Welcome to my class!

This year, Baruch HaShem, I've been super busy teaching and learning with my class - but not updating the blog so I'd like to invite all my blog readers into my class.

I am very fortunate to have a wonderful co teacher who makes the classroom so inviting. Much of the homey atmosphere is from her hard work

Since it is December, I unfortunately don't have the welcoming door decor that greeted the students for the first few months

View from the front of the room

Side of the room Word Wall - This year yellow is שרשים, orange is Level 1 words and Green is level 2 words. We change the words based on the perek we are learning and use the cards for games and activities.

Next to the word wall, עבר reference both in common conjugation and with ו ההיפוך. 

Homey work area on the other side of the room. The vase is full of seasonal, aromatic flowers, and the tablecloth is changed based on the season.  The table has books displayed based on current themes being learned.

Entrance to the room with calendar and daily schedule, and classroom jobs. The ball is there for a quick review game when needed. 

Back of the Room - an awesome project that makes the whole room come alive - each kid does a self portrait under the expert direction of my co-teacher. Next to the self portraits is the class star chart which earned class prizes.

Our new class rug with the continents. I use it for so many lessons and kids love to work on it using clipboards to write.

Never waste a single inch of space. I write on the windows using window markers and crayons information that I want to be able ot hide during tests. This year, I have include hebrew prefixes and suffixes. 

Bulletin board for tefillah, every day I ask a reflective question that relates to a specific tefillah and put the student's answers on the back board

Our SMART board! As well as Hoveh signs, and signs when to stop for trop

Atid conjugations plus the ו ההיפוך, and a great bulletin board that includes photos of the class. The photos add a very important element to the class feeling.

I hope you enjoyed the tour! 

Workshop on Blended Learning and Judaic Studies

Here is a presentation I will be giving this Sunday, November 18, at the Hillel School as part of the Rochester Yom Iyun for Teachers.

Blended Learning on Prezi

Pirkei Avos - Lesson 1

I am teaching Pirkei Avos to a 3/4 mix of girls while the 3/4 boys learn Yuma. Thursdays is a double period with lunch in between.

First two lesson:

Intro: Think of different people in your life. Grandparents, teacher, come up with things they say.
Draw a picture and put in speech bubble what they are saying in bubble. Draw someone famous - what is in their speech bubble?

Explain connection to Pirkei Avos.

Why write Pirkei Avos?
Who are the Avos? Where do we learn about our 3 Avos? Why are those stories in Torah?

What are Pirkei Avos? What does words mean? Who are the Avos there?

What is Mishna?
What is Mishna?  Great intro chapter from online gemara workbook
Why is Pirkei Avos in Mishna?
When was the Mishna written? why would Pirkei Avos be so important to include at this time?
What section of Mishna should it be in?   Which section is it in?

דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה?

First Day of School 2012

Well, tomorrow is the first day of school. The class room is all set up with a new tefillah bulletin board.

I can't imagine I'll have a ton of time to post but in brief  - this year I'll be teaching Pirkei Avos to a 3/4 Girls mix in addition to regular learning.

Tomorrow's lesson plan is . . . Drum roll please

1. Welcome! Students fill “All About Me”
2. בקר טוב  Routine (on desk siddur and pencil ready for tefilla lesson)
3. תפילה - outloud with chazzan per tefilla
4. Putting away Supplies 
5. Practice getting into group tables from U
6. חומש - With group come up with events, people, places and numbers learned about last year
7. חגים - with a different group using chayenu as a reference, put the months in order, glue holidays on to back of month names
8. Class Meeting - with Mrs. Stoll  
1. develop class rules and charter
2. behavior system
3. homework
4. binder
9. Set up binders with Sheet Protectors
1. Class Schedule
2. Classmate List & Phone #s
3. School Year Schedule
4. Hebrew Letter - Print, Script, Rashi Reference
5. Trop Signs 
6. Avar, Hoveh, Atid Reference
7. Prefix/Suffix Reference
8. Chayei Sarah verbs
9. Chayei Sarah nouns
10. Homework 
1.  Parent Letter
2. Welcome Questionnaire
3. Welcome letter Judaics
4. Read Perek 23, pesukim 1-5, don't translate
5. look up 16 words in binder for homework 

One page binyanim reference in color

I have been working on creating a visual reference for binyanim for the last few years. I was finally able to get it all into one page Binyanim Letter One Page Color

Beginning of the year - binders

School is starting in less than two weeks. When I began teaching third grade two years ago, I envisioned backpacks stuffed with crumbled up paper and homework never done. I found a third grade teacher who explained how to use a binder to teach organization and help students gain independence during homework. It has worked for the last two years, and I am excited to use the system again.

