zResources+of+Interest


 * RESOURCES OF INTEREST**

Post here any links or resources you think would be of interest to The Hebrew Project. Click on the Discussion tab at the top of the page to begin or add to a conversation about any of the ideas that interest you. Or, if the thoughts relate to another page of this wiki, you can contribute to the discussion on that page, and refer to the resource, here..

[|**http://www.bjpa.org/Publications/downloadPublication.cfm?PublicationID=3874**] From the website: How do American Jews speak English? Who uses Hebrew and Yiddish words and New York regional features? When using Hebrew words, who prefers Israeli pronunciations and who prefers Ashkenazic ones? Which Yiddish-origin features do some non-Jews use? To help us answer these questions, we conducted an online “viral” survey that garnered much interest from both Jews and non-Jews. This article provides our respondents and the wider reading public with a brief summary of our findings. . . http://www.bnaimitzvahrevolution.org ..
 * Benor, Sarah Bunin and Steven M. Cohen, //Survey of American Jewish Language and Identity.// JESNA, October, 2009.**
 * B'nai Mitzvah Revolution website**

[] There are links on this page to past issues of the Union for Reform Judaism's //Daf Kes//her, a newsletter for Hebrew teachers. . . //**DavenSpot**// [] "An initiative of the Lookstein Center for Jewish Education in the Diaspora - DavenSpot aims to create a platform for educators who are instigating dynamic energy to school prayer. The ultimate question they are exploring is how do we teach people to daven and how can we evaluate our progress." Twitter: DavenSpot . . [] This opinion piece was written about secular educational matters, but many of the points raised are valid for our conversation. For example: "In order to design a curriculum that teaches what truly matters, educators should remember a basic precept of modern developmental science: developmental precursors don’t always resemble the skill to which they are leading. For example, saying the alphabet does not particularly help children learn to read. But having extended and complex conversations during toddlerhood does. Simply put, what children need to do in elementary school is not to cram for high school or college, but to develop ways of thinking and behaving that will lead to valuable knowledge and skills later on." . . [] . . [] . . //This is a truly excellent article and worth hunting down (NSM):// **Greninger, Michelle. "Believing, Behaving, Belonging: Tefillah Education in the 21st Century," Journal of Jewish Education, Volume 76, Issue 4, October 2010, pages 379 - 413.** Much in the way that Cyd Weisman spoke of creating coherence between the focus to which a congregation commits and the Hebrew program (see: ), Rabbi Greninger offers a look at three congregations whose Hebrew program is coherent with its vision for itself and for t'fillah. The abstract from the author states: //Tefillah is a central component of the curriculum at many congregational schools. Yet despite the time and resources that congregational schools dedicate for “tefillah education,” large numbers of Jews (both children and adults) continue to feel uncomfortable and incompetent in Jewish worship. This research begins to answer the question, “How might we better prepare our children for entry into Jewish communal worship throughout their lives?” Through case studies of three synagogues with reputations for strong, innovative education programs as well as vibrant worship, I discovered that it is possible to succeed in tefillah education if “success” is defined narrowly: believing, behaving, or belonging.// Information on the journal may be found here: []  **"Hebrew Issue," Torah at the Center, URJ, Summer, 2006.** @http://urj.org/kd/_temp/CBC2CE6E-9FA0-A12B-BF1343FC54CF11EE/TATCSummer%202006.pdf The articles in this issue offer many different perspectives on Hebrew in Reform settings: Choosing a Professional Integrative Approach to Hebrew Instruction; How One Synagogue is 'Moving Forward' with Mitkadem; Biblical Hebrew in the Congregational School; Hebrew Connection - An Alternative Hebrew Program for the Supplementary School; Hebrew and Music; An Internet-Based Model of Hebrew Education; Hebrew is Home; Isarel and the Language of the Hebrewman; Hebrew is the Language of Am Yisrael; NFTY Resolution on Hebrew Literacy; Teaching Parents Hebrew as a Key for Student Success; The Positive Impact of Adult Learning on the Congregation. A Reform congregation in Cleveland, OH, made the decision over a dozen years ago to offer an option to its students - they could attend two or three days a week. Those who chose the three day option would learn communicative Hebrew each of those days for 30 minutes. The article offers a model for the learning of Hebrew language in a congregational school, along with a description of the process for its development and the scaffolding offered, and good information about principles of second language learning (p. 17-18). The end of the story is that changes in the congregation made it difficult to keep focus on the three-day program of the school; after 3 years, the only option open to students was the two-day one.
 * //Daf Kesher,// URJ Newsletter**
 * Engel, Susan. "Playing to Learn," New York Times, February 1, 2010**
 * Graff, Sarah. What can Schools and Synagogues Learn from the Successes of Tefilah Education at Camp?** April 30, 2013 posted.
 * Greene, Wallace. "Building a Professional Learning Community for Teachers of Hebrew," CAJE 2007.**
 * Moskowitz, Nachama and Maury Greenberg, //"Ayn Beit Sefer Yom Shishi:// A Case Study of Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple//,"// //Jewish Education News,// CAJE, Fall, 1997, pages 16-19**.

