Learning at Rashi
Kindergarten - Grade 2
Hebrew is a central component of Jewish identity and, at Rashi, Hebrew language instruction is a critical component of Jewish education.
The goal of our program is for students to develop proficiency in speaking, listening, reading and writing Hebrew. Beginning in kindergarten, our Hebrew language program focuses on modern Hebrew as a communicative language, which enables the learners to:
- function within a Hebrew context;
- experience and learn about Jewish heritage and modern Israeli culture through literature, songs, and special holiday traditions;
- apply Hebrew grammar when reading biblical texts and prayers.
Hebrew Emphasis
Our curriculum is organized around units of study that spiral from year to year, beginning with the students’ immediate environment and gradually, as the proficiency level increases, spiraling farther out to more general and abstract topics. Every unit provides exposure to new material, intensive study, and review. Each thematic unit introduces vocabulary and grammatical structures that apply to multiple theme-related contexts. The unit framework provides language experiences that gradually progress from more structured language interaction to more authentic and “real life” interaction, where the students apply what they learned in unrehearsed communication tasks.
Thematic units at the beginner level include family and friends, our community, classroom, school and learning activities, weather and seasons, the body, clothes, food, and holiday traditions. More advanced units include themes such as trips, family traditions, the environment, professions, friendship and love, Jewish youth in pre-holocaust Europe, and pre-independence Israel.
On account of [these] things Israel was redeemed from Egypt:
they didn’t change their names; they didn’t change their language…
– Adapted from Midrash Exodus Rabbah 1:28
Cultural Israeli and Jewish aspects of the language permeate each unit of Hebrew study. The goal is for students to demonstrate an understanding of the traditions, perspectives, practices, and products as reflected in Jewish history, Jewish and Israeli literature, Jewish holidays and performing arts – as native speakers experience them. Rashi students learn to:
- use appropriate words, phrases, expressions, and gestures in interactions such as greetings, farewells, school routines, and other daily activities;
- interact appropriately in group cultural activities such as games, storytelling, celebrations, and dramatizations;
- identify distinctive aspects of Jewish and Israeli culture presented in literature;
- identify distinctive cultural products such as toys, clothes, foods, currencies, and games;
- identify distinctive contributions made by Jews and Israelis;
- demonstrate knowledge of artistic expression by identifying, learning, and performing songs, dances, or memorizing poems;
- demonstrate knowledge of the Israel’s geography by naming features such as rivers, mountains, cities, and climate on maps.
Rashi uses the Proficiency Approach to language instruction: instructional units match the proficiency level of the students in each class. From third grade, students study in groups based on their proficiency level. We provide Hebrew instruction to students with special learning needs by modifying the curriculum and focusing the goals on reading fluency and knowledge of basic vocabulary and grammar.
