The aim of this program is for students at all levels to improve their familiarity with and knowledge of Hebrew through conversation. Whole language skills are stressed (reading and writing in upper grades will be coordinated with knowledge of Hebrew as a spoken language.) We integrate the Hebrew language skills acquired by the students into their Judaic studies as much as possible.
Judaics curriculum at all levels focuses on classic Jewish texts and Jewish history and culture, exposing children to the philosophies of all segments of the Jewish Community (Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Orthodox).
Another important element in our curriculum is the half-hour school-wide assembly each day of school, which is largely devoted to varieties of Jewish celebration. Assemblies include a very abbreviated version of minchah, the traditional afternoon prayer, an opportunity for students to learn and sing Hebrew songs and dances for many occasions and to learn about the year's holidays, as they approach, through song and celebration. Responsibility for the assemblies rotates among the teachers. The various classes prepare short programs (from the youngest children sharing newly learned songs to the most advanced Hebrew class performing skits in Hebrew) to be offered to the rest of the school at assemblies.
Many of our parents and friends are preparing to help with special programs for the school year. Programs have included a Purim arts day celebration, a tu b'shvat seder, and an Israel rotation day for Yom Ha'atzmaut. We welcome and applaud any parent who'd like to work on a special program; please call Debbie Feder (364-3856 chair, curriculum committee) to begin planning.
During the 2000-2001 academic year, we are offering Hebrew and Judaics courses at all primary grade levels. All classes meet weekly on Tuesdays; upper level classes (grades 4 and higher) meet on Thursdays as well. We have two periods in every class day, each lasting 45 minutes.
| Class | Grade Level | Period | Teacher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hebrew Level 1 | Kindergarten | 1st | Mazal Peterson |
| Hebrew Level 2 | First Grade | 2nd | Mazal Peterson |
| Hebrew Level 3 | Second Grade | 1st | Jenny Gelman |
| Hebrew Level 4 | 3rd and 4th Grades | 1st | Debbie Abrams Cohen |
| Hebrew Level 5 | Mixed Grades | 1st | Debbie Feder |
| Hebrew Level 6 | Mixed Grades | 1st | Drora Oren |
| Judaics K Level | Kindergarten | 2nd | Ann Wallace |
| Judaics Level 1 | First Grade | 1st | Janet Kaufman |
| Judaics Level 2 | Second Grade | 2nd | Janet Kaufman |
| Judaics Level 3-4 | 3rd and 4th Grades | 2nd | Debbie Feder |
| Judaics Level 5-6 | 5th and 6th Grades | 2nd | Drora Oren |
Goals for Hebrew, Levels 1 -- 3: familiarity with some basic words in
the Hebrew language: household objects, food, personal pronouns, colors,
body parts, some animal names, familiar religious objects. Reinforcing
vocabulary through song and movement. Familiarity with Hebrew letters
(reading readiness).
Textbooks: Get Set with the Alef-Bet, and The New Siddur Program [Level 1];
Kadimah: Let's Get Ready [Level 2]; and Ot La-ba'ot + accompanying workbook [Level 3].
Additional material will be provided by the instructors.
Goals for Hebrew, Levels 4 -- 6: Students should acquire ability to recognize the basic structure of Hebrew words and be able to use Hebrew prefixes
and suffixes, develop sentences, articulate simple questions, understand
feminine and masculine adjectives and verbs, conjugate present-tense verbs.
Reading and writing (in cursive) will accompany continuation
of students' acquisition of conversational skills.
Textbooks include:
Darkonim, Book I [Levels 4&5], II [Level 5], and III [Level 6];
Yeladim Lomdim Ivrit, Book I [Level 4], II [Level 5], and
III [Level 6];
Yesh Lanu Llama, Book I [Level 4], and II [Level 5];
and stories from the Gesher Kal series [Level 6].
Goals for Judaics, Levels K -- 2 : Wide exposure to various exciting materials
for beginning students relating to Bible, agadah (legend), biography, culture.
Stress on later Biblical texts, particularly the prophets. Some of
these resources include:
Jewish values Alef to Tav [Kindergarten];
the I Can Learn Torah series (Wise and Grishaver),
The Jewish Children's Bible (adapted by Prenzlau), and
Let's Discover the Bible (Saiewetz) [Levels 1&2];
plus a range of picture books to teach Torah and midrash, along with lots of art supplies!
Goals for Judaics, Levels 3 and 4: Students study Torah
with the book of B'reshit (Genesis). Students will become biblical
commentators by learning to close-read original texts.They will find hidden
clues, surprising connections, and hidden patterns. They will be
able to suggest thier own interpretations and explanations as they learn
what famous biblical commentators have thought of throughout the ages.
Textbooks (for both levels): An Introduction to Jewish History + accompanying workbook,
and the Think Prophets instant lesson series.
Goals for Judaics, Levels 5 and 6:
Students will begin the study of the Mishna on Nezikin (damages). Students will be
presented with cases to solve. After working out their own verdicts, they will study a selection from the Mishna and apply the ethical principles to new and more complex cases. After this, they will study the Mishna's laws on lost and found.
Textbooks: A Topical Bible, and
You Be the Judge: A Collection of Ethical Cases and
Jewish Answers.
.
We are happy to offer the following courses and discussion sections in addition to our core classes.
For those whose Hebrew language skills are rusty
or non- existing- we'll move quickly through the Aleph-Bet, cursive writing,
and vowels, and move on to conversation and grammar. Catch up with
your kids!
Schedule: We are starting up in November.
Please contact Debbie at 365-3865 for scheduling information.
