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At FJC Hebrew School, we strive to balance learning in Tanakh, Tefillah, Hebrew, and Jewish Practice. It is our goal that by the end of our program, our students will have the literacy to participate in prayer services and have an appreciation for moving through the world as a Jewish person. An overview of the goals of our curriculum across grade bands is as follows:

GRADE	CONTENT FOCUS & TANAKH	TEFILLAH	HEBREW
PRE-K/K “The Joys of Judaism”	• Focus on the basics of Torah, holidays, & Hebrew. • Teach that the Torah is the text of our people & become familiar with its stories and characters. • Nurture a sense of joy & excitement around Judaism, Jewish identity, & community.	• Introduce popular holiday & Shabbat melodies. • Understand that Tefillah is a time to talk to G-d. • Understand that Tefillah is both individual & communal prayer. • Understand that Tefillah is a daily practice.	• Songs and music. • Introduction to the Alef-Bet.
1ST GRADE “Mitzvot u’Middot”	• Strengthen knowledge of Torah stories & the connections between each Jewish holiday & its customs. • Focus on mitzvot & middot such as b’tzelem Elohim, tzedakah, chesed, & kavod. • Have early conversations about G-d.	• Understand that Tefillah includes different ways of relating to G-d (praise, request, gratitude). • Identify themes in individual Tefillot. • Express gratitude, awe, & compassion outside of Tefillah context.	• Integrated throughout the lesson, starting with a greeting & talking about the day of the week. • Practice reading (decoding) and writing (encoding) Hebrew consonants & vowels. • Build confidence in reading high-frequency 1-syllable words.
2ND GRADE “Diving into Torah”	• Using weekly parshiyot as a guide, explore new facets of the Biblical stories using midrash, grappling with different and/or contrasting perspectives. • Make personal connections & connections between stories. • Express opinions about the texts, ask questions, & create midrash.	• Understand that different Tefillot are said on different days (i.e., Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh, holidays). • Be able to answer why & when Jews pray, & what personal meaning prayer might hold. • “Bencher” Project.	• Integrated throughout the lesson, starting with a greeting, feelings, the day of the week, & weather. • Strengthen vocabulary, decoding, and encoding skills using packets/workbooks, games, and other activities. • Read and write 2-3 syllable words, including high-frequency words.
3RD GRADE “Early Jewish History”	• Explore early historical eras from the Biblical Period to Galut (Exile). • Learn about different Jewish figures & their contributions to Judaism. • Consider some of today’s prominent Jewish figures & the diversity within our communities.	Siddur Project: Students make their own siddurim, which entails studying both new & familiar prayers, the parts of a Shabbat service, etc. They will explore the meaning of the tefillot they study.	• Integrated throughout the lesson, starting with a greeting, feelings, the day of the week, & weather. • Increase fluency in decoding and encoding multi-syllabic words. • Strengthen the reading and recitation of select tefillot.
4TH GRADE “Prophets & Prophecy”	• Navigate the Books of the Prophets (Nevi’im), learning about the prophets themselves, their prophecies, and their teachings. • Delve into topics such as Ethical Leadership, Ethical Communities, and Resilience.	Siddur Project (cont.): continued from above, includes reading various interpretations of tefillot.	• Integrated throughout the lesson, starting with a greeting, feelings, the day of the week, & weather. • Increase fluency in decoding and encoding multi-syllabic words. • Continue to strengthen the reading and recitation of select tefillot.
5TH GRADE “Ancient Wisdom, Modern World”	To be added.	To be added.	• Integrated throughout the lesson, starting with a greeting and talking about the date, day of the week, and weather. • Continue to strengthen the reading and recitation of select tefillot. • Read Hebrew texts.

Jewish Practice

Over the course of our entire program, our students will also…

• Know the architecture of a synagogue (amud, bimah, ark, etc.)
• Know about practices of covering one’s head during times of prayer and learning
• Participate in Tefillah as a member of the community
• Be familiar with popular melodies
• Recite appropriate berakhot on occasions (hearing thunder, seeing a rainbow, etc.)
• Recite appropriate berakhot before and after food
• Recite Shabbat liturgy
• Perform ritual practices of Shabbat (lighting candles, kiddush, havdalah)
• Sing Shabbat songs
• Distinguish between positive and negative mitzvot on Shabbat
• Know that there are 39 melachot forbidden on Shabbat
• Connect observation of Shabbat with creation
• Understand Rosh Chodesh
• Understand Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, Simchat Torah, Chanukah, Tu B’Shvat, Purim, Pesach, Counting the Omer and Lag B’Omer, modern holidays (Yom Ha Shoah, Yom Ha Zikaron, Yom Ha Atzmaut, and Yom Yerushalayim), Shavuot, Tisha B’Av
• Understand laws of kashrut
• Understand lifecycle laws and customs (birth covenant rituals, b’nai mitzvah, wedding, funeral, shiva)
• Understand interpersonal mitzvot and concepts
• Understand tzedakah, bikkur cholim, etc.
• Understand the importance of interacting well with others (including mussar concepts)
• Understand the importance of honesty
• Reflect on their character traits and how they influence their behavior (humility, anger, envy, gratitude, etc.)