2nd Grade Curriculum

 In our 2nd grade program, students learn what it means to live in “Jewish Time” by exploring each of our holidays in more depth.  Special projects teach traditions and rituals, and of course, food is an essential part of the celebration. Our goal is for students to better connect to each one of the holidays so that their celebration can be more meaningful. The other component of the curriculum, “Jewish Space,” is focused on learning about the synagogue and all its various ritual elements.  In 2nd grade, students will also begin learning a variety of Hebrew letters as they relate to each holiday. This is important foundational learning for future years.

Books/Materials

• Let’s Celebrate the Holidays packets
  • Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simchat Torah, Chanukah, Purim, Passover, and Shabbat
• Let’s Discover the Synagogue packets
  • House of God, A Place to Pray, How We Pray, The Torah, How We Dress the Torah, The Rabbi and Cantor, A Place to Learn, A Place to Celebrate

*Teachers’ Guides for all books 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

1)    How can we live our lives on “Jewish time?”

2)    What is the main idea of each Jewish holiday?

3)    How does each holiday add special meaning to our lives?

4)    Why is the sanctuary so important in Judaism?

5)    Why is it important to begin to learn Hebrew?

Evidences of Understanding/Experiencing

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

• Articulate at least two facts about each holiday studied
• Recognize the ritual objects and describe various customs associated with each holiday celebration
• Describe the main purposes of the synagogue (a place to celebrate, pray, and learn)
• Explain each of the ritual objects located in a synagogue
• Express, either verbally or artistically, how being in the synagogue makes them feel and how it might help them connect to Judaism
• Recognize letters of the Aleph-Bet as associated with the key words from each holiday
• Sing the Shabbat blessings over candles, wine, and challah
• Participate comfortably in tefila

Hebrew through Holidays

At the time that each holiday is studied, students will be introduced to the key word/s and will learn the appropriate letters.  The introduction of the Hebrew letters in 2^nd grade is not intended to turn students into Hebrew readers; rather the goals is to lay a foundation for continued Hebrew learning.

Suggested learning activities:

• Use Twizzler Pull-N-Peel candy to practice making the shape of letters and vowels (tubes of icing and other flexible foods also work well)
• Make flash cards of letters
• Have students think of clever ways to remember what the letter looks like by associating its shape with something…pictures can go on individual flash cards or around the room
• Practice “Aleph-Bet Yoga” where students must form their bodies into the shape of the letter
• Sing the Aleph-Bet song and point out the letters students have learned
• After learning a new letter, have students open a siddur to any page and count the number of times that new letter appears
• Create decks of cards with letters and vowels and play pair/team games like “go fish” or “memory”
• Use individual white boards (located in the office) and dry erase markers so students can practice writing letters