Elementary-school students in a New Jersey district are using the Rosetta Stone computer program to learn Spanish in the school's computer lab with guidance from a classroom teacher. While some are questioning whether technology can replace a foreign-language teacher, the fifth-grade students using the program say they prefer the software. FoxNews.com/Live Shots blog <<quoted from SmartBrief on EdTech, Sept 29, 2010 []
 * Orban, Meredith. "Replacing Teachers with Technology," FoxNews.com**

[|**http://www.bjpa.org/Publications/downloadPublication.cfm?PublicationID=2441**]
 * Ringvald, Vardit. "Raising the Bar in Hebrew Teaching and Learning," //Learning from the Cutting Edge in Education, in// Contact: The Journal of the Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life. Winter, 2009. pp. 8-9.**

//From the Abstract:// In this article, Lifsa Schachter, professor emeritus of education at the Segal College, shares some of her ideas on a range of questions ... Her ideas emanate from the research literature on second language acquisition, as well as from her own experiences and experiments designed to make a difference in the domain of Hebrew language learning. This is a very important article for those working with Hebrew education. In addition, see Lifsa's very helpful article on issues related to teaching Hebrew decoding posted here:
 * Schachter, Lifsa. "Why Bonnie and Ronnie Can't Read (The Siddur)," Journal of Jewish Education. Volume** [[@http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=all~content=t714578333~tab=issueslist~branches=76#v76|**76****, Issue** **1** **January 2010, pages 74 - 91.**


 * Schachter, Lifsa and Adina Ofek. "Hebrew Language Instruction," //What We NOW Know About Jewish Education: Perspectives on Research for Practice.//** **Goodman, et al. Torah Aura, 2008. pages 271-282**.

[] From the first paragraph, “My daughter and her fellow students are learning something that might look and sound just like the official language of a state on the other side of the world, but is really a great deal more: It’s a key — the only real key — to who they are, who their forebears were, how and where they lived, and how and why they died.”
 * "Taking Hebrew Seriously," (editorial), The Jewish Forward, January 29, 2010.**

Haaretz.com, July 18, 2010. Decisions related to grammar and orthography have been posted to the site. Visitors can even consult with academy experts on Hebraizing non-Hebrew first or last names.
 * Shtull-Trauring, Asaf. [|Fascinated by the Hebrew language? This website is for you!]**

[] This is geared for high school and college level language teaching so it's not directly applicable for supplementary Hebrew education, but as a resource, some wiki-members on this site might find it of interest.
 * Texas Language Technology Center, Foreign Language Teaching Methods**

Brought into being by legislation in 1953 as the supreme institute for the Hebrew Language, the Academy of the Hebrew Language prescribes standard for modern Hebrew grammar, orthography, transliteration, and punctuation based upon the study of Hebrew’s historical development. [] "...the Internet, with its unparalleled ability to connect people throughout the world, is changing the way that many people learn languages. There is no still way to avoid the hard slog through vocabulary lists and grammar rules, but the books, tapes and even CDs of yesteryear are being replaced by e-mail, video chats and social networks."
 * The Academy of the Hebrew Language**
 * []**
 * Wayner, Peter. "Learning a Language From an Expert on the Web," //New York Times//, July 28, 2010**
 * Wayner, Peter. "Learning a Language From an Expert on the Web," //New York Times//, July 28, 2010**
 * Wayner, Peter. "Learning a Language From an Expert on the Web," //New York Times//, July 28, 2010**

An article describing how some students are learning their Bar/Bat Mitzvah portion using the Internet and software tools. One quote: //Joy Levitt, executive director of the Jewish Community Center on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, took a three-month sabbatical this year to study Hebrew education. She believes that synagogues need to come up with a better alternative to the current after-school model. “Four o’clock just doesn’t work,” she said. But Rabbi Levitt is not convinced that e-prep is a real solution to engaging unaffiliated families in Jewish life. It “will accomplish the specific need of a specific parent to get a bar mitzvah,” she said. “But from the standpoint of a robust Jewish life that will hold a community and its values into the next generation, we’re not going to get there through Skype.”//
 * Virshup, Amy. "Bar Mitzvah Studies Take to the Web" //New York Times// (November 19, 2010)**
 * []**

Information about Hebrew programs is included for most of the 10 featured schools.
 * Wertheimer, Jack (ed). //Learning and Community:// Jewish Supplementary Schools in the Twenty-First Century. (Brandeis, 2009)**

[]
 * Wertheimer, Jack. "Schools that Work: What We Can Learn from Good Supplementary Schools," (Avi-Chai, 2009)**

[|http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/national/hebrew_learning_skype's_limit] An article that describes how a congregation is using Skype for Hebrew tutoring, as well as other current but on-the-edge uses of technology in Hebrew education.
 * Wiener, Julie. "For Hebrew Learning, The Skype's the Limit," The Jewish Week, May 26, 2010.**

[] A look at the issues surrounding Hebrew tutoring.]]
 * Wiener, Julie. "Tutoring Trend Tests Jewish Values," //The Jewish Week.// December 22, 2009**