Here is a write up I did the other year.

****************

Goals:
1. Students will gain organizational skills
2. Students will be empowered to complete homework independently
3. Students will complete homework independently

Materials needed:
1. Binder
2. Sheet Protectors
3. Dividers - The teacher should provide these with the appropriate labels already filled out. Every student's red divider is chumash, yellow is dinim, so you can teach the students how to add to their binder and use it with minimal instruction
4. Yoman

Instructions:
Have each student bring a 1 1/2 inch binder and dividers. Put in the yoman, sheet protectors, dividers and folder  at the beginning of the school year. Teach the students how to add papers to the proper section. Send papers home to the parents in the folder in the binder.  Leave 5 -10 minutes each day to add assignments to the binder

Helpful Tips:
1. During class, have the students use their reference guides to answer their questions rather than asking another student or a teacher. Example:Student "What does שמע mean" Teacher: "where can you look that up?" This will help them do their homework without needing parents help.

2. I have a store and a token economy for an incentive - I give $1 for the binder being organized at the end of the day and the homework recorded legibly and in the proper place and $1 the next day for the homework being handed in in the right place, yoman signed and the folder emptied.

Letter to parents

Homework Binders

The Homework Binder is a three ring binder that students will use every day to develop their organizational skills. It contains dividers, folders, and sheet protectors. Hopefully this binder will eliminate lost homework and disorganized backpacks.

Inside the Homework Binder you will find:

Pencil Case:          This pencil case will be used to hold flash cards for current units. It should not be used for regular school supplies.

Sheet Protectors:   These are used to help protect important classroom/school information & homework helpers such as  שרשים list, prefix suffix list, בנינים charts, etc.

Yoman - homework book - with all assignments written

Judaic Homework sheet – The nightly homework assignment

חומש section: Linear translation for the current פרק  as well as any other handouts that may be necessary to complete the homework and study for quizzes.

עברית section – current vocabulary words and grammar rules

General Studies sections  - for general studies homework and all materials necessary to complete the homework.

Folder: Safely transports all paperwork to and from school including graded work, newsletters, etc. Please empty on a regular basis

The binder must be brought home every night and returned to school every day.

Homework

There will be homework most nights of the year. Homework is important as it helps to practice and reinforce what is taught in class. It helps prepare students for success.

·               The homework will be written in the Yoman planner.

·               Some homework will be assigned at the beginning of the week and due on Friday.

·               Any homework sheets will be found in the Homework Binders.

·               Students should be able to do most assignments on their own using the reference guides in the binder. If your child is not able to regularly finish an assignment, please send a note or comment on the Yoman.

Sheet Protectors

The 2012-2013 sheet protectors have been prepared and contain

1. Daily School Schedule
2. Classmate List 
3. One page School Calendar 
4. A page with the whole hebrew alphabet including the block, script, and rashi fonts
5. The cantillation marks (trop) that are used to divide pesukim http://www.scribd.com/doc/103654342
6. A one page color-coded chart to conjugate hebrew verbs http://www.scribd.com/doc/103654348
7. Reference page with all hebrew prefixes and suffixes 
8. vocabulary list of all verbs found in parshas Chayei Sarah
9. A vocabulary list of all nouns found in Chayei  Sarah.

This system works beautifully and can be shared by both the secular and Judaic faculty. 

Resource: Prezi: A primer for non-Jewish Teachers in an Orthodox Day School

This is such a great resource - a clear and concise explanation of the practices and belief of Orthodox Jews and how it affects Orthodox Day School practices.

Great for explaining school policies to non-Orthodox teachers and anyone else who might want to become culturally sensitive.

http://prezi.com/y6z1gjiukc10/orthodox-judaism-101/

8 Steps to a Positive Class Culture

It's only a few short weeks until the first day of school. Right now I'm buckling down and getting ready for the year. The first thing that I think about is what do I want my classroom to feel like emotionally every day.

The classroom environment sets the stage for everything that happens inside the classroom. It is just as important to plan for the classroom culture as to prepare lesson plans and study the content.

Here are a few principles that have worked for me and are easily transferable to all grades.

