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[DKossowsky]

Dear Mechanchim,

As we have been told many times, kriyah must be reinforced through out all of the grades, I am looking for programs that are effective for older grades.

I am also looking for younger grades as well, but I haven't heard of anything for the older grades.

One idea that occurred to me was using 'shnayim mikrah v'achud targum". Have the entire class read one aliyah every day. The rebbe will listen to one student a day individually and the rest of the class will read by themselves. Hopefully, since it is a chiyuv for them to do so, the students will read the aliyah with minimal supervision which can free the rebbe to listen to one student at a time.

Your feedback is very important, please if you have any programs that work or even any ideas, I would appreciate hearing about them.

Dovid Kossowsky
dkossowsky@gmail.com

[Nosson]

Your idea sounds like a good one. I know some Rabbeim is what they do is
Tehilim. They go around the class and one boy reads a Pasuk and everyone
reads after him (like a Chazan). You go around the classroom each boy doing
one Pasuk, the Rebbi also is in the rotation. You can make a Mishabeirach
for Cholim after if you want. You get to hear how they read when it's their
turn to lead. And everyone else is also practicing all of the pesukim. It is
also words that they are unfamiliar with.



Rabbi Nosson Adlin

Menahel/Dean, Scranton Hebrew Day School

540 Monroe Ave.

Scranton, Pa 18510

570-346-1576

_____

From: teacherforum@chinuch.org [mailto:forumreply@chinuch.org]
Sent: Friday, November 12, 2010 10:57 AM

[rdjla]

Dear Reb Dovid,

I think you are in te right track, combining something they need to learn to do anyway (shnayim mikra) and the deisre to improve kriyah. Not only that, but kriyas haTorah is something the students (boys at least) know needs to be perfectly.

However, practice alone doesn't make perfect! Otherwise there would be no car accidents, etc. Practice with feedback makes perfect. So, while your idea of the rebbe listening to one ( I think 2 or 4 is better) student a day while e/o else reads is good, the others shouldn't read to themselves. Rather they should read b' chavrusa, after you've trained them what the listener's job is and how to take turns. I like to say that the rebbe is "deputizing" the whole class to be on kriyah patrol, so every student is benefitting from feedback every day, not just the one(s) with the rebbe. The rebbe then circulates from chavrusa to chavrusa and adds his own shmi(r)a to that of the chavrusa. (That's why I say he listens to 2 or 4 per day)..

I have helped schools implement this across many grades. If set up and monitored correctly, it really works. It benefits the listener as well.

Please feel free to contact me to discuss further.

Rabbi David Jacobson, Ph.D.
Director,
Yeshiva Educational Services, Inc.
rdjla@msn.com
(323)633-0874
245 S. Alta Vista Blvd.
L.A. CA 90036

[cmonoker]

Motivation is always an important component.  For the younger grades (Primary/Pre1-A/Kindergarten and 1st grade) I know that many schools have Tehillim reading programs but I find the children really enjoy Mrs. Grama's books because they have pictures and the content is more meaningful, thus the children are more motivated to read. 
You can do Tehillim for the grades above (2nd, 3rd, 4th) or even Pirkei Avos.  Tehillim will be helpful in their davening.
I believe some boys school have a 'shnayim mikrah v'achud targum' for the upper grades but scale it e.g. 4th grade does rishon and sheini, 5th does rishon, sheini, and shelishi and so forth.
If you need more info you can contact me directly and I will help you be in touch with those who have implemented the programs.
Kol tuv,
C. Monoker

[dzeffren]

If the rebbe makes a recording, one pasuk at a time with a pause in between, the kids who have a harder time reading will have a "self-checking" way to practice kriyah. My husband did this for his 5th graders and they loved using the tapes to practice. He also inserted short messages in between to motivate them.

Donna Zeffren
Torah Umesorah
Hochberger Chinuch.org
www.chinuch.org

[yaichenbaum]

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.

You
You

[bydrh]

We in BYDRH of Montreal, have a program called Aliya B'Kriya, that is used
in conjunction with reading a perek of Tehillim each day. Each week, we
distribute a bookmark to each child to put into her Sefer Tehillim at the
perek that the class is up to. Each bookmark has on one side a kriya rule,
and on the other side a list of words, mostly from Tehilim, which illustrate
that rule. Approximately three times a week, when the girls are reading
Tehillim, the teacher reviews the rule, and has the girls read the list of
words. This way, they're reading and simultaneously working on review of
rules. The teacher points out in their reading of Tehillim that day, words
which illustrate the rule that we are reviewing.

To further reinforce the rule that we are reviewing, there is a homework
sheet, again with the rule and a list of illustrative words, to be read
three times during that week at home.

The bookmark changes each week.

You can contact me for more info about Aliya B'kriya at
mfreylich@baisyaakovmtl.org.

B'hatzlacha!

