Co-curricular and Extra-curricular Activities
Elementary School
Lower Elementary School Curriculum (6-8 years old)
Science Curriculum: The World Around Us
Upper Elementary School Curriculum (8-10 years old)
by Sigal Gavish, Kindergarten Teacher
I believe the whole child is at the heart of any classroom program or philosophy. In order to develop any program or classroom the child’s experiences, cultural background, developmental level, physical nature, emotions, attitudes and expectations need to be addressed. This is my view of developmentally appropriate practice.
I believe this can be done in an environment where children are respected and are put in an atmosphere which allows for creative opportunities, problem solving, and a place where all children can feel successful. Children’s natural curiosity and the facilitation of a teacher are a wonderful team that can provide meaningful, purposeful and authentic experiences for all!
I believe for any curriculum to be successful it must come from the experiences, curiosities and developmental levels of the children. This is not a laissez-faire classroom, but one in which children are challenged with problems in which skills such as reading and writing will naturally flow out of it. In this thematic program all curriculum areas are balanced. Language Arts, Mathematics, Hebrew, Judaic Studies, Science, Social Studies, Art, Music, and Physical Education are all areas that the students will develop basic skills to help prepare them for the natural world!
I believe in an education that is rigorous, developmentally appropriate, exciting, comprehensive, and puts the child at the center of the program! Education is a process where both teacher and student strive to make meaningful connections hand-in-hand!
September: All About Me
Bees and honey
The High Holidays
October: Insects and Spiders
Simchat Torah and Beit Haknesset
November: Construction
The Creation of the World
Hebrew Colors
Thanksgiving
December: Hannukah
Shabbat (throughout the year)
January: The Zoo and Noah’s Ark "A Project Approach"
Rainbows
Tu-b’Shvat
February: Zoo continued
March: Purim
Weather
April: Pesah
May: The Human Body- "A Project Approach"
Garden of Eden
Yom Ha’atzmaut
Lag Ba’omer
June: Yom Yerushalayim
Shavuot
Humor
It is important to let the interests of the children guide us in the development of the program. Therefore, these units are subject to change depending upon the children’s interests and enthusiasm.
Alphabet recognition and sounds
Sight words
Vocabulary development
Sequencing
Summarizing
Recognizing elements of literature:
(character, setting, plot)
Types of literature:
-(fiction and non-fiction)
-(other genre)
-Poetry
-Plays
Author study
Modeled reading
Beginning independent reading
(read aloud books)
Shared writing
Phonetics
Brainstorming
Journals
Reporting
Rhymes
Synonyms
Antonyms
Book making
Alef-bet recognition and sounds
Sight words
Games, songs
Vocabulary development
Calendar (days, weeks, months, etc.)
Colors
Numbers
Weather
The body
Clothes
Furniture
Shapes
Foods
Animals
Opposites
Diklumim (short story rhymes)
Shabbat
Classroom routines
Humash
Creation of the world
Garden of Eden
Noah
Situation & character analysis
Role playing drama
Biblical culture, traditions, geography
Midrashim
Relevance-Torah and me
Mitzvot
Hands-on projects
Audio/ Visual media
Holidays
Themes & concepts, observances
Rituals & symbols
Literature, folklore, legends
Songs, drama, stories
Hands-on projects
Introductory blessings
Appropriate foods
Respect for Jewish heritage and beliefs
Events connected to Jewish History
Class celebrations
T’fillah
Exploring ideas of God
Personal connection to God
Synagogue
Respect
What is T’fillah?
Meaning of:
-Modeh Ani
-Ma tovu
-Shma
-Ve’ahavta
-Barchu
-Aleinu
-Amida (Avot)
-Adon Olam
-Hatikva
Blessings
Value: being thankful to God
Home
Food
Special occasions
Holidays
Use of Amen
N’tillat Yadayim
Birkat Hamazon
Scientific Inquiry
Living/ Non-living
Observation
Recording observations
Collection of data
Exploration
Estimation
Colors
Senses
Sorting
Patterns
Weather (cold)
Water
Sand
Plants
Time (days, weeks, months, etc)
Animals (habitats, and diets)
Insects
Butterflies/metamorphosis
Human Body
Free exploration
Construct number meanings
Patterns
Prediction
Estimation
Tallying
Understanding uses of numbers
Ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc)
Sorting and Categorizing
Counting Forward and Backwards
Counting (1’s, 2’s, 5’s, 10’s, 100’s)
Counting on from any number
One to one correspondence
Number lines
Sequencing
Graphs (bar, line, pie, etc.)
