SECOND GRADE
Grade: 2
Theme/Topic: Torah Stories
Synthesis Project: My Own Illustrated Torah Scroll
Special Events: Junior Congregation will meet: Saturday, December 8, 2007; Saturday, February 23, 2008; and Friday, April 11, 2008.
Our second grade classes study stories from the Torah. They read stories, answer questions, and discuss the ethical lessons of each story. Second graders learn about the heroes and heroines of our Torah, heroes like Abraham and Sarah; Isaac and Rebecca; Jacob, Leah, and Rachel.
In order to synthesize what they’ve learned throughout the year, each second grade class creates their own artistic reproduction of the Torah scroll representing the stories they study each week.
Sample Vocabulary:
Bible – All the books of the Jewish Bible – Tanach
Torah – Teaching, the Five Books of Moses, the scroll in the ark
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
Yad
Aron
Why do we study Torah?
- Torah stories teach Jewish values.
- Torah stories teach us how to make Jewish decisions.
- For thousands of years Jews have read and studied Torah
- All over the world, Jews read the same Torah portion each week.
Questions Our Students Might Ask:
What’s in the Torah?
Why do some of the people do things we aren’t supposed to do? Like lie?
What is a Torah scroll? How is it different from a Bible?
Why do we read Torah every week every year?
Sample Objectives:
By the end of this course, all students will be able to…
- Explain at least two Torah stories
- Describe at least five Bible heroes or heroines
- Describe the Torah scroll, yad, Torah dressings, etc.
Sample Classroom Texts:
- Book People: Book One - Genesis, A Workbook by Joel Lurie Grishaver (ARE)
- Book People: Book Two - Exodus to Deuteronomy, A Workbook by Joel Lurie Grishaver (ARE)
- A Child’s Garden of Torah: Gan – Published by Torah Aura Productions.
- The Ten Commandments for Jewish Children, by Miriam Nerlove
- Torah Toons I & II with Torah Translations by Everett Fox and Lessons by Joel Lurie Grishaver (Torah Aura Productions)
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