_____

From: Chinuch.org Principal's Forum [mailto:forumreply@chinuch.org]
Sent: November 15, 2010 11:23 AM

[nechomaf1]

Your idea sounds like a good one. I know some Rabbeim is what they do is

Tehilim. They go around the class and one boy reads a Pasuk and everyone

reads after him (like a Chazan). You go around the classroom each boy doing

one Pasuk, the Rebbi also is in the rotation. You can make a Mishabeirach

for Cholim after if you want. You get to hear how they read when it's their

turn to lead. And everyone else is also practicing all of the pesukim. It is

also words that they are unfamiliar with.

Rabbi Nosson Adlin
Menahel/Dean, Scranton Hebrew Day School
540 Monroe Ave.
Scranton, Pa 18510
570-346-1576

[batrot]

In our Junior Dept of our Primary school (7-11 year old) we noticed that the level of kriah in older classes was not satisfactory and for the past 2 years we have been using  the following method:
We do kriah 10 minutes a day after davening. We do kriah as "tehillim" i.e. we say tehillim but it is also used as kriah practice.
A girl says 2 psukim, the class hten says the next possuk, and another girl again 2 psukim etc.
Each class gets "target-cards". Each girl starts by target 1 at the beginning of each year. When a girl meets that target four times in a row she can go onto the next target.
The targets start with very basic kriah rules and then get more difficult e.g. the shvo no rules etc. When a girl moves onto the next target she has to keep all the previous targets plus the new one in order to get a tick. When a girl has met all her targets (usually about half way through the year) the targets then are met only if she improves fluency.
What we have found is a)girls barely make mistakes anymore, they really improve in their accuracy but b) their kriah slows down a lot as they try hard to meet their target. This is why it is necessary towards the end to make targets for fluency.
We have seen great improvement with those classes which consistently kept to this system
We have a whole list of targets to meet - if anyone is interested i\'m happy to provide them with further instructions.

[bydrh]

I would be interested to receive a list of the targets, please.

Thank you in advance.

Mrs. M. Freylich

Bais Yaakov D'Rav Hirschprung



_____

From: Chinuch.org Principal's Forum [mailto:forumreply@chinuch.org]
Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2011 1:47 PM

[aryehc]

I would love to hear more . Specifically about the target cards!

[dmrothenberg]

      We have found a method to review kriah rules in the older grades that is bekovedik and has built in motivation. Every class says a perek of Tehillim every day after recess with each girl reading one passuk aloud as the others say it quietly. The teacher then says the yehi ratzon for a list of cholim. We found that in every class a number of girls were butchering many of the words.
      What we are doing now is the following. Before starting the perek the teacher pulls out 2-5 words that are difficult for any number of reasons, writes them on the board and analyzes the difficulties with the girls. If it is a particularly difficult word she will give out highlighter sticky notes, (we get them in the dollar store here,) to put over that word to remind them to focus carefully when they say that word. Each teacher gears the words she pulls out to the kriah issues that her class seems to be having. Tehillim is ideal for this because we preface this program by going trough the tefillah said before and after amiras Tehillim that invokes the zchus of the words, the letters, the nekudos, etc. So that if we say Tehillim accurately it is much more powerful. (Part of the teillah also speaks about the taamim, perhaps this could be nogaya to boys classes.) Also Tehillim has many, many unusual formations that sometimes clearly illustrate some kriah rules as well as break some kriah/dikduk rules. We have found that the girls are fascinated.
      We are in the process of creating a Sefer Tehillim with all unusual rules or exceptions highlighted to make it easier for the teacher to plan which words she will pull out, depending on which rules she is focusing on for her class. So far it is working for us, although we haven't been doing it long enough to see really solid improvements. What we've seen immediately is the ratzon to read more accurately, and we consider even that a major accomplishment.

[batrot]

Attached are the target guides (for teachers) and the targets that I referred to in my earlier reply (reply #8).

[Judith Ingra]

[quote author=batrot link=topic=571.msg2071#msg2071 date=1299710157]
In our Junior Dept of our Primary school (7-11 year old) we noticed that the level of kriah in older classes was not satisfactory and for the past 2 years we have been using  the following method:

We do kriah 10 minutes a day after davening. We do kriah as "tehillim" i.e. we say tehillim but it is also used as kriah practice.

A girl says 2 psukim, the class hten says the next possuk, and another girl again 2 psukim etc.

Each class gets "target-cards". Each girl starts by target 1 at the beginning of each year. When a girl meets that target four times in a row she can go onto the next target.

The targets start with very basic kriah rules and then get more difficult e.g. the shvo no rules etc. When a girl moves onto the next target she has to keep all the previous targets plus the new one in order to get a tick. When a girl has met all her targets (usually about half way through the year) the targets then are met only if she improves fluency.

What we have found is a)girls barely make mistakes anymore, they really improve in their accuracy but b) their kriah slows down a lot as they try hard to meet their target. This is why it is necessary towards the end to make targets for fluency.

We have seen great improvement with those classes which consistently kept to this system

We have a whole list of targets to meet - if anyone is interested i\'m happy to provide them with further instructions.
[/quote]

[ckleerekoper]

I have never heard of Mrs. Grama's books.  Can you please tell me where I can find them.  I come from the UK.
Thanks,
Mrs Kleerekoper
Hebrew Reading Co-ordinator
Kodesh SENCO
North West London Jewish Day School