Adding
Subtracting
Symbols (+,-, <,>, =)
Labeling sets
Recognize symmetry
Explore dimensions (two vs. three)
Weighing
Measuring
Shapes (identifying)
Money
Story problems
Me
Family
Home
School
Neighborhood
Rest and Sleep
Famous people (Martin Luther King, Lincoln...)
National holidays
Safety (fire, poison, police, strangers)
Holidays
Social skills
Exposure to globes and maps
Feelings
Ethics
Lower Elementary Curriculum (6-8 year old class):
Our overall theme for the year is "Our World."
This will be explored though the following topics:
September: High Holidays
Beginnings: Seeds and Plants
October: Our City (Newton/Boston): What Makes a Community?
Rules and Governments
The Jewish Calendar
Time
November: Calendar Cont’d
Time Cont’d
Thanksgiving: Pilgrims and Harvests
Light and Darkness
December: Light and Darkness Cont’d
Hanukkah
January: The Zoo (This will be a interdisciplinary unit incorporating science, literature, and social studies.)
Tu b’Shvat
February: The Zoo Continued
March: Purim -The City of Shushan: Art, Government, and Family
April: Pesah - A Jewish Community in Egypt: Art, Government, and Family
May: The Ocean (Another interdisciplinary unit)
Yom Ha’azmaut (We will focus specifically on Newton’s sister city, Haifa.)
Shavuot
June: Conclusions
Note: • This is a tentative schedule of units for the year. It is subject to change depending on the children’s interests and enthusiasm.
Skills in the following curriculum are taught over a two year period.
We will be reading and writing in all curriculum areas. Students will read a variety of trade books, text books, and non-fiction literature. At different times they will work individually, in small groups, and as a whole class.
We will read, discuss, and write: Individualized study of:
- Stories - Grammar
- Letters - Punctuation
- Poetry - Phonics
- Riddles - Spelling
- Plays - Handwriting
- Journals will be ongoing throughout the year.
- Mysteries
- Reports
- Other Forms of Writing
SCIENCE CURRICULUM: The World Around Us
- Seeds and Plants
- Light and Dark
- Local and Zoo Animals (habitats, adaptations, skeletons, teeth, diet, categories)
- Oceans (habitats, adaptations, skeletons, teeth, diet, categories)
We will focus on the following skills throughout these units:
- Hypotheses
- Designing and conducting experiments
- Close observation
- Book research (dictionaries, encyclopedias, science books, etc.)
- Organizing information (lists, charts, diagrams, etc.)
- Documentation of experiments and their results (writing, graphs, drawings, labels, charts, etc.)
SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM: Exploring our World
- Our City (Newton/Boston): What makes a Community?
- Derech Eretz
- Geography
- Pilgrims and Émigrés
- Health and Safety
We will focus on the following skills throughout these units:
- communication
- time sense (past, present, and future)
- comparisons, contrasts, and categories
- mapping: kinds of maps, map reading, map making, definitions of oceans, continents, etc.
Judaica will be taught primarily in Hebrew. As much as possible, Judaica will be integrated into other curriculum areas.
- T’fillot - God - Holidays - Rituals
- Interpretation and Meaning - Personal Prayer
- Respect - Symbol - Prayer Order - God
- Siddur
- Brachot - Shabbat - Kabbalat Shabbat
- Havdalah
- Parshat Hashavuah
- Humash - Sefer Breshit: Lech Lecha, Vayera, Hayei Sarah
We will focus on the following skills throughout these parshiot:
- Hebrew reading (from text)
- Pshat and Drash (literal and figurative meaning)
- Raising Questions
- Personal Connections
-
God
- Memorizing Vocabulary and Psukim
- Text Structure (chapter and verse)
- Biblical Culture
- Situation and Character Analysis
- Writing and Hands on Projects
Math will be taught using an individualized approach. Using manipulatives, games, direct instruction and worksheets, students will progress at their own paces. Students will work on new skills and solidify old ones alone and in small groups.
Counting
- up to 1,000
- backwards and forwards
- in groups ( by 2’s, 5’s 10’s etc.)
Place Value
Addition and Subtraction
- basic facts
- multi-digit numbers
- regrouping (carrying and borrowing)
- word problems and applications
- mental arithmetic
Money
- value of coins
- counting
- word problems and applications
Estimation
Measurement
- English Units (inches, feet and yards)
- Metric Units (centimeters, meters)
- Cooking Units (cup, pint, teaspoon...)
