Gain familiarity with Jewish holidays and the basic rituals associated with them.

Become closer to their parents through exploration of Jewish life together.

Gain familiarity with and a knowledge of Jewish holidays, symbols, and concepts.

Know key Torah stories and how they relate to their lives.

Apply the Jewish values found in Torah and holidays to their own lives.

Be able to identify Hebrew letters and their sounds.

Chant the following prayers, and know when they are to be recited:

Be able to recount the stories and identify the symbols of each major Jewish holiday.

Understand that the Torah is told/read in a cycle and express how those stories relate to their lives.

Connect with the land of Israel.

Begin to discuss ideas about God.

Recognize Hebrew letters and their sounds.

Understand and recite the order of the prayers for Shabbat evening (candles, Kiddush, Motzi).

Explore Jewish value concepts and apply them to their own actions.

Gain personal meaning from study of values, family, and holidays. Consider what values to practice. (i.e. covenant, g’milut chasadim, derech eretz, mitzvot, lashon hara, kavod, teva, pikuach nefesh, etc.).

Begin to explore Hebrew writing/sound making/word building.

Be able to retell the story behind each Jewish holiday.

Identify differences between American and Israeli food through cooking traditional Israeli treats.

	Borei P’ri ha-eitz
	Borei p’ri ha-adamah
	Passover blessings and four questions

Develop Hebrew speaking and reading skills.

Relate the importance of Hebrew as the language of Israel, the Jews, some prayer, and Torah.

Identify Jewish values in practice and explain personal choices in “Jewish” terms.

Apply holiday knowledge to personal holiday practice.

Discuss holiday celebration in a modern context.

Recognize Hebrew vowels and their sounds.

Retell the story of the founding of Israel and explain its significance in their lives.

Demonstrate and explain the reasoning behind any prayer choreography in the Barchu, Sh’ma, and V’Ahavta.

Understand that Yotzer Or is a prayer about creation that we read only in the morning service.

Explain the metaphor of “light” in the Yotzer Or, and determine individually which metaphor has the most personal meaning.

Interpret the idea of love in Ahavah Rabah and analyze ways they show love to others, and feel loved.

Recall that the Torah is one of the ways that God shows love to the Jews.

Identify the She’ma as the most important prayer in the prayer service and explain its significance.

Discuss how the Sh’ma and V’Ahavta moves us from God’s love into actions, and will demonstrate how to “live” that God is one.

Become familiar with Jewish lifecycle and explain Jewish milestones and their personal meaning. (re-introduced in the 2009-2010 school year)

Combine knowledge of Torah narrative with creativity and imagination to delve into deeper meaning/rabbinic understanding.

Understand that Jews around the world have different holiday food traditions and practice preparing various holiday foods.

Gain understanding and appreciation of major cities and areas in Israel.

Be able to locate major cities and areas in Israel on a map.

Chant/recite the following prayers:

• Avot V’Imahot

• G’vurot

Be able to recognize and define key Hebrew word roots (i.e. kuf-dalet-shin, het-samech-dalet, etc.)

Demonstrate and explain the reasoning behind any prayer choreography in the Avot V’Imahot, G’vurot, and K’dushah.

Understand that the Amidah is a series of prayers that work in a certain order.

Explain that in the Amidah we praise God, ask God for things, and thank God.

Interpret that through the Avot V’Imahot, we remember our ancestors and connect to God through our families.

Weigh the value of hesed described in the the Avot V’Imahot.

Identify the G’vurot as a prayer where we value God’s power.

Demonstrate ways we can be like God, according to the G’vurot.

Explain that the K’dushah is in many ways the climax of a service.

Remember that some of the K’dushah relates experiences that our prophets had with God.

Discuss how God’s holiness becomes real through our own holy actions.

Evaluate how each student is holy, and how he/she can perform holy acts

Express relationship between self and world around through current events.

Assess classic texts about Jewish values and compare with their own behavior.

Identify various prophets and their messages.

Evaluate personal and societal actions regarding prophetic messages: what are we doing "right," what can we do better?

Chant/recite the following prayers:

	Torah Service – blessings for before and after Torah and Haftarah readings
	Aleinu
	Mourners' Kaddish
	Havdallah blessings

Evaluate personal and societal actions regarding prophetic messages: what are we doing “right,” what can we do better?

Chant/recite and express meaning and personal connection to the following prayers:

Identify challenging issues in holiday practice.

Explain personal meaning behind celebrating various holidays.

Know history of Israel and express person opinion regarding controversial moments in Israel's founding and development.

Develop leadership skills in communal participation:

	Leading t’filah (both in and out of the Religious School)
	Performing hands-on tikkun olam (healing the world) projects
	Assessing a variety of charitable agencies and deciding where to donate funds collected through the Religious School tzedakah fund.

Understand and relate personal responsibility in making the world a better place.

Identify major events in Holocaust history.

Review all prayers already learned for meaning and fluency.

Have a chevre (social friend group) of other Jews.

Feel a connection to Judaism.

Develop a deeper understanding of a variety of topics including God, Torah, body and relationship ethics, and history.

Have a positive Jewish identity and be able to express their personal practice and beliefs.

Explore their “core selves” as they relate to their Jewish world around them.

To foster a sense of enjoyment, appreciation, pride of Jewish music.

To connect to Judaism through Jewish music.

To be “literate” in music of the Reform movement and camps.

To increase students’ interest in Hebrew and Judaica studies.

To connect students to Judaism and the Jewish narrative through different senses and modalities of learning than the typical classroom.

To teach students basic body movement skills.

To give students a sense of community and community involvement.

To connect students to Israel.

To appeal to different learning styles in the student community.

To connect students to Judaism and the Jewish narrative through different senses and modalities of learning than the typical classroom.