Temple Shaaray Tefila

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1st Grade Curriculum

Students in 1st grade continue to build the foundation for their Jewish education by exploring a variety of elements that we call Jewish “building blocks.” Shabbat and its traditions are an integral part of the curriculum, along with basic stories from the Torah and an introduction to Israel. Celebrating the holidays as they occur and learning about each of the important ritual objects help to concretize students’ learning. By the end of their 1st grade year, students should feel proud to be Jewish and be excited to continue to “build” on their learning.

Books/Materials

Let’s Discover the Holidays packets
Teach Me Torah packets
Let’s Discover Israel packets

*Teachers’ Guides for all series are located in the office. Please consult these guides when planning lessons as they contain specific teaching objectives and a variety of suggested learning activities.

Essential, Guiding Questions

What makes me proud to be Jewish?
What is the Torah and what values can we learn from its stories?
How are the Jewish people connected to Israel?
Why is Israel considered the homeland of the Jewish people?
What do we celebrate during each Jewish holiday?

Evidences of Understanding/Experiencing

Upon completion of the year, students will be able to:

Express, either verbally or artistically, why they like being Jewish
Explain the theme or main idea associated with each holiday
Identify the ritual objects or symbols that help us celebrate each holiday
Describe what the Torah is and why it is important to the Jewish people
Name several people from the Torah stories as well as the value or lesson that they teach us
Express how Israel can be a homeland for the Jewish people
Identify some of Israel’s major cities (Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beer Sheva, Eilat) and explain one fact about each city
Name some things that are ancient or old about Israel, and some things that are modern and new about Israel
Identify some similarities and differences between Israeli kids and themselves
Recognize various letters of the Hebrew alphabet that correspond to the different “building blocks” in the curriculum
Sing the Shabbat blessings over candles, wine, and challah
Participate comfortably in tefila

“Building Blocks” for Hebrew

Throughout the year, students will learn various Hebrew letters as they begin to lay the foundation for future Hebrew education. The goal is to introduce Hebrew letters one at a time as they correspond to the major ideas and themes being taught. A new Hebrew letter can be introduced every week or every other week. Below are a variety of letters and key words that can be used:

Bet – Bereishit, creation

Chet - Chanukah

Yud – Yisrael

Kaf – Kippah

Mem – Mitzvot, Mezuzah

Nun - Noah

Samech - Sukkot

Tzadee – Tzedakah

Kuf – Kiddush

Resh – Rosh Hashanah

Shin – Shabbat Shalom

Tav – Torah

Focus for Holiday Learning

Holiday	Theme	Ritual Objects
Rosh Hashanah	New beginnings	Shofar, round challah
Yom Kippur	Asking for forgiveness, saying “I’m sorry”	Shofar
Sukkot	Gratitude	Sukkah, lulav, etrog
Simchat Torah	The cycle of reading Torah	Torah
Chanukah	Religious freedom	Chanukiyah
Tu B’Shvat	The beauty of nature	Trees
Purim	Courage to show Jewish identity	Megillah, grager
Pesach	Freedom	Seder plate
Yom Ha’atzmaut	Israel, dream of statehood realized	Israeli flag
Shavuot	Giving of Torah	10 commandments

Torah stories, Values, and Core Concepts

(taken from Teach Me Torah Teacher’s Edition)

God and Creation	Taking care of the world	We are partners with God in creation and must help take care of nature.
Adam and Eve	Accepting responsibility	Growing up means learning from our mistakes and thinking about our actions.
Noah	Doing the right thing	We must try to make the right decisions, even when those around us do not. Rules can help guide our behavior by reminding us of the right choices.
Tower of Babel	Remembering to be humble	When we remember to be humble, we become mindful of what is within our control and what is beyond our human reach.
Abraham	Standing up for others	We should speak up for others so that they are treated fairly and as we would wish to be treated.
Rebecca	Showing kindness	It is important to act kindly toward all of God’s creatures, people and animals alike.
Jacob and Esau	Keeping peace in your family	We should respect and value our family members in order to being about sh’lom bayit, peace in our homes and with our families.
Joseph	Asking for forgiveness	Asking for forgiveness and admitting our mistakes is hard, but apologizing helps us bring peace into our lives.
Miriam and Moses	Protecting life	Each of us can help make another person’s life happy, healthy, and safe.
Moses and Pharaoh	Trusting in God	Our belief and trust in God carries us through difficult times and helps us overcome personal challenges.
The Israelites and God’s Laws	Serving God	By following God’s commandments, we learn how to treat others with respect and love.
Ruth and Naomi	Feeding the hungry	We must try to make sure that all people have food and shelter and that all newcomers feel welcome in our community.
David and Goliath	Being brave	Our trust in God and support from our friends give us courage.
Solomon	Seeking wisdom	When we seek out wisdom, we learn to act justly and make fair decisions.
Jonah	Caring about others	We must care about others, even those who do not act as we wish. We must also forgive others when they repent.
Esther	Loyalty to the Jewish people	Kol Ysrael arevim zeh bazeh – All Jewish people are responsible for one another.

Israel Core Concepts

(taken from Let’s Discover Israel Teacher’s Edition)

Our Homeland	Israel is the ancient and modern homeland of the Jewish people.
Modern Israel	Israel is a modern country with symbols and cities like other modern nations.
Jerusalem	Jerusalem, Israel’s capital city, is both an ancient holy city and a modern city.
Tel Aviv	Tel Aviv is Israel’s largest city.
Northern Israel	Northern Israel encompasses a wide variety of geographic elements including cities, farms, and most of the country’s water.
Southern Israel	Southern Israel encompasses a variety of geographic elements including desert, cities, and the Dead Sea.
Israeli Kids	There are many similarities and differences between Israeli and American kids.
Israeli Food	Israel has many kids of tasty food.