About Fourth Grade

The Hebrew Language program is driven by the belief that mastery of Hebrew will promote students’ understanding of their history, culture and tradition, excite them about lifelong Jewish learning, foster a sense of belonging to the Jewish people, and cultivate strong ties with Medinat Israel (the State of Israel) and Am Israel (the Jewish people).

The multi-dimensional program focuses on the four major communication skills — listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Student language acquisition is promoted through immersion in the target language and exposure to everything from classical Hebrew texts to Israeli music, and from historical documents to poetry and drama.

The curriculum is sequential and based on a structured linguistic progression. Lessons are centered on themes of interest to children, ranging from the child’s close surroundings, leisure activities to friendship and freedom. Each theme is presented using different instructional approaches so that the student will have multiple options for taking in the information, absorb it naturally, and use it effectively in the appropriate settings.

Through this curriculum students will

• Create post cards for the new year
• Practice writing a letter of apology
• List their expectations for the new year
• Review the past tense
• Be engaged in a class discussion, all in past tense
• Improve their reading and comprehension with the new stories
• Solve a maze problem using direction words
• Create a game which involves the use of prepositions
• Develop new vocabulary
• Use the infinitive form
• Brainstorm ideas for signs for the school
• Select information that is needed from a text
• Understand what is expected in a public place by reading the signs
• List what they have or don’t have at home, at school, and on the bus
• Establish rules for different rooms at school
• List the rules for the beit midrash as makom kadosh
• Seek new and old knowledge in a text
• Describe different discoveries in a story and compare them
• Discuss how to behave in public places
• Develop a plan for an imaginary field trip
• Persuade the class that their trip is the best
• Make a list of what is needed for the trip
• Instruct their parents about the logistics of the trip
• Explain how their families celebrate Thanksgiving
• Research the place Neot kedomim
• Connect their biblical knowledge with neot kedomim
• Build a model of a place like neot kedomim
• Find a picture-sentence match
• Develop a new ending to the Chanukah story
• Discuss their feelings before their kabbalat shabbat siyum
• Explore the process of making olive oil
• Gather important information from the story, “hasevivon hagadol”
• Differentiate between stories that happened in the past and legends
• Place stories in chronological order
• Draw conclusions from the stories
• Analyze signs and labels
• Describe special objects
• Use the command form
• Find verbs in binyan pi’el
• Use binyan pi’el in a play
• Predict the ending for the story Yom Holedet Shel Rami
• Critique different short stories in Chaverim Beivrit
• Discuss the songs
• Express feelings
• Organize a meeting between a few people
• Solve riddles about different objects
• Propose different activities for Yom Hatalmid
• Demonstrate the fundraiser in the story
• Find verbs in the Purim story and write them in past and present tense
• Solve Passover riddles
• Question the speaker about the presented object
• Create signs to promote a fundraiser
• Identify objects in the stories as Jewish ritual objects
• Retrieve the order of the generations in the story
• List the Hitpa’el verbs in the story
• Recognize the five senses in the story for Lag Baomer
• Predict the end for the story “Shalosh Sheelot”
• Demonstrate verbs in b’inyan Pa’al and b’inyan Hif’il
• Perform the use of the five senses
• Develop their skill in using future tense
• Role play different verbs in b’inyan Hif’il
• Identify the letter Shen as a part of speech
• Define irregular singular and plural nouns
• Discuss their after-school activities, using the verb l’heyot
• Role play a scene in a market, using words for: less or more
• Proofread each other’s sentences for grammatical errors
• Produce a play for the story “Hashamaim Noflim”
• Search for new vocabulary in the Hebrew-English dictionary
• Solve different riddles
• Discuss future plans for summer break
• Complete exercises in the book Yesodot

The study of Jewish Tradition is designed to provide students with the core knowledge, skills, and perspectives that will enable them to be active participants and potential leaders of the Jewish community. Gesher’s students are engaged in a variety of significant cultural, religious and academic activities that allow them develop an understanding of and appreciation for Jewish history and culture as expressed through our prayers, our sacred texts, and our religious rituals. Throughout these experiences, students will develop a strong sense of Jewish identity and pride. Students will incorporate Jewish practices and Jewish values in their lives. By studying Jewish communities around the world and throughout time, our students come to learn about the multiple perspectives existing within Judaism while respecting individual traditions in their home and synagogue environment. Families play an important role as participants in school life and as partners in Jewish learning..

Students continue their study of holiday rituals and customs. To help students gain knowledge and understanding of text study, class discussions, review activities, and art projects are used. For each Jewish holiday, students study one prayer recited on that holiday, a section of the Torah which talks about the holiday, and learn holiday songs.

Selichot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Hoshanah Rabbah, Shemini Atzeret, Simchat Torah, Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Tu B’Shvat, Purim — Megillat Esther, Pesach — The Haggadah, Yom Hashoah, Yom Hazikaron, Yom Haatzma’ut, Lag BaOmer, Yom Yerushalayim, Shavuot

Through this curriculum students will

• Know how people celebrate Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Selichot in Israel and in the Diaspora
• Recognize the customs and traditions of the holidays
• Identify the ritual objects for the holidays
• Know the blessings for the Shofar, the fruit of the tree and the new year
• Know the different names for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur
• Explain the origin of the holidays from the Torah
• Understand the meaning of “Selicha”
• Understand the four steps of doing teshuva
• Know the prayers Hashivainu, Shlach Lanu and Avinu Malkaynu
• Know the vocabulary for the holidays
• Identify the biblical source of the holidays of Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret and understand that Simchat Torah is not a holiday from the Torah
• Explain the importance of the Torah to the Jewish people
• Identify and name the different parts of a Torah scroll and its accoutrements
• Know how people celebrate Simchat Torah in Israel and in the Diaspora
• Recognize the customs and traditions of the holidays
• Know the names of the four species
• Know how to wave the lulav
• Know the different names for Sukkot
• Know the basic traditional ways for building a Sukkah
• Recognize the names of the ushpezin
• Understand the value of Hachnasat Orchim in the story of Thanksgiving
• Know the story of Thanksgiving in Hebrew
• Be able to compare the story of Sukkut with the story of Thanksgiving
• Know the history of the holiday Chanukah
• Be able to identify; what is a kosher menorah to light, what candles to light, where, when and how to light the menorah
• Know to say the blessings for lighting the candles, the miracles, the blessing for the first night, Shahecheyanu and Hanerot Halalu
• Recognize the different customs and mitzvot of the holiday
• Know the vocabulary for Chanukah
• Understand the difference between a Menorah and a Chanukeya
• Know the different names for the holiday Chanukah
• Recognize the family of Hachashmonaeim, Matetyho and his sons
• Know the story of Martin Luther King
• Understand the meaning of Ve’ahavta Le’reach Kamochah
• Understand the connections between the people, the land, the environment, and conservation of nature
• Know the name for the seven species for which the land of Israel is praised
• Know the history of Tu B’Shvat
• Be able the read an ecological dilemma and come up with a solution
• Recognize the customs and traditions of the holiday
• Know the blessing for the fruit of the tree
• Know the different names for Tu B’Shvat
• Know the vocabulary for the holiday
• Rcognize the customs, mitzvot, and traditions of the holidays
• Know the blessing for reading the Megilah
• Be able to chant several psokim from the megilah
• Know the story of the holidays
• Know the vocabulary for the holidays
• Recognize the characters in the megilah and in the hagadah
• Recognize the different names for the holidays
• Know the three times in which Elijah is recalled and why he is included at those times
• Know how people observe Yom Hashoah, Yom Hazikaron, and Yom Ha’atzmaut in Israel
• Recognize the customs of the holidays
• Know the prayers
• Know the vocabulary for the holidays
• Recognize the beginning of the Jewish land since 1882; the first aliyah
• Identify Binyamin Zeev Herzel and Ben Gurion as the founding fathers
• Know the stories of Yanosh Kortzak and Mordechay Anelevit
• Know the “Sfirat Haomer”
• Know the origins of the holidays
• Recognize the customs of the holidays
• Know the stories of Rabbi Akivah, Rabbi Shmon Bar Yochai and Rabbi Shmon Bar Kochvah
• Recognize the symbols for Yom Yerushalim
• Recognize the names of the gates of the old city in Jerusalem
• Recognize Naomi Shemer as the lyricist of the song Yerushalaim Shel Zahav
• Identify Shavuot as the day the Torah was given
• Understand that Shavuot is the end of Sfirat haomer
• Explore Maamad har Sinai (the revelation of Sinai) in the Torah

The study of Jewish Tradition is designed to provide students with the core knowledge, skills, and perspectives that will enable them to be active participants and potential leaders of the Jewish community. Gesher’s students are engaged in a variety of significant cultural, religious and academic activities that allow them develop an understanding of and appreciation for Jewish history and culture as expressed through our prayers, our sacred texts, and our religious rituals. Throughout these experiences the students will develop a strong sense of Jewish identity and pride. Students will incorporate Jewish practices and Jewish values in their lives. By studying Jewish communities around the world and throughout time, our students come to learn about the multiple perspectives existing within Judaism while respecting individual traditions in their home and synagogue environment. Families play an important role as participants in school life and as partners in Jewish learning.