Collecting,Organizing,and Sharing Data
(including graphs and Venn Diagrams)
Patterns
- recognizing and creating
- predicting and extending
Multiplication and Division
- concept, times tables, and factors
- word problems and applications
Time
- analog clocks
- digital clocks
- calendars
Graphing
- bar graphs
- pie graphs
- line graphs
- Venn Diagrams
Fractions
Geometry
- Shapes
- Patterns
- Symmetry
- Perimeters
- Areas
Upper Elementary Curriculum (8-10 year old class):
Teachers: Adit Dadon, Tamara Lustgarten Gropper,
Tom Etre, and Yael Sharf
This year in the 8-10 year old class, students
will focus on the extraordinary value human
beings place on freedom whether as individuals
or as members of a community. This theme will
find expression across the curriculum as students
study the beginnings of the United States, the
establishment of the State of Israel, and the
exodus of the Hebr
ew
slaves from Egypt. Students will also explore
the roles played by key individuals whose passions
helped turn the hopes and dreams of a community
into reality.
What follows is a description of each area of our curriculum. Here you will find the key concepts we look forward to studying and the related skills which students will acquire as we do so. As you read this document, please keep in mind that the skills described are intended for acquisition over a two year span. They represent what students will have in place after having completed two years in this age group. Equally important is our commitment to adapt our curriculum to the needs of individual students. Wherever possible, we will do our best to meet students where they are.
History
During the first half of the year, students will study Colonial America, with a focus on Colonial Massachusetts, beginning with the landing at Plimoth and ending with the Revolutionary War. The study will include elements of U.S. and European geography, political, religious, and economic factors effecting the establishment and growth of the colonies in the New World, the daily life of those living in the Massachusetts colony, and the events that led to the Revolutionary War. As a conclusion to this study, students will research and write a formal report about a key personality from this period.
In the second half of the year the focus will shift to the establishment of the State of Israel. This study will include geography of the Middle East, a look at the Zionist movement and the various Aliyot, and the War of Independence. Throughout the study, comparisons and contrasts will be made between the beginnings of Israel and the United States. This study will conclude with students writing and performing a play that depicts the people and events of the time.
Literature
The literature program incorporates two basic goals. The first goal is to support and expand the history study in particular during the first half of the school year. Students will be reading biographies of key personalities who lived during the Colonial and Revolutionary periods of the United States as well as historical fiction depicting daily life and major events of the time. The second goal is to expose students to a variety of literary genres including biography, historical fiction, general fiction, poetry, and non-fiction books and articles. Students will be asked to respond to what they read through group discussion, individual writing, and creative projects.
Writing
Students will experience many different types of writing assignments during the course of the school year. These include writing journal entries, newspaper articles, poetry, research reports, creative prose, and the script for a play. As students complete each assignment they will incorporate the Process Writing mode which encourages students to develop their writing in stages including drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading. They learn to support one another by offering constructive feedback during each stage of the writing process.
Grammar will be taught through a combination of direct instruction and independent study according to individual student need. Students will learn the basics of English grammar using a program called Framing Your Thoughts. This program incorporates the use of visual, audio, and kinesthetic cues as students learn to write using complete sentences both simple and complex.
Handwriting will be also be taught through a combination of direct instruction and independent study. Students will use the D’Nealian format which helps to establish a connection between the print and script forms of the English alphabet.
Spelling instruction will include an on-going review of phonetic rules, mastery of sight words (commonly used words that do not follow any particular rule), and opportunities for students to chose words they would like to know how to spell. Spelling will be taught both on group and individual bases.
Humash
In keeping with the theme of the significance of human freedom, the first half of Sefer Shemot will be the primary focus of the Humash curriculum this year. Students will study the actual Torah text detailing the experience of the Hebrew slaves in Egypt, the story of Moshe as he grows from an infant set afloat in the Nile to the leader of the children of Israel, and the Exodus itself. Of special interest will be the relationship between Moshe and God that begins with the burning bush as well as the connections between the textual account of yetziat mitzraim and what we read each year in the haggadah during Pesach.
During the first few weeks of school students will also study sefer Yonah which is traditionally read as the haftarah portion during mincha on Yom Kippur. Students will learn the specifics of the story as well as the connections between it and the Day of Atonement.
Throughout their study of biblical texts, students will combine the p’shat or literal meaning of the text with their own interpretation of what they read, the drash. In this way students will be able to demonstrate mastery of the Hebrew text and at the same time find personal meaning within its words. Similarly, students will be encouraged to become critical readers of text, looking closely at what is and what isn’t written. Students will learn to identify questions raised by such a close reading of the text.
