Standards for Foreign Languages" . It takes time to download.
http://www.actfl.org/files/public/StandardsforFLLexecsumm_rev.pdf
Dr. Tzvika Kanarek
Lifshitz – Herzog College
Jerusalem
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IV. Text translation contest on Sefaria.org
From: Sara Wolkenfeld [sa...@sefaria.org]
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 7:20 PM
To: loo...@lookstein.org
Subject: Text translation contest on Sefaria.org
Dear Rabbi Berger,
I would like to let all LOOKJEDers know about a text translation contest recently launched by Sefaria.org. As part of our goal to have a robust database of Hebrew texts and translations, we are crowdsourcing a translation of Shulchan Arukh, Even HaEzer. In addition to the joy of spreading Torah access, each se'if you translate gives you the opportunity to win lots of great prizes (MacBook, iPad, etc.).
During the first week of the contest, volunteers translated over thirty percent of Even HaEzer. We are invite teachers, students, and learners everywhere to participate in this effort. Please join us in completing this translation!
All the best,
Sara Wolkenfeld
Director of Education and Community Engagement
The Sefaria Project
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V. Research on the effects of proactive introduction of daily mitzvoth on kindergarten students
From: Rabbi Josef Fradkin <jfra...@chasd.org>
To: Lookjed <loo...@biu.ac.il>
Date: Wed, Mar 19, 2014 at 6:23 PM
Subject: Research on the effects of proactive introduction of daily mitzvoth on kindergarten students
R' Shalom,
Attached is a recent short research paper compiled by our Kindergarten Team Leader, Brooke Klein. It looks at the effects of proactive introduction of daily mitzvot on kindness, behavior and discipline in a kindergarten/Pre1A grade of 36 students. These are students from a cross section of non-religious homes and socio economic backgrounds. Please feel free to share with the lookjed listserve. Respondents are encouraged to contact Ms. Klein directly at bkl...@chasd.org
Most appreciated,
Rabbi Josef Fradkin
Head of School
The core of the research study appears below. For the full study, including bibliography and sample material, see http://lookstein.org/articles/kbr.pdf
<<
Does Announcing a Daily Mitzvah (good deed) Keep Kindergarteners Behaving the Right Way?
- Brooke Klein, Kindergarten Lead Teacher, Chabad Hebrew Academy, San Diego, CA
bkl...@chasd.org
This was the question that I sought to answer in order to improve the social curriculum in my Kindergarten classroom. More specifically, I wanted to know if announcing a daily mitzvah each morning would:
1.) encourage positive behaviors among my 31 Kindergarteners per teacher observation and
2.) reduce negative behaviors based on weekly tallies of green, yellow, and red cards on our classroom behavior chart.
My Research Results
From January 6, 2014 through January 28, 2014 a daily mitzvah was announced to the students each morning. In January the Kinder staff observed many students fulfilling the daily mitzvahs. We saw students create kind notes for their teachers and friends, invite different peers to play on the playground, pick up litter around the school, sharpen pencils for their peers, and cheer up friends who appeared sad. We also noted that there were 31 yellow cards and 5 red cards issued during that time. In comparison, no daily mitzvahs were announced from February 3, 2014 through February 28, 2014. While we saw a few students fulfill previous mitzvah suggestions, most of the children did not. During this time, 61 yellow cards and 7 red cards were issued. Thus, it appears as if announcing a daily mitzvah may positively affect Kindergarten behavior and reduce negative choices! It is recommended that more research be conducted in this area.
According to the Research
In recent years there has been a significant focus on the social curriculum and how it can contribute to a safe, productive, and happy classroom environment. A strong social curriculum empowers students to take better care of themselves and each other and build caring communities through positive social interactions. According to Denton and Kriete (2000), “The social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum. Social and academic learning are inextricably connected, and each is equally important. The balanced integration of the two is essential to children’s growth” (Denton and Kriete, p. 13).
Mindess, Chen, and Brenner (2008) support this idea and noted that in a study prepared by the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child (2007) “emotional well-being and social competence provide a strong foundation for brain development and emerging cognitive abilities” (Mindess, Chen, and Brenner, p. 1). Thus, social-emotional development can be a strong indicator of academic and personal success. Further research by Caltha Crowe (2010) indicates that when a classroom culture allows children to learn, feel safe and respected, and to know how to treat others with respect, "their school days are smoother, more productive, and their difficulties fewer and less severe" (Crowe, p. 21). Clearly then, only teaching children the academic content can no longer suffice as we must also teach children to care. It is this notion of caring for others and taking pride in ourselves that contributes to a healthy and happy classroom environment where meaningful learning can take place. Suggesting a mitzvah each day is one way to teach children to care for themselves and to care for others.
>>
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VI. Rashi Project – AlHaTorah.org
From: AlHaTorah.org [AlHa...@alhatorah.org]
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2014 12:41 PM
To: Shalom Berger
Subject: Rashi Project – AlHaTorah.org
There are over 200 extant manuscripts of Rashi's Torah commentary, and there are wide ranging differences between them. This frequently makes it difficult to know whether a passage appearing in Rashi's commentary was written by Rashi himself or added by a later hand. The Leipzig 1 manuscript bears the unique distinction of having been copied from a manuscript written by R. Shemayah who served as Rashi's secretary. As such, it is of crucial significance for reconstructing Rashi's original text and for understanding many sections of the commentary.
AlHaTorah.org has begun the work of making this text available online, and the chapters from this week's Parashah can be accessed from here: Rashi Leipzig 1. [Due to a still unsolved bug, Chrome users may need to refresh the page to enable its contents to display properly.]
To participate in this important effort, please contact us at: reso...@alhatorah.org
AlHaTorah.org is a new Tanakh study resource which mines 2,500 years of Biblical interpretation to offer the user a rich, multi-dimensional, learning experience. Please follow the links on the homepage to subscribe and contribute.
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