1. Develop a relationship – One of the biggest motivators for a student is their relationship with a teacher. How does a teacher develop a relationship with a student? My mantra borrowed from Rabbi Noach Orlowek is  “If it is important to you, it is important to me” By truly caring about the student’s interests, the teacher shows that she wants a relationship. For example, I make a point of noticing the kind of baseball caps my students wear. Are they Mets fans or Yankees fans? The night after a game, I can show interest in what my students are thinking about. They know I don’t care about baseball. But they know that I know that they care about baseball. I try to make a connection with at least 2 students a day about something that is important to them. As a teacher, I also make sure to inquire when students are absent or have a changed mood.

2. Who are you? Students want to know that a teacher sees them as individuals. During the first few days, I try to do ice breakers and have the students tell me about themselves.

3. Fix myself first – I can’t teach respect if I don’t practice respect. I try to improve my character every day. i'm still not perfect, but I know I'm trying to improve. One day, a colleague commented how calm I was when some students were acting erratically. I was surprised at his assessment but also proud. I have a tendency to get emotional. I had been working on my own emotions so that I could deal with classroom interruptions calmly. It was gratifying to hear that a colleague perceived me differently than my inherent nature. The other benefit for self-improvement is that it sets an example for the class that learning and growth is a life-long process. Students don't feel threatened when they realize they are not perfect because they have seen an example of how to deal with that very situation.

4. Plan routines – Things go smoother when the transitions and common tasks are on auto-pilot. Getting students into routines at the beginning of the year means that I don’t constantly have to be involved in negative interactions by constantly correcting and being critical. I can focus on the positivie and the learning instead. Routines don’t just happen though. They require time, planning and reinforcement. At the end of the summer, I go through a list of classroom events that come up regularly. How will my students hand in papers? How will they line up for recess. How will I get their attention? What happens if a student bullies? It takes a lot of time to  to practice the routines but it is  well worth the pay off after a few short weeks

5. Plan well – I try to stuff my classes with as much learning and engagement as possible from bell to bell (and beyond if possible). Human beings want to improve. It’s part of what improves the universe. I have confidence that if I give opportunities to learn, my students will try to grow.  I try to make these learning opportunities active, student-centered with multiple learning modalities so every student has a way to access the learning if they want.

6. Humor and positivity – Nothing in life needs to be that serious. You can do serious work even if the mood is not serious. Students are more engaged when they are relaxed. They are more relaxed when they are comfortable and there is a light atmosphere of good cheer rather than pressure and stress. I force a smile on my face even if I am tired. No one wants to look at a sour face all day. I try to be a positive person to be around and to remember that humor will often diffuse many situations.

7. Teach positive thinking– on the top of my tests, I write “The best you can do is to do your best!” I encourage my class to recognize that they are special, that nothing is ever the end of the world (except perhaps the end of the world) and to believe in themselves. Some of our students grow up in critical homes and need to learn how to view the world more optimistically. They need help retraining their thinking from highly critical to self-nurturing. When students are more forgiving of themselves and celebrate their successes, they don’t need to engage in negative conflicts for attention.

8. Realize no one is perfect, not me and not them – sometimes I have a bad day. Sometimes, they do. Rather than letting that set the tone for the rest of the year, I let the day go and start over the next day. 

With these few tips, I hope that my classroom will be one of joy, learning and cooperation. I hope to enjoy myself this year and I hope that my students do as well.

ITL: Perek 12: pesukim 10-20

My Last Class for the Introduction to Independent Learning.  It was an awesome experience. Thank you to all who participated!

Reflections on teaching the class

Online Resources for the Unit

Pronouns

Game for reviewing pronouns

Nouns

Verbs

Using cantillation (trop) to break up the pesukim and translation

Analyzing the theme of the pesukim

ITL: Perek 12: 6-9

Vocabulary for Learning this Unit

Finding punctuation in Chumash 

Analyzing the theme of the pesukim

Reflections on creating my first blended learning course

Today, I finished my 8th class in Introduction to Independent Torah Learning that was a blended learning course with both a live and online component.  Here are some of my reflections about my first go at this kind of course design.

Background: 


Separating the gap between the Can's and the Cannot's in Torah Learning

I began teaching Chumash in 2001. Every year, there were two kinds of students in a class - those who could translate pesukim independently and those who could not. The more I taught, the more these distinctions became clear. I began to wonder how to give students who could not translate independently the tools so they could do so and match their Judaic achievements to their secular ones.

