4th Grade

Our 4th grade students explore Hebrew through demonstration and exploration. Using a project-based approach, students discuss and analyze Torah stories, lift-up Jewish values and holidays, and make connections to their own lives. This year (2023 – 2024) students will focus on the Book of Genesis, Shabbat and other holidays considering:

• Who were the Avot v’Imahot (Patriarchs and Matriarchs)?
• What is the purpose of a Kehillah (a community) and how do we build one together?

There will be discussions, games, music and arts-based projects, concluding with the creation of a supplement for your Passover Haggadah and an exploration of Shavuot!

Learning Hebrew

Students explore Hebrew through demonstration and exploration. It is immersive, laying the foundation for language acquisition.

• Students experience the language by hearing, watching, and responding to Hebrew commands in our “Hebrew Through Movement” program. Fourth graders build on their foundation from the previous year, adding new words related to Jewish holidays, blessings, and celebrations.
• Classes participate in weekly music curriculum, incorporating Hebrew in traditional and contemporary songs.
• Students engage with prayer services (tefillah) weekly for 30 minutes, once a month for family tefillah and once a week for 60 minutes for Sharing Shabbat; ensuring familiarity with and repetition of our most prevalent prayers.
• 4th Grade begins to explore Hebrew as a written language through creative, hands-on activities.

Family Time at the JLL

The Lab’s goal is to make Hebrew and prayers, as well as synagogue and Jewish vocabulary, accessible to our students and families.

• Each of our weekend programs includes a weekly family service, led by our clergy and educational leadership.
• Special family programs are held throughout the year, including an off-site apple picking trip, the Sukkah Slam, Shabbat celebrations, and more! See the JLL calendar for details.

The Jewish Learning Lab (JLL)  is a comprehensive program that begins in Kindergarten and ends in 12th Grade.  The curriculum provides the skills and tools to live a meaningful Jewish life and supports the mission of the JLL, “to kindle a lifelong love of Jewish learning and living in children and youth in the WRT community.”

Students must be enrolled by 3rd Grade to receive a preferred b’nei mitzvah date, and to benefit from the core educational elements needed to have a successful and positive experience leading up to their b’nei mitzvah. Students who do not attend the JLL before 3rd Grade will miss the opportunity for vital learning and community-building experiences that provide the foundation of Jewish learning in the upper grades.

Those who wish to join the JLL after 3rd Grade must first speak to the Director of the JLL to discuss any previous Jewish education their child may have.  In such situations, the child may be required to take on additional learning elements, at the parent’s cost, in order to participate successfully in the JLL program.

Schedule

Programming for the JLL typically begins in the middle to end of September. The schedule for 4th grade is:

One Weekend + One Weekday

Sundays, 9:00–11:30am  +  one Weekday (Tuesday or Wednesday)  3:30–4:45pm

OR

Sharing Shabbat: Saturdays, 9:00am–12:00noon  +  one Weekday (Tuesday or Wednesday) 3:30–4:45pm