With Rabbi Shmuel Schwarzmer May 20, 2009 “How Do They Do That?!” Exploring Learning in the...

With Rabbi Shmuel Schwarzmer

May 20, 2009

“How Do They Do That?!”Exploring Learning in the Jewish Studies Curriculum

-Part 2-

© 2009 Hidden Sparks

Welcome & Conference Etiquette

Below are some tips that will help make this conference call successful.

• Use the right phone. - Cell phones can be included in conference calls, but some can also cause static on the lines. Try to use a landline phone if possible. Speakerphones pick up a lot of background noise. If you use one, mute it whenever possible.

• Participate in a quiet, undisturbed room. – Background noise can be heard through the phone and will disturb others in the conference. If you can’t find a quiet room, use your phone’s mute button until you want to speak – and avoid distracting noises such as humming, scraping chairs, tapping a pencil, etc.

• Never Put a Conference Call on Hold! - Participants will be forced to listen to your on-hold music or they will not know that you have stepped away and may continue to address you while you're gone.

• Call Waiting - The sound of your call-waiting beep can be disruptive and confusing to conference call participants. Quite often the Call Waiting function can be temporarily suspended by touching *70 prior to the call.

• Identify Yourself - When you first enter the call and when you ask a question please identify yourself by name and school or state on-line.

• Chat Room & Question/Answer Box – Those participating on line may use the chat room and question/answer box on the lower right of their screen to enter questions and comments at any time. We will offer regular opportunities for those joining by phone only to participate as well.


Our Guest: Rabbi Shmuel Schwarzmer

Rabbi Shmuel Schwarzmer, MEd, has worked as a school psychologist in the Los Angeles Unified School District for the past 20 years. He currently provides consultative services to teachers, parents and administrators of the Yeshivas and Day Schools in the Los Angeles area, focusing on improving the performance of struggling students. Prior to that he was a Rebbe in Yeshiva of Los Angeles for six years, and has been a facilitator for the Schools Attuned program of the All Kinds of Minds Institute for the past ten years. Currently, Rabbi Schwarzmer is also working with the faculty of California State University - Northridge to adapt the work of other education innovators to meet the needs of Yeshiva and Day School Faculty.


In Our Last Episode…

We introduced a method of analyzing how students learn and work, in a way that leads to uncovering and developing practical interventions for helping students who struggle in their Limudei Kodesh subjects.

After demonstrating this method by analyzing the underlying skills involved in “Following Along as Someone Reads”, we applied this method to exploring how children learn to read Hebrew

Each skill uncovered led to a specific strategy that could be applied more accurately, to improve a struggling student’s success


• To review the main points of last week’s session and share this week’s successes

• To apply the NeuroDevelopmental analysis process to the learning of Chumash

• Focus on the impact of underlying Memory and Language skills to Chumash success

• To use this analysis to develop targeted accommodations for struggling students

Goals of This Session


Sharing Success

Please indicate in the Chat section of your screen, or by speaking up, if you would like to share your experience applying what we learned last week in your classroom. You may want to tell us about:

•A student with reading difficulties that you were able to observe and what you noticed

•A change you may have made in how you were remediating a known reading challenge

•A new approach to Kriah that you tried to implement in your classroom

•An “Ah – Ha” you may have experienced, either during last week’s session or later on as you processed what you heard


The Neurodevelopmental Analysis Process

Last week, we described a 4 step process to look at

what is going on through a Neurodevelopmental Lens

See: What am I Noticing?• Be honest / Be objective / Be descriptive

Think: What Might be the Reason?• Theoretical framework / hypothesis, not diagnosis

Do: What Can I Do to Help?• target specific behavior / interventions and accommodations

Reflect: How Well Did it Work?• be honest / if not successful, revisit previous steps

We can use the same process to examine how we teach•This allows us to be proactive, not just reactive•Discussed previously in sessions by Karen Kruger


Goals of Learning Chumash

Grades 1 – 3• Familiarity with “Geography” of page• Reading Decoding Fluency• Development of basic Chumash translation skills

• Basic vocabulary• “Teitch” recitation skills• Prefixes and Suffixes• Roots

• Content Knowledge• Rashi

• Reading Rashi script• Understanding Rashi’s comment


Goals of Learning Chumash

Grades 4 – 6• Continuation of all goals described above, but with an

increase in volume and rate of Chumash acquisition• Use of primary sources (Rashi, Onkelos) to better

understand text• Understanding textual basis for Rashi’s question• Greater independence of Chumash learning

What other goals do you focus on in developing your Chumash lessons?