Drora will guide those who can get through a
modern Hebrew novel - sort of - and lead the discussion.
Schedule: This course is still in the works. We need a few more students!
Please contact Debbie if you or anyone you know is interested.
An exciting concept - pairing parents with their
older children for dynamic group study. This is a pilot program which
we hope to continue as part of our Covenant Foundation grant project.
Schedule: Every second Tuesday during Second Period (5:15-6pm).
Please contact Saul at 355-7006 if you are intersted in joining.
Schedule: This program is still in the works -- we will contact soon those of
you who have expressed interest. Meanwhile, please continue to spread the word
about this group!
We require three hours monthly per family of parent cooping. Parents may coop in the classroom as teachers' aides, helping to keep things running smoothly during school hours, at school closing (making sure the facilities are neat and clean and all students have been picked up) or working in the home with telephone trees and mailings or fund-raising. Please let us know about anything else you might be interested in doing -- extra programming for special events, teaching a lesson, or something else we haven't thought of. We welcome all ideas and suggestions. Tracy Conrad-Katz (588-2106) is the chair of the parent-coop coordinating committee.
Be our guest! Announcing opportunities for guest storytellers, song leaders and Tikkun Olam project facilitators at our midafternoon assemblies (5:15- 5:45). This is a wonderful way to be involved in our school, and can count for cooping credit too!
Talk to Debbie F. (364-3856) or Janet (363-6631) for details.
Because of the many difficulties and hidden costs of
starting up a new school, we are unable to include textbooks in the cost
of tuition. Students must pay separately for their textbooks.
We will let you know the exact cost for each class and will be very grateful
for (indeed we absolutely rely upon) prompt payment.
The specific textbooks used in our classes can be found in the
description of goals listed for our core offerings. Follow these
links for:
Hebrew Levels 1, 2 and 3
Hebrew Levels 4, 5 and 6
Judaics Levels K,1 and 2
Judaics Levels 3 and 4
Judaics Levels 5 and 6.
We expect students to behave in a way that is conducive to learning. We will consult parents about students who are disrupting classes.
Debbie Abrams Cohen
(Hebrew Level 4)
(Hebrew Level 5; Judaics Grades 3/4 ; Beginning/Remedial Hebrew for adults;
Book Club and Chat Group for Teenagers)
"Shalom! I'm Debbie Feder (D'vorah),
and I teach Level 5 Hebrew and 3rd-4th grade Judaics. This will be my
third year teaching at USJS.
In my previous life, I was (and sometimes still am!) an
archaeologist, an editor,and a linguist. I spent 2 years living,
studying, and digging in Israel during and after college, then worked
in publishing in New York before returning to school to study English
as a Second Language and then Linguistics at Columbia University and
UC Berkeley. I love learning and teaching people about languages and
language history - my students know it's easy to get me sidetracked!"
(Hebrew Level 3)
(Selected topics in [Un]Orthodox Judaics for Adults)
Daniel is Professor of Law at the University of Utah
College of Law. His most recent publication, "Akhnai," 1997 Utah
L. Rev. 309 -358, discusses a Talmudic story in which God's interpretation
of the law is rejected by majority vote of the Rabbis. Dan graduated
magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1979, did graduate work in political
science at Hebrew University of Jerusalem from 1979-81, and received
his JD from Yale Law School in 1984. He clerked for a judge of the
Southern District of New York and practiced law with a leading Wall Street
firm for five years before joining the Utah faculty. He is
the faculty advisor for Hillel
at the University of Utah.
(Judaics Grades 1 and 2; Book Club and Chat Group for Teenagers)
Janet is an Assistant Professor in the Department of
English at the University of Utah, specializing in preparing graduates
for teaching high school English. She has a Ph.D. in English from
the University of Iowa. She has taught high school English at a Hebrew
Day School in Washington D.C., and has taught religious school for ten years.
(Family Judaics Study, Jewish Texts)
Saul, a native of Israel, has taught Hebrew and Judaics
both at the Kol Ami Religious School and at the JCC Elementary School.
He has studied Judaics and Hebrew at Gratz College in Philadelphia and
Yeshiva University in New York.
(Hebrew Level 6; Judaics Grades 5 and 6; Advanced Hebrew Reading
and Conversation Group)
Drora Oren is a native speaker of Hebrew. She was born and raised in
Israel, lived in South-Africa, and has been a resident of Salt Lake City
for the last ten years. Her education includes a Hebrew Teachers
Certificate, BA in Sociology and Anthropology (minor in Psychology), BA
Honors in Hebrew, MA in Judaic Studies, and Ph.D. in Languages and
Literature (expected December 2000). Drora has twenty years of experience
in teaching Hebrew and Judaic studies to all ages. She is married to
Michael and has two children, Eyal and Dana. Droras hobbies include
reading, hiking and kick-boxing.
(Hebrew Levels 1 and 2)
Mazal, a native Israeli, has been teaching young Jewish
children in Salt Lake City for the past ten years. She has taught
at the JCC Pre-School as well as the Kol Ami Religious School and last
year's Kol Ami Parent-Cooperative Program and serves as the JCC Elementary
School Hebrew teacher. She specializes in teaching language through
song and movement.
(Judaics Kindergarten Level)
"Hi. I am Ann Wallace, here for a second year as a USJS Instrucutor.
I have a degree in Languages from the University
of Utah, and currently teach Spanish for grades K-8 at two parochial schools in the
Salt Lake Valley. I am now in seeking a Masters of Arts in Teaching
from the University of Pheonix."