Also see this article at Lookstein.org:
Formulating a Curriculum Framework for Torah Study
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KEY ISSUES FOR THE TEACHING OF CHUMASH
- What are my learning goals and how will I achieve them?
Do I have any goals outside my basic learning outcomes? e.g. motivating, exciting the children, imbuing Yirat Hashem and Ahavat haTorah? - How do I intend to achieve these?
- What balance do I want between covering breadth and depth, respectively?
- How do I want to teach Dikduk (Grammar)? ‘Text out’ or ‘Dikduk in’? (‘Text out’ refers to approaches which primarily draw grammatical lessons out of the text, as the text is studied; ‘Dikduk in’ refers to where Dikduk is taught in the abstract, with workbooks, etc., with links then made back to the text.) You may prefer a mix of the two approaches.
The next question is most relevant for those teaching primarily ‘Dikduk in.’ - How am I going to teach Dikduk so that it supports and enhances my teaching of text, rather than it seeming to be a separate and abstract discipline?
- How am I going to assess the pupils’ learning?
- Am I going to mix formative assessment, e.g. daily, during lessons, and summative assessment, e.g. at the end of a block of text / period of time?
- Do I want to employ conventional methods of assessment, e.g. oral / written tests and / or less conventional methods, e.g. monitoring and noting pupil participation in group work, using iPads to video children working or performing sketches, class critiques of pupil presentations, pupil self-assessments, peer assessments, parental assessments of home review tasks, etc.
- Can I make effective traditional learning styles even more effective by combining them with fresh approaches?
- How will I balance:
- textual and contextual
- oral and written
- instructional and pupil directed
- new and review
- text and peirush
- peshat and drash
- conventional and creative styles
- ‘inside‘ (focusing directly on the Chumash text) and ‘outside‘ (anything that supports the ‘inside’)
MORE POINTS TO PONDER…
- How will I challenge the stronger pupils and support the less strong pupils?
- How will I elicit pupils’ own ideas and draw on their personal experience in order to make Chumash meaningful and relevant to them?
- What resources are available to support the kind of learning that I want to achieve?
- Can I use any technologies (Interactive Whiteboard, iPads, etc.) to support my teaching? [ the examples here were originally: OHP, PC, audio cassettes, etc. 🙂 ]
- Do I want pupils to do any work at home? What kind of work? Will it require parental support and is such available in this area?
- How will I employ AfL (Assessment for Learning) effectively (see here)
TorahSchool.co.uk 