Learning at Rashi
Kindergarten - Grade 2
Social studies is the study of human experiences. Whether writing a paper about the relationship of Jews and African Americans during the civil rights movement, presenting an original play to showcase medieval relationships of king, lord, knight and serf, or discussing the meaning of community and friendship, Rashi students learn to investigate and articulate facts, ideas, perspectives, and opinions. They discover that there is no one human experience and that our understandings are informed by our perspective, history and culture.
Social Studies Emphasis
The Rashi social studies curriculum has three essential components:
- American and World History
- History of the Jewish People
- Social Competency Skills
The curriculum explicitly teaches and reinforces specific academic skills including: formulating interpretations of history and supporting those ideas with evidence; taking notes from lecture and discussion, and organizing and prioritizing information.
Social studies at Rashi begins with the “self” and moves outward in concentric circles through family, classroom, school, neighborhood and beyond. Students in grades K-2 learn how humans historically and in the present build and sustain communities through units on American customs, shelters, neighborhoods, the Wampanoag, and colonial life.
In grades 3-5, students are ready to understand and appreciate differences of perspective and viewpoint. They can understand historical timelines and correlated events, and ultimately they are ready to take on more independent research. The “self” that so informs the youngest learner grows into a larger perspective as these students move into units that include: biographies, immigration, disabilities, the Age of Exploration, westward expansion in the US, ancient civilizations, geography, current events, and research projects.
Rashi students become capable historians who can connect the events of the past to the world of today. They understand that history is active, not static, and that they too can become agents of change in their world.
In the Middle School, Rashi students use the skills they have developed to engage in deeper and more complex questions about the past. The grade 6 curriculum encompasses ancient Rome through medieval Spain, as students explore multiple perspectives on how religious difference can create conflict in a society. Seventh graders investigate the birth of the United States, the divisions between Britain and the colonies, and the makings of the American Constitution. In eighth grade, students continue to examine American history from the Civil War to the civil rights movements.
In all grades, the Jewish lens is consistently interwoven. From American-Jewish traditions and holidays, to the geography of the Middle East, to the foundations of American Jewish life, children study, experience and investigate the multiple perspectives of history and culture as Americans and as Jews.
Social Competency
Social competency skill development begins in grades K-5 with the “Open Circle” curriculum, developed by the Stone Center at Wellesley College, which teaches through discussion, literature and role-modeling. Children learn to see perspectives and point of view, to speak with assertiveness and clarity, to use relevant examples to support their ideas and opinions, and to listen with respect and openness. In the Middle School, social competency continues to be explicitly taught through our advisory program Gar’in (seed). During Gar’in, middle schoolers meet weekly in small groups. These carefully designed advisories, led by a faculty member, engage and support young adolescents in a safe and nurturing environment as they explore new social challenges and strenthen social competency through cooperative group work, friendship building, and the value of expressing emotions.