Specific skills covered in Humash include the ability to…
- Read the vocalized biblical text aloud
- Recognize recurring root forms in the text
- Identify modern Hebrew words in the biblical text
- Identify questions raised by a close reading of the biblical text
- Read Hebrew written in Rashi script
- Locate specific sections of text
T’fillah
All students in the 8-10 year old class participate in t’fillah on a daily basis. We pray together with the entire school community, with the 10-12 year olds, and on our own as a class. In all settings, students will take turns leading t’fillah, as hazanim or hazaniot, and reading from Torah. In addition, we will be paying special attention to the sh’ma u’virhoteha, the Sh’ma and the three blessings that surround it. These three blessings have an internal cycle of creation, revelation, and redemption with the Sh’ma as the centerpiece. Students will first study the p’shat or direct meaning of these blessings and will then explore more personal ways of expressing their basic themes.
Holidays — Hagim
In our study of hagim, the focus will be twofold. First, building on our study of the first half of Sefer Shemot, students will explore the customs, prayers, songs, and rituals associated with Pesah as they appear in primary text of the holiday, the Haggadah. Students will not only study the various elements of the Haggadah, they will create a personal Haggadah that incorporates their own understanding of them. Second, Yom Ha Zikaron and Yom Ha Atzmaut will be of special importance this year as students learn about the historical basis for these holidays.
In addition to Humash and t’fillah, students will study the Jewish lifecycle beginning with the rituals and customs surrounding birth and ending with those surrounding death. This focus emphasizes the importance of each individual’s life story and places it within a Jewish context. We look forward to sharing our learning about the Jewish lifecycle with the residents of the Golda Meir House with whom we will continue the relationship established in the past year.
This year, we will using the TERC program, Investigations in Number, Data, and Space, as our primary text. Conceived as a hands-on, problem-solving curriculum, this program expects students to engage in a series of investigations into the three mathematical realms listed in this title. The program emphasizes becoming familiar with and adept at applying a variety of strategies to solve mathematical problems. Students are expected to work both independently and as members of cooperative groups.
Given the hands-on nature of the program, students will engage in extensive use of manipulatives to support and enhance their learning. These include but are not limited to calculators, multilink cubes, geoboards, Cuisinaire rods, and a variety of measuring tools. Of special importance is developing and strengthening each student’s ability to communicate his/her mathematical understanding to others using words, illustrations, and numbers.
The areas covered within the math curriculum include the following:
- Addition
- Subtraction
- Multiplication
- Division
- 2-D and 3-D Geometry
- collection and presentation of date
- recognizing change within data and graphing it
- fractional parts of a whole within numbers, area, and data
- decimals and percents
- Volume
- Statistics
- Computation and estimation strategies
- Probability
- Units of measurement
As we undertake each unit of study, additional materials will be incorporated into the basic program in order to provide enrichment or support as needed by individual students. Also, emphasis will be placed on automaticity in the recall and application of basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts.
At JCDS, Hebrew is spoken throughout the day to provide an environment for students to experience it as a living language. This year, in addition to the formal study of Hebrew, we have established an "all Hebrew lunch" so that non-native Hebrew speaking students can become more comfortable expressing themselves in Hebrew in social settings. Teachers will incorporate basic Hebrew phrases throughout the day and will encourage students to apply their Hebrew knowledge whenever possible.
The formal program of Hebrew study is the Tal Sela curriculum. Using a communicative approach, all skills are integrated around a theme. Reading, writing, speaking, listening and grammar will be taught in context. Hebrew lessons will be conducted mostly in Hebrew, using discussions, songs, games, and many other types of interaction in order to build a natural atmosphere for using Hebrew at many levels.
The Tal Sela series revolves around five topics which include:
- Beyn Adam L’Atzmo (Between man and himself)
- Beyn Adam La-Sviva (Between man and his environment)
- Purim Le-dorot (Purim through the ages)
- Me’avdut Le-herut (From bondage to freedom)
- Ha’am Veha’aretz (The people and the land)
There are different stories, poems, and midrashim for each level which relate to each one of the above topics. In addition to the Tal Sela books, stories and poems from various sources will be studied. The focus on holidays will include songs, poems, short stories and related blessings. There is also a library of Hebrew books which students can use in their free time.
As with all areas of our curriculum, alternative approaches to each unit of study will be utilized and additional materials incorporated in order to provide support and/or enrichment as needed by individual students. Students will work in a variety of groups according to their individual skills.
Specific skills covered in the Tal Sela curriculum for 8-10 year olds include the following:
- Conjugation of verbs in the past, present and future tenses
- Conjugation and use of the command form
- Simple and expanded sentence composition in the present tense
- Simple and expanded sentence composition in the past tense
- Recognizing the root of a word
- Use of pronouns
- Possessive forms
- Question phrases
- Causal phrases
- Subject, adjective, and verb agreement in terms of number and gender
- Use of masculine, feminine, singular, and plural forms of nouns
- Gender agreement between nouns and number
see section on co-curricular opportunities for information on the Homework policy, music, art, physical education, technology and other components of the Elementary School Program.