Bridging the divide in high school - When I moved to Rochester, I began teaching in a high school with only 15 students. My chumash classes became a perfect laboratory for action research. With only 15 students in a class, it is possible to really collaborate with the students. They helped me refine my teaching by giving me a lot of feedback (one assessment tool I used). Through their feedback, and constant data mining, I developed the ITL (independent Torah Learning) system  based on the theory of the Zone of Proximal Development and constructivisim to teach all students how to translate pesukim.

Teaching it right in elementary school - A few years ago, I began to teach third graders. Teaching this age was very instructive for refining my system  because they haven't yet learned how to learn incorrectly. There is nothing to unteach.  Moreover, because third graders are  concrete learners and because I could collaborate with the math and ELA teacher, I was able to create materials for different kinds of learners because I could pinpoint their learning needs.  I further refined my system so the third graders could translate pesukim independently. The ITL system was highly effective.  My son was in my class, so I have also been able to track his progress applying the skills we learned and his recall of vocabulary as he began to learn Mishnah with my husband this summer.

Would it work with adults? - This summer, a baalas teshuva asked me to teach her Chumash. This was the chance I had been waiting for to see if adult learners would be successful learning with this system. I decided to include an online component since much of the work requires drills and practice which is unnecessary to do in a class setting. I had set a goal for myself last summer to learn Moodle so I chose that platform, learned animation techniques in powerpoint,  found a gracious host, some engaging review tools (dahbear, classtools.net) and free screencasting software called ActivePresenter. 

My Audience

My class ended up being 6 adult women who are Orthodox. The majority became religious in their teens or early adult hood, none had a day school education through high school. All were professionals with advanced degrees.

Results 


From the first class, the results were immediate and exciting. We began from the beginning - I taught how to find a perek and pasuk in Chumash and defining the 5 books of Moshe. By the 8th class, the women were  translating the pesukim from the hebrew text with help for only the most obscure conjugations and words (i.e. Pual tense). 

Class structure - The structure of each unit was the same. We began with vocabulary, moved on to grammar rules, translated a group of Pesukim with each woman taking turns to read and translate, and then we analyzed the pesukim, either looking at each word or at the whole unit for themes. For me, the most fun was when we  were analyzing the position of rashi and ramban together rather than lecturing like the "sage on the stage"

Delivery - Using Powerpoint, and its animations were very helpful. I was able to include graphics and color coding that can't be done on a blackboard alone. I had a  computer and projector which was pretty cheap, and it did what I needed it to do. After each new skill taught, we did exercises to apply the skill immediately so there was immediate reinforcement of new concepts.


Online content - After each lesson, I put a screencast up of the lesson.  review games for the vocabulary, and multiple choice quizzes on words in context.  If this had been a college course with accountability, I would have included online research about concepts and people that we couldn't address in class (Lot and his appearance throughout Tanach, the role of Sarah as the wife of Avram)

Time - The one negative was the time it took to prepare the class. Before each unit, I had to prepare extensive handouts on all the vocabulary. The initial powerpoints took a tremendous amount of time to create. Now I am able to cut and paste but that still adds hours to the preparation.

Online component=NO LIFE The online component  took even more time. a lot, a lot of time. I had to create quizzes in csv format. Nikud (hebrew punctuation)  is not supported in excel.  I made tables in Word, converted them to text, copied it to Notepad and saved it in a UTF-8 file format. Typing the quizzes, uploading them, creating the links all took hours of time for material that takes 5 minutes to use.

Thumbs up for dahbear & classtools! I found dahbear.org, and classtools.net the most promising tools because they create engaging content that the students will use over and over again to review.  dahbear was great but classtools.net has this awesome arcade review game where students can blast vocabulary words with what sounds like cannon fire. The game speeds up so it is more addicting than flaschcards. Dahbear has multiple choice quizzes and the font is readable on all machines. Plus it is compatable with the ipod/ipad.

The moodle multiple choice quizzes were cumbersome to create but are beneficial in that it gives immediate feedback.

Creating screencasts? mixed reviews The same content that was engaging in class and can be lightened up with situational humor becomes more stale online. I wish I had time to watch the best screencasts out there so I can improve my technique. But I have no time because of how intense it is to create the blended learning component. I did improve slightly as I went along and learned to use a highlighted mouse hover.  If you want to give me feedback - I would love to hear some.