The emphasis of this course is to provide the children with the key prayers for Kabbalat Shabbat (welcoming the Sabbath). The children develop their ability to lead the service for Kabbalat Shabbat. They learn the content and concepts of the prayers, and identify the major themes and the biblical origins of the prayers. Many of the Kabbalat Shabbat prayers make reference to biblical narratives. Students study those prayers in conjunction with the biblical narratives that inspired them. In this way, students come to understand that the process of Tefillah enables them to connect with God, their history, and their heritage. The Tefillah program culminates in December, with a Siyyum (ending) Kabbalat Shabbat celebration.

Through this curriculum students will

• Sing aloud the Shabbat service t’fillot generally sung by the shaliach tzebur
• Read the prayer Lecho Neranena with reasonable fluency
• Recognize that Lecho Neranena is a description of the experiences that Israel and God shared together
• Understand the words from the t’fillah such as: neranena, nareaa, panaiv, gadul, tzur and dur
• Connect the images in the prayer to the biblical story that inspired them
• Recognize the images of God contained within the Kabbalat Shabbat service
• Work cooperatively and productively with a chevruta partner
• Read the prayers Shiru laadunai Shir Chadash and Mezmur ledavid with reasonable fluency
• Recognize that King David is the writer of the prayer Mezmur ledavid
• Connect the images in the prayer to the biblical story that inspired them
• Recognize the images of God contained within the Kabbalat Shabbat service
• Recognize the words from the t’fillah such as: shiru, yeshoatu, goiem, amim, kavod, melech, yshput and tzedek
• Read the prayer Lecha Dodi with reasonable fluency
• Recognize that Lecha Dodi is a love song for Shabbat and for the city of Jerusalem and see the Shabbat described as a bride
• Recognize the words from the t’fillah like: Lecha, Dodi, kalah, shamur, zachur, teheela, ateret, am segolah
• Sing Dror Yekera
• Dance to the song Dror Yekera
• Read the prayer Mizmur Shir Lyom hashabbat with reasonable fluency
• Recognize the different ways of thanking G-d in prayer
• Sing and dance to the song Tzadik Katamar
• Recognize and understand the words from the t’fillah such as: mizmur, alyon, tzadik, chased, emunah, nevel, kinor and lehudot

Tanach (Bible) study is universally at the core of Jewish day school curricula across denominations as befitting our identification as the “People of the Book”. As such, its main objective is to help students become independent readers of the biblical text in Hebrew, developing skills to navigate through the text as well as increasing their familiarity with the different stories.

Through their studies, students will learn to appreciate Tanach as a multi-vocal text and as the formative narrative of the Jewish people. They will be able to understand and value the central importance of the Land of Israel in shaping the historical, theological and sociological experiences of the Jewish people throughout time. The students will develop an appreciation for the sacredness of Tanach as the primary record of the meeting between God and the people of Israel and as an essential text through which Jews continue to grapple with theological, spiritual, and existential questions. Students will understand, through the study of Tanach and its interpretations, the role of mitzvot (commandments) in the shaping of the ethical character and religious practices of the individual and the Jewish people. They will develop a love of Tanach study for its own sake and embrace it as an inspiring resource, informing their values, moral commitments, and ways of experiencing the world. This course gives the students the ability to dig deeply and meaningfully into the Torah, discovering for themselves spiritual riches and the foundation of Jewish life. Using the skills taught in class, students learn to read from the Torah and comprehend and analyze the stories in the Book of Bereshit. Students are introduced to the midrashim (commentaries) and commentators such as Rashi and the Ramban. The children expand their biblical vocabulary, their knowledge of the geography of the Middle East and and Egypt, and map skills. The parashot that are taught are Toldot, Vayetze, Vayeshev, Meketz, and Vaygash.

Through this curriculum students will

• Explain what we learn about Abraham’s character from the story
• Explain how far one should go to perform the mitzvah of Hachnasat Orcheim
• Explain if the distraction of Sodom and Gomorrah was justified
• Explain why G-d needed to test Abraham
• Explain what we learn about Abraham from the long list of actions that Abraham performs before he takes Isaac to be sacrificed
• Explain how Abraham knew that he arrived at the right place for the sacrifice
• Explain what is important about a father’s blessing in the family
• Explain dreams
• Explain how we might communicate with God in our dreams, like Jacob
• Explain the meaning of God’s presence in a place
• Describe the significance of the striped garment Jacob gave Joseph
• Describe when it is important to involve an adult with your problems
• Discuss if they have ever received a gift that makes them feel special
• Explain what we learn about Joseph’s character from his words and actions
• Explain what it means to be “Yare Elohim”
• Explain how we hear God today
• Explain what is a “t’shuvah”
• Describe what makes a good leader