Temple Israel Religious School
5007 Providence Road  Charlotte, North Carolina  28226
"Temple Israel
Religious School
(TIRS) is dedicated
to providing Jewish
children a quality
Jewish education
that will not only
prepare them for
their Bar or Bat
Mitzvah, but also
encourage a joyous
attitude towards
Judaism that will
be the framework of
a strong Jewish
identity and the
foundation of a
Jewish life."
Overview of TIRS Curriculum

Gan
Hebrew:
  • Letter recognition
  • Learn sounds that each letter makes
Holidays & songs   
Torah & Jewish Heroes:  Creation - Jacob
Prayers and blessings

ALEF
Hebrew:
  • Learn names of all consonants and the sounds that they make
  • Add vowels
  • Learn alternative forms of letters (e.g. mem/nun sofit etc.)
  • Reading Readiness skills (Directionality, writing all block letters)
  • Learn to de-code/ read syllables
  • Learn to write and recognize own Hebrew name (and those of classmates)
Torah & Jewish Heroes :  Joseph to Saul          
God and Values  
The Synagogue & its symbols
Prayers and brachot

BET
Hebrew:
  • Learning to read simple words
  • Recognition of words
  • Key vocabulary
Jewish Values:  
  • Resource:  Values from Jewish Values from Alef to Tav (Torah Aura)
  • Values are the central focus of Bet class.  Holidays and Bible stories will be
    taught as to how they support these Jewish values.
Torah & Jewish Heroes
Prayers and Brachot

GIMMEL
Hebrew:
  • Review & strengthen de-coding skills.
  • Learn different ways God’s name is written
  • Introduce but do not stress:
  • Roots of words—shorashim
  • Concept of prefixes/suffixes
The Jewish Calendar:
  • Understanding and knowledge of names of all months in Jewish calendar.
  • Rosh Chodesh and all the cycles of the moon.
  • Holidays will be taught in relation to what month they fall  
God:
  • Awareness/ understanding of God and holiness
  • B’tzelem Elohim:  Understanding that we are all created in God’s image and
    what does that mean to our lives.
  • Answering students questions about God:  Does God have a body?; Does God
    speak?; Why does God allow bad things to happen?
  • Learn/memorize the TEN COMMANDMENTS
Prayers and Brachot: Emphasis on Friday night service

DALET
Hebrew:
  • Siddur Hebrew
  • Basic grammar
  • Expand vocabulary
  • Word recognition
  • Shorashim (roots)
  • Prefixes/suffixes
Emphasis on Passover and all the rituals
  • Create Seder Plates
  • Order of Seder
  • All prayers, blessings, symbols & vocabulary related to Passover
Torah & History: EXODUS
  • Stories leading up to Slavery in Egypt, escaping and wandering the desert
Life Cycle:
  • Birth
  • Brit Milah
  • Baby naming
  • Pidyon HaBen
Values/Mitzvot:
  • Unit on Kashrut with field trip to grocery store
  • 613 Mitzvot
  • BABAGANEWS magazine on values.
Israel:
  • Create enthusiasm about Israel
  • Israel geography

HEY
Hebrew:
  • De-coding/reading fluency increased
  • Increased vocabulary
  • Word recognition
  • Shorashim (roots)
  • Prefixes/suffixes
  • Sentence Structure, optional
Tefillot:  Emphasis on Torah Service
Torah & History: BIBLICAL HISTORY OF ISRAEL
  • Getting to the Promised land
  • 12 Tribes
  • Samson
  • Kings
  • City of David and the First Temple
  • Destruction of Temples
Life Cycle:
  • Bar Mitzvah
  • Wedding:  Act out ceremony & create a chuppah
History:  
  • Ancient heroes:  Prophets

VAV
Text:  Siddur Sim Shalom
  • Reading Hebrew fluently
  • Word calling/word recognition
  • Expand vocabulary
  • Shorashim/roots
  • Prefixes and Suffixes
  • Prayer book geography:  how to find things in the prayerbook
  • Order of service
  • What else can be found in the Siddur?
Tefillot: Emphasis & mastery of Saturday Morning service
Holidays:  
  • Emphasis on Yom HaShoah & Kristallnacht
Torah & History:
  • The Diaspora (Yiddish)
  • The Holocaust
  • Forming the State of Israel
  • Theodore Herzl and birth of Zionism
  • Hatikvah (history and meaning)
Life Cycle:  
  • Death and Dying
  • Funeral/ Shiva
Special Event:  Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C.

ETGAR
Etgar will consist of a core class of Pirkei Avot.  Etgar will also present students with an
array of conceptual units which are project-oriented, learner-centered units that are
topical and relate to being a Jewish teenager.  Topics include the Jewish view on
tattooing and suicide.
Israel:  
Modern Day Israel including:
  • Current events; discussing newspaper articles
  • Analyze media fairness/bias
  • Advocacy for Israel; write to US government to support Israel
We will also have a unit on Mitzvot and Bible heroes.  Hebrew is focused on learning z’
mirot and the Mincha service.  






                        

            
Temple Israel Religious School Curriculum
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