Takeaways

1. ITL works! this was perhaps the most exciting result of this class. Adults, children and teens benefit from a structured skill building class based on the principle of Zone of Proximal Development. There is great promise for replicating this system in other classrooms and schools.
2. Adult Learners are diverse - I needed to use my whole teaching arsenal including visual cues, mnemonics and "recognition before recall" to reach each adult learner just like I would have had to do in my classroom. Being aware of learning disabilities and styles is just as important for teaching adults as children.
3. ITL style courses are necessary  There is a real need for classes that teaches Jewish literacy to adult learners. Accomplished professionals with PhDs should be able to learn the basics in a way that is not condescending. Right now there is a lot of inspiration but it doesn't make the learner the center of the learning experience. After listening to most shiurim online, will the learner be able to pick up a Jewish text on his own and learn with greater ease? While Artscroll is a wonderful tool, we need to figure out how to move people past this stage to translating on their own.
4. Online learning for Jewish literacy and skills for adults needs to happen -  Online learning would be a great tool for this population. Adult learners are self-motivated. The skills and content are concrete and can be tested and reviewed online. 
5. Live classes inspire effort and comraderie - Nothing replaces a live debate as two students grapple over a text together. The physical proximity, and the social and  sensory experience is a very motivating component of a classroom. The teacher can modify the class on the fly based on the facial expressions and interest of a particular group.
6. Online classes are time intensive and won't save $ - Online classes shouldn't be created to save money but to serve a need. It takes too much time (right now) to prepare the live class well, and create the online modules. The software needed to do it right also cost $. There are free programs but by using them, you miss out on leveraging the best features of online learning. Online Learning can reach motivated learners who don't have access in their community
7. Content is king- technology is only there to serve a pedagogic purpose. The online learning components should  only be use if a similar exercise would be helpful in a regular classroom. 

It's been a great month.  I'm excited to do this work again


Here are some of the more technical aspects of the Course for those who are interested:


Course Objectives:

• Students will be able to find a perek and pasuk in a chumash
• Students will translate selected nouns and shorashim out of context
• Students will translate noun prefixes and possessive suffixes out of context
• Students will be able to translate nouns with specific prefixes and possessive suffixes
• Students will be able to identify shorashim in a conjugated verb in context in the chumash.
• Students will be able to translated conjugated verbs in the pasuk by breaking apart the word using rules of dikduk
• Students will be able to break pesukim into phrases using taamei hamikra
• Students will identify textual ambiguity, redundancy and improper use of grammar and formulate questions about the text
• Students will recall details from story after reading pesukim independently
• Students will ask philosophic questions based on themes in the pesukim.

Audience

Adult women who did not have a day school education. Many became religious in their teens or early adult hood. All were professionals with advanced degrees.

Live class materials

Reference materials (given in sheet protectors)

• index of all shorashim in Lech Lecha with translations
• Graphic organizer of Conjugated verb forms 
• alphabetized prefix/suffix chart

Before each unit

• List of shorashim  with blanks to fill in translations , common shorashim bolded,  *'s next to already learned shorashim, 
• List of nouns, blanks next to nouns already learned, rest translated
• List of prefixs, blanks next to prefixes already learned, rest translated  
• List of suffixes, blanks next to suffixes already learned, rest translated  
• List of grammar rules with examples
• linear translation sheets with blanks for any concepts that had been taught

Online Course setup

• All the handouts for each class
• Screencasts for each part of the class
1. Vocabulary - nouns, verbs, prefixes, suffixes. I included visuals for each noun and verb. ( I had created many visuals this past year for a student who was a very visual learner)
2. Grammar Rules - animated powerpoint that conjugated verbs using color coding so that even students with a non-verbal learning disability could pick out the difference in the conjugation.
3. Analysis - step by step analysis of both the words and themes as well as analysis of the commentaries
• Review games for nouns/verbs/prefixes & suffixes
• dah bear
• classtools.net
• Quizzes
• multiple choice and matching quizzes on nouns and verbs as they appear in the context of the pesukim through moodle

ITL: Lech Lecha Perek 12: Pesukim 1-5

Online Resources for Learning this Unit

Some More About Nouns

 More About Verbs

Translating the Pesukim

Exploring the Text Part I

Exploring the Text Part II

A Biography of Rav Elyashiv, zt"l

6 months ago, Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, zt"l became critically ill. I wanted my class to understand for whom they were davening.  


