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[PFKaganoff]

What are appropriate chumash goals for seventh graders in chumash (a Bais Yaakov style school)? What is the progression of skills and steps necessary to reach those goals?
Thank You

[AlizaShap]

Seventh grade is a critical time to make sure that the girls have mastered the skills of elementary school and are now prepared to enter the world of middle school and eventually high school. 
(1)  It is extremely important that they master their kriah of the pesukim and of Rashi.  The kriah of the pesukim can be done on rotation in class, having the girls tape themselves reading or on a one on one meeting during lunch (this is preferable).  In order to check the kriah of Rashi you can have rotated readers in class and have them write in the nekodot of each Rashi that you learn for homework.
(2)  The girls should understand the storyline and details of what you are learning.  They should divide the pesukim into topics and write a title for each section.
(3)  Sheilas and teshuvas Rashi should be known.  The girls should focus on the problem in the posuk and words that Rashi is addressing (debur hamascheil).  The girls should keep a record of sheilas and teshuvas Rashi in a notebook.
(4)  Don't forget to make the information relevant to them, find a mussar point, a story, picture, activity to make what you're learning come to life!

[yaichenbaum]

All of Mrs. Shap's remarks are important.  I would like to add that many of our students leave elementary school with an inferior Chumash vocabulary (both girls and boys).  I recently wrote about this topic in the current issue (fall 2008) of Rayonos magazine.  Students who have not mastered at least 75% of the core Chumash words are not on an instructional level of learning inside a Hebrew text.  Anecdotal reports as well as my own diagnostic testing indicate that many students enter high school below this level.  It is, therefore, not a surprise that they cannot read a Rashi or tiche a passuk.  While these skills should be achieved before 7th grade, it is our responsibilty to fix the situation if the students did not achieve proper vocabulary mastery.