Comparing Neurodevelopmental Demands of Chumash Lesson Plans

Plan 1Teacher first recites Passuk several times, accompanied by sheets with

translations written out. Class recites together, then individual students called on to recite. Time allotted to answer student questions about P’sukkim, review root words and affixes and to discuss underlying lessons of the Chumash. Students are tested on recall of translations and content.

What Learning Systems are in highest demand, and in what proportion?











Plan 2Using prepared translation sheets, students learn the p’sukkim on their own,

either by themselves or with a Chavrusa (learning partner). Teacher comes around monitoring student progress, occasionally stopping to instruct class in new vocabulary, to highlight grammar structures, roots and affixes, and to emphasize lessons of the Chumash or questions from the commentaries. Students assessed for knowledge of content and increased vocabulary




Plan 2Using prepared translation sheets, students learn the p’sukkim on their own,

either by themselves or with a Chavrusa (learning partner). Teacher comes around monitoring student progress, occasionally stopping to instruct class in new vocabulary, to highlight grammar structures, roots and affixes, and to emphasize lessons of the Chumash or questions from the commentaries. Students assessed for knowledge of content and increased vocabulary



Plan 3Teachers writes out P’sukkim on the board vertically, (chunk size

dependent on grade level). Class works together to figure out translation, based on context and prior exposure to roots and affixes; brand new words are introduced by the teacher. Students assessed for knowledge of vocabulary and content, and ability to understand unseen text.




Plan 3Teachers writes out P’sukkim on the board vertically, (chunk size

dependent on grade level). Class works together to figure out translation, based on context and prior exposure to roots and affixes; brand new words are introduced by the teacher. Students assessed for knowledge of vocabulary and content, and ability to understand unseen text.



Plan 4Teacher tells the story of the Chumash, says the P’sukkim with their

translation 2 or 3 times. Students are asked to work together to write a skit that depicts what is happening in the p’sukkim, or draw a picture that illustrates what was learned. Students are assessed for knowledge of content and quality of the project



Plan 4Teacher tells the story of the Chumash, says the P’sukkim

with their translation 2 or 3 times. Students are asked to work together to write a skit that depicts what is happening in the p’sukkim, or draw a picture that illustrates what was learned. Students are assessed for knowledge of content and quality of the project




Neurodevelopmental Analysis of Chumash Learning

Which learning systems are involved in the task of Learning Chumash?

Learning System Evidence

Attention

Organization

Social Cognition

Higher Order Cognition





Attention

Processing: finding the place when it is announced; being distracted by other things on page; sustaining focus as needed

Production: connecting new learning to previous knowledge; previewing material for better understanding

Organization

Social Cognition






Attention



Organization

Spatial: Comfort with ‘ geography’ of page: where Rashi is, what Perek, etc.; recognizing common words; having materials on hand

Temporal: using alphabetic number system juggling listening, looking and reading; using rhythm of “Teitch” recital

Social Cognition






Attention



Organization



Social Cognition

Awareness of how their skills are perceived by peers; ability to work with a Chavrusa (learning partner); understanding of human interaction to help understand some Chumash topics or commentaries






Attention



Organization



Social Cognition

Awareness of how their skills are perceived by peers; ability to work with a Chavrusa (learning partner); understanding of human interaction to help understand some Chumash topics or commentaries


Translating unfamiliar words based on knowledge of roots and affixes; deep understanding of the text; determining Rashi’s question; answering inferential questions; comparing commentaries


Accommodations

Last week we discussed two ways that we can manage our students’ learning:

Interventions Accommodations

Interventions are aimed at strengthening a weakness

Accommodations function to bypass a weakness

•Often temporary, but not always

•Can be implemented while skills are being worked on

•Can themselves become interventions when scaffold as needed

•Where appropriate, use accommodations with payback


Accommodations

If the breakdown was because of… You could try…

Attention

• Writing starting place on the board, instead of only saying it• Allowing student to stand or use focus object to stimulate

mental energy• Verbal highlighting of critical information

Organization

• “Page labels”• Chart with alphabet and numerical equivalent taped to desk

or over the board• Color –coded folders and regular check-in to help with

materials management

Social Cognition

• 1 – 1 time with student to assess oral recitation skills. Instead of in class

• Opportunities to act out the story of the Chumash and think about “how would you feel?”


• Use multiple-choice format or word bank for unfamiliar word constructions

• Practicing responses to higher level thinking questions• Using charts to make comparisons more explicit





Memory

Language





Memory

Short-Term: finding the place when it is announced

Active Working: connecting words being read to prior word knowledge; connecting content of current passuk to previous p’sukkim; mentally deciphering the separate parts of a word to determine its translation

Long-Term: recall of Chumash facts; pairing words with translation; recalling whole phrases of translation

Language


The Active Working Memory Assistance Card

Based on a concept by Ms. Esti Cohen, Emek Hebrew Academy, Sherman Oaks, CA


Additional Memory Accommodations

• Reducing the number of words or P’sukkim that the student is responsible to translate on a test, while still having him responsible for the content

• Pre-planning which p’sukkim the student will recite in class the next day, to enable him to prepare for classroom recitation


Additional Memory Accommodations

• Allowing the student to use a word bank at his desk, which can contain the key Chumash vocabulary for a given Perek

• If the class has small group work, assigning the student to test other students while he looks in a translation sheet

NOTE: All these temporary accommodations should accompany additional interventions, which would focus on increasing recall of high-frequency words and affixes





Memory

Short-Term: finding the place when it is announced

Active Working: connecting words being read to prior word knowledge; connecting content of current passuk to previous p’sukkim; mentally deciphering the separate parts of a word to determine its translation

Long-Term: recall of Chumash facts; pairing words with translation; recalling whole phrases of translation

Language

Phonology: accurate reading of words

Morphology: understanding of prefixes, roots and suffixes

Semantics: understanding and use of Chumash vocabulary

Syntax: recognition of effect of word order and context on meaningDiscourse: summarizing; understanding and explaining story of the Chumash


Language Skill–based Chumash Worksheet

Created by Suri Nowosiolski, Yavneh Hebrew Academy, Los Angeles, CA


Additional Language Accommodations

•Allow student to have charts on their desk with cues,

to help them understand key words and affixes, such as:

•Provide opportunities for the student to draw their understanding of the Passuk or Perek.

•When teaching a Rashi that illustrates a language-based concept, give MANY examples in English first

(e.g., Bereishis 37:4 – “would not” vs. “could not”).

•Allow student only to be responsible for one type of grammatical structure at a time (e.g., 3rd person past, Vav HaHipuch) until it is mastered.



What We have Done So Far• We reviewed the process of thinking deeply about what

learning skills students use when they do what we ask them to do

• We explored the Neurodevelopmental demands of Chumash, by examining different kinds of Chumash lessons and by looking at how the different learning systems impact Chumash Learning

• We considered different ways to accommodate the needs of students who struggle in their learning

• We introduced some tools that can help targeted students or whole classes


For Next Week

Apply what we have learned tonight in your classroom and report back to the group. For example:

Look at your Chumash lesson and determine what the highest Neurodevelopmental demands you are asking from your students

Consider a struggling student in your Chumash class and what accommodations you might make to help them.


Please contact me with questions, and I will try to answer as best as time will allow. My e-mail is:

[email protected]

I look forward to your comments and questions


Upcoming Hidden Sparks Without Walls Sessions

Part 3 Exploring Learning Processes in Talmud, with Shmuel Schwarzmer

Pre-requisite for this class is participation in, or downloading Claire Wurtzel’s February 24th and/or March 30th Hidden Sparks Without Walls class, An Overview of How We Learn.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

For more details visit www.HiddenSparks.org


Contacting Hidden Sparks

www.hiddensparks.org

[email protected]

(212) 767-7707/ (646) 688-5252

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With Rabbi Shmuel Schwarzmer May 20, 2009 “How Do They Do That?!” Exploring Learning in the...

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