I also wanted to understand for whom I was davening. What I knew of Rav Elyashiv from news reports was sometimes bizarre. His name was quoted frequently, but often incorrectly. I knew there must be a reason that when someone mentioned the name Rav Elyashiv, the Torah world paid attention. Who was Rav Elyashiv?


Here is the biography I wrote six months ago. It was written for third graders so it as rather simple vocabulary. I have updated it to make it timely.

Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv (1910 - 2012)

Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv was born in Lithuania. He was the only child of Rav Avrohom and Chaya Erener. His mother’s father was Rav Shlomo Elyashiv, a great Talmid Chacham who wrote a famous sefer on Kabbalah called the Leshem.

Rav Elyashiv moved to Eretz Yisrael with his family when he was twelve. Rav Kook had suggested that the Erener family change their last name to Elyashiv so they could get a visa to immigrate. Seven years later, Rav Elyashiv Rav Kook, made a shidduch between 19 year old Yosef Shalom Elyashiv and Sheina Chaya, daughter of Rav Aryeh Levin zt"l. They had five sons and seven daughters.

In the 1950s, Rav Elyashiv became a Dayan in the Rabbanut Beis Din in Israel. He resigned in 1972. In 1989, Rabbi Elazar Menachem Mann Shach, the Rosh Yeshiva of Ponevezh was the leader of the Chareidi community in Israel. He asked Rav Elyashiv to become involved in leading the Jews of Eretz Yisrael. After Rav Shach died, all major questions of importance to Klal Yisrael were addressed to Rav Elyashiv.

Rav Elyashiv lived in a small apartment in Meah She’arim in Yerushalayim. He spent most of his days learning Torah and teaching in a small shul in Meah Shearim. He was considered the posek HaDor and Ashkenazi Jews followed  his psak.

Hasmada

The day after his wedding, Rav Elyashiv asked his wife if he could learn Torah undisturbed rather doing some errands right away. His wife, the daughter of Rav Aryeh Levin, was very happy with this request.

She asked him "For how long?" He answered "One thousand days,"

Since then, every day for the last eighty years, Rav Elyashiv learned for 16-20 hours a day.

Rav Elyashiv’s wife was his partner in his becoming a gadol. One day, her father Rav Aryeh Levin zt”l came by. Rebbetzin Elyashiv served dinner to her husband and father in the kitchen. Her father rebuked her for not treating her husband with honor due a Talmid Chochom. Why didn’t she serve dinner in the dining room? Later she explained that one of her children was sick and lying down in the living room. She didn’t want her husband to disturb his learning. She took care of the situation herself.

Living with Less

Rav Asher Balanson, a rav from Tel Stone, went to ask Rav Elyashiv a shaila in his tiny apartment. While there, Rav Elyashiv’s refrigerator broke. Someone joked that the refrigerator was so old that it could be donated to a museum. Rav Elyashiv earned a salary for his work as a dayan on Bais Din so he could have bought a new refrigerator a long time ago if he had wanted. Things were not as important as giving tzedakah and learning Torah.

Rav Balanson told another story about another time he was in the home of Rav Elyashiv. Rav Elyashiv was learning the Yad Moshe, the index of the Igros Moshe. He was reviewing every teshuva of Reb Moshe by looking at a list of titles and page numbers. .

Seeking Truth

Rav Elyashiv had a very good job as a Dayan for the Rabbanut Beis Din. He retired rather than compromising on something he felt was right.

Honesty

A few years ago, Rav Elyashiv needed some electrical repairs done in his apartment. While the electrician was working, he learned that his daughter, Rebetzin Shoshana Zilberstein, had passed away. As he was preparing to go to the funeral, he asked his grandson to find out how much he owed the electrician. Only after he wrote a check to the worker, did he go to the funeral of his daughter.

 A Miraculous Life

Rav Elyashiv’s parents were childless for seventeen years before he was born. Rav Elyashiv’s daughter, Reb. Sarah Yisroelson, said that her father was very ill when he was a child and as an adult. They thought he wouldn’t survive but Klal Yisrael needed him. 

Importance to Klal Yisrael

When Rav Elyashiv was 94, he needed heart surgery. Many surgeons refused to do the operation, but one doctor, Dr. Daniel Clair agreed. Dr. Clair flew from the United States. to Israel to do the surgery. 7 years later, when Rav Elyashiv was 101, the doctor came back to do another surgery. Thousands of Jews davened at the kotel. Shimon Peres, a secular man who is the President of the State of Israel, came to thank the doctor. Mr. Peres told the doctor that this surgery was important to the safety of Klal Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael.

This is what the doctor, Dr. Daniel Clair, his non-Jew doctor said: 

“Taking into account that he is 101, when I initially walked into his hospital room, he was sitting at a desk studying. I began talking to him about the surgery and he asked the most insightful questions. . . . This was very impressive for someone at that age - he was so “with it” and involved in the decision-making.

In addition, I don’t know how to explain it, but he is obviously a very special person. I could identify that immediately when I first met him. His presence generates a feeling of reverence. When I returned home with him after the procedure, I got a better sense of how great he is, as there were fifty to one hundred people at his home, waiting to see him. I can’t imagine his importance to the community."

 The Address for all matters of Torah.

Rabbi Orlofsky once went with his mashgiach for advice about a complicated question. He went to one gadol, and it took a long time to get an answer. His mashgiach then brought him to Rav Elyashiv. In the small apartment was a Rosh Yeshiva, avreichim, businessmen and a woman with a chicken all there to ask questions. When it was Rabbi Orlofsky’s turn, Rav Elyashiv immediately answered him in one sentence that put the question to rest.

Answering Klal Yisrael

In 2004, Rav Dunner went to India and found out that many sheitels were made with hair that had been used to worship Avodah Zara. The Halacha is that one may not even get pleasure from something used for Avodah Zara. Rav Elyashiv paskened that women in Eretz Yisrael could not wear sheitels until they found out whether the sheitels came from India or not. Overnight, women stopped wearing these sheitels because Rav Elyashiv had paskened they were forbidden to wear. All over the world, women gave up expensive sheitels because of the psak of the Gadol HaDor.

Last Months

Rav Elyashiv became very ill six months before his death. Klal Yisrael began davening for his recovery. During the 3 weeks, Rav Elyashiv was niftar. Klal Yisrael lost a leader who knew Kol HaTorah Kula and lived by its every word.

ITL: Perek 11: Pesukim 29-32

Building Blocks

Translation the Pesukim

Going Deeper

Teaching Rashi the fun way

Learning to read Rashi script was a highlight for many of my students this year. We took a full body approach to learning the new font. While moving, jumping and acting, my students learned their  letters with a lot of joy.

Here is the teacher's workbook. It has some tips about how to make the more confusing letters become very recognizable. The best idea was the rashi letter simon says. Read on to find out more.

Rashi Workbook Teacher Edition 2012

 Here is the student workbook Rashi Workbook 2012 Happy Learning

ITL: Perek 11: Pesukim 24-28 - Building Blocks of Chumash & Avram's early life

Here is Part 2 of Introduction to Independent Torah Learning.  If you would like to view all the resources available with this course - please email me.

Part 1: the building blocks of the Chumash text: Nouns!

Verbs!  - This video will be posted for a limited time. The free version  http://youtu.be/B7jifNz15EA will be posted soon instead



Practicing it with the text!

http://youtu.be/iQzOsbk7czA

Analyzing the Pesukim

Introduction to Independent Torah Learning: Class 1

Have you wanted to learn how to learn Chumash but never had a chance to learn how.  I am offering a course online doing just that.  Here are the videos. Email me if you want to be registered for the class with all the resources.

Class 1 Part 1:   What are the 5 books of the Torah? How do I find my place in the text?
What are legitimate ways of interpreting the Chumash?

Class 1 Part 2: The First 2000 years: From Adam to Avram

Hebrew resources

I was searching for some hebrew handwriting practice and came across some great hebrew language resources from the place that is most logical - Israel!

Summer work - http://kaye7.school.org.il/seasons_summer.htm#c2

http://halachayomit.com/rabassummer.html

http://kaye7.school.org.il/reading.htm - links to Israeli websites that have kriyah resources

http://kaye7.school.org.il/eng/welcome.htm - Resources for Israeli teachers for reading, chumash, etc.

http://www.kaleykaluli.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=21&id=34&Itemid=11 - stories for each new vowel and letter. printable

http://www.etze.co.il/ - Lesson plans – Hebrew language vocabulary

http://myfamilythoughts.wordpress.com/activitypages/ - Lesson plans – Look for the handwriting sheets in particular

http://www.izmargadsys.com/ - Enrichment sheets – on science, yomim tovim, food, in hebrew

http://www.yetzira.com/