5th Grade

Fifth grade students deepen their understanding of Jewish life cycles, the Torah, holidays, and familiar prayers. They closely engage with Hebrew, building reading skills and comprehension throughout the year.

Through individual and class projects, students will:

• Explore the big question: “How do our traditions and spaces affect my identity as an emerging Jewish adult?”
• Delve into the Jewish life-cycle, looking closely at birth (naming/bris), b’nei mitzvah/confirmation, conversion, marriage, and death/mourning.
• Examine the cycle of the year through the lens of the Jewish calendar.
• Explore holidays and the weekly Torah portion in class, during services, and during our 30-minute Torah time.

Learning Hebrew

• Students learn in  Chevruta in an individualized, 1:1 weekly format with an educator for 30-minutes a week to engage and develop Hebrew reading skills at their own pace.
• Individuals begin the year decoding Hebrew letters, and as fluency increases, they read, chant, and understand prayers.
• Communal prayer experiences during services on Saturday/Sunday reinforce Chevruta sessions.
• Weekly homework assignments reinforce material from Chevruta session.

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.

• Monthly family services led by clergy and educational leadership.

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 5th grade is:

One Weekend + One Weekly Chevruta tutoring session

Sundays, 9:00–11:30am  +  One  30-Minute Virtual Tutoring session (Chevruta) offered on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays.

OR

Sharing Shabbat: Saturdays, 9:00am–12:00noon  +  One  30-Minute Virtual Tutoring session (Chevruta) offered on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays.