How do we know if they even recognize the letters?  Is our assessment because they can point to the letters as the sing the alef/bais song or they can say the letters in order?

The only accurate assessment is if they can identify the names and sounds of the letters when they are shown the letters in RANDOM order.  Writing can help in the learning process as can other tactile/kinesthetic activities, but the main we we learn to read is THROUGH READING.  If they review and review again until the point of automaticity, then we know they have internalized the lesson.  Many kriah programs have minimal success because they do not overlearn the alef/bais.    I discuss the above issues at length in my kriah workshop.  You can view my kriah workshop in the audio/visual section of chinuch.org.

Rabbi Yaakov Aichenbaum
Kriah Specialist
Scranton Hebrew Day School
yaakov@ybm.edu

While there is much talk about differentiated instruction in English studies, many more traditional mechanchim find it difficult to adapt higher level Chumash and Gemara studies to different levels.  Does anybody have any ideas about how to do this?

THere is no reason not to talk about the brain even to elementary school age childre (of course on their level).  Look at Mel Levine's books where he talks about the idea of demystification and you will see how this can be done.

A new school year can start off slow for Resource Room teachers.  THe students need some time to get used to their classes before they are taken out to the Resource Room.  Does anybody have any ideas how to use this time productively before the Resource Room goes into full motion?

Rabbi Yaakov Aichenbaum
Scranton Hebrew Day School
yaakov@ybm.edu

An essential part of kriah instruction is the opportunity for each child to frequently practice kriah individually.  However, this often creates a situation in which students impatiently wait for their turn to read.  What can be done to minimize this idle time, increase student interest, and maximize the learning experience?

Rabbi Yaakov Aichenbaum
yaakov@ybm.edu
Scranton Hebrew Day School

Fourth grade is a year that many students start to have more difficulties in school.  The material becomes harder, more is expected from them both in quality & quantity, and less rote review is done in class.  What techniques do you have to help students make a smooth transition into the fourth grade and gradually help them to take more responsibility for their academic achievement?
Rabbi Yaakov Aichenbaum
Scranton Hebrew Day School
yaakov@ybm.edu

Please view my workshop on leanring Chumash vocabulary (Laying The Foundation For Learning Chumash Independantly) in the video section of chinuch.org

Rabi Yaakov Aichenbaum
Scranton Hebrew Day School
yaakov@ybm.edu

In my opinion, songs are not the best way to learn and review shorashim.  Words have to be read.  There are too many phonetically similar words (e.g. atah with an alef and with an ayin) that are mixed up if the spellings are not mastered.  Also, 64 words in a year is a nice start, but much more can be done.  The second grade in the Scranton Hebrew Day School masters over 300 words!  Please see my video (Laying the Foundation for Learning Chumash Independantly) in the video section of chinuch.org to see how we do this.

Rabbi Yaakov Aichenbaum
Scranton Hebrew Day School
yaakov@ybm.edu

I am doing some online tutoring.  Does anybody have any experiences, tips, advice to share about how to teach interactive lessons online?

Rabbi Yaakov Aichenbaum
Limudei Kodesh Resource Room, Director
Scranton Hebrew Day School
yaakov@ybm.edu

In the Scranton Hebrew Day School, I run the limudei kodesh resource room.  Students are withdrawn from class for 30 minute sessions four times per week.  I focus on actual skill building and not on classroom work (i.e. kriah, vocabulary, etc.).  We are very successful in building skills so that students can eventually function in the mainstream classroom.  We focus on the long-term goal as opposed to the short-term goal of passing the next test. 

The success of our program is based on overlearning to the point of automaticity.  A description of part of the program can be found in my article "My Image of the Ideal Resource Room" on chinuch.org.

I am the only staff member.  Please contact if you have further questions.

Rabbi Yaakov Aichenbaum
Scranton Hebrew Day School
yaakov@ybm.edu

If students don't know kriah rules so well, just reading will usually not be sufficient even if mistakes will be pointed out and corrected.  Krian rules should be explicitly retaught (or taught) in a way that is kavodic for older children.  One idea is to have a program where an older grades makes chavrusas witha younger grade.  This provides an excuse to review the skills with the older class (you teach them how to teach the rule to the youbger class).  The older class can then practice with the younger class.  This also provides extra practice for the younger class.  A win/win situation.

ANother idea is a book called Haedud V'hachidud by Rabbi Eliyahu Reichman.  It has lists of pairs of words that are similar to each other.  You have to read the words carefully not to mix them up.  This trains the student to read carefully.  Also, the book is divided according to kriah rules so it provides the opportunity to review the rule beforehand and instruct the class to look out for it.  You can also listen to an audio of my kriah workshop at: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7173891/Laying%20The%20Foundation%20For%20A%20Lifetime%20Of%20Fluent%20Kriah.mp3  .  You might get some other ideas as well.

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Usually, overlearning each skill in isolation will help.  Practice the whole alef-bais fowards and backwards with each nekuda.  It has to be reviewed dozens and dozens of times with flashcards and other activities until the child can rattle of the proper sound automatically.  Once it is automatic, then do activities where the nekudos are mixed (e.g.  have a mixture of flashcards some of which have a tzere and some a segol).  Practice the mixture slowly and gradully increase speed.

A great system for developing vocabulary and CHumash skills can be found in my workshop LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR A LIFETIME OF LEARNING TORAH INDEPENDENTLY.  It can be found in th video section of chinuch.org as well as in the general material section.  Hatzlacha.

My kriah workshop addresses many issues that should help you.  If you download these files to a folder, you should be able to view my
kriahworkshop.  After they are downloaded,open the first file on this list
and the workshop should play. 
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7179573/kriah%20workshop%20video/VTS_02_1.VOB
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7179573/kriah%20workshop%20video/VTS_02_0.BUP
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7179573/kriah%20workshop%20video/VTS_02_0.IFO
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7179573/kriah%20workshop%20video/VTS_02_2.VOB

Such issues are usually helped by doing activities to "overlearn" the letter/nekuda combinations through modeling, echoing, etc..  I have a workshop video on this topic which is already submitted to chinuch.org and will b'ezras Hashem be posted in the near future.  It is called Laying the Foundation for a lifetime of Fluent Kriah.  You can contact chinuch.org to see when it will be posted on this site.  If it will not be ready quick enough for you, please contact me and I will try to get it to you.