Blended and Personalized Learning in Jewish Studies
Shulamit Lichtenstein has over 15 years of teaching experience in the UK and Israel. Currently based in Toronto, she loves working as an Instructional Coach for Lomdei, supporting teachers in strengthening classroom practice and professional growth. She also writes freelance on media coverage, Israel, and public discourse.
Introduction
Blended and Personalized Learning (BPL) has become a valuable approach for Jewish studies classrooms seeking to meet wide-ranging student needs without overwhelming teachers. BPL provides structures that allow educators to teach more precisely, differentiate more naturally, and build student independence and choice. When implemented with clear routines, consistent expectations, and thoughtful planning, BPL transforms classrooms into dynamic spaces where learners move at an appropriate pace, engage more deeply, and take increasing ownership of their learning. Educators also benefit from having a mentor/coach guide them through the different steps. The following overview outlines the core principles of effective BPL and illustrates how these principles come to life in real 1st-8th grade classrooms.
Key Principles of Effective BPL
There are a number of key principles that help implement effective BPL:
The teacher as facilitator and guide
In BPL the teacher shifts from delivering all instruction to guiding learning. This includes setting clear expectations, gathering data, coaching students, and ensuring that each learner moves forward at an appropriate pace.
Small group learning
The classic BPL classroom divides the students into smaller groups, usually 2-4 groups, depending on class size and ability range. The educator works with one group intensively for a prescribed time and then rotates. These rotations create natural spaces for differentiated instruction, allowing the teachers to target specific skills, adjust pacing, provide individualized support, and get a close-up of each student’s learning.
Independent groups
Because independence does not happen automatically, BPL includes intentional routines and training that teach students how to work productively on their own or with peers. These habits enable classrooms to function smoothly even when students are engaged in different tasks simultaneously.
One example is to train students in a few activities, e.g. how to review writing, or complete a translation exercise, where the exercise can be repeated at different levels in subsequent weeks. The variety of activities that are taught can be added to as the BPL classroom becomes routine. It is essential to train the students how to work independently, including how to problem-solve issues that come up, so that the educator can work undisturbed with their group. Providing computer-based learning tasks for one of the groups is helpful (although not essential) as it often encourages engagement, lowers noise levels, and can provide assessment data, and/or viewable progress.
Student choice
Once students understand how to behave, get organized, and work independently, classrooms can introduce more student choice. Choice fosters engagement, strengthens relationships, and helps students learn to navigate decision-making and diplomacy—skills particularly valuable in today’s highly distractible world. Choice could include giving them different ways to achieve the same goal, e.g., reviewing/demonstrating knowledge of a narrative by acting/drawing/writing out a comic strip. This can take the form of choice boards or picking from a menu of choices, resulting in students choosing a variety of activities to complete during a week, and deciding which one to do when.
Physical classroom layout
Organizing the classroom and resources so that they are clear and easily accessible facilitates success, for example, having a poster/slide with the groupings and their rotation activities clearly visible, having color-coded resources for different groups/abilities, having a noisemaker indicate when it is time to switch activities, etc.
Classroom Examples: What BPL Looks Like in Practice
Across varied Jewish Studies classrooms, the principles of Blended and Personalized Learning have led to meaningful improvements in differentiation, engagement, and teacher capacity. The following four examples illustrate what BPL can look like in real classrooms and how teachers adapt the model to their own needs.
1. First Grade Reading: Building Independence and Increasing Reading Practice
In a first-grade reading classroom, the goal was to increase how often each child read during the week. To make this possible, the teacher structured the class into four groups—two teacher-led and two independent or collaborative. Because six- and seven-year-olds cannot be expected to work independently without explicit training, September was largely devoted to routines: how to move between stations, use shared materials, log in to Chromebooks, and navigate the iTaLAM platform.
For several weeks, students practiced rotations with minimal academic demand. They spent a few minutes at each “practice station,” reflected together on what went well, and tried again. During this period, the teacher built predictable structures: a rotation board at the front of the room, clear group assignments, a primary work timer, and a secondary transition timer signaled by a chime.
This classroom luckily had two teacher-led stations. One focused on reading, and one on writing, with instruction flexibly leveled based on ongoing data. Initial groups came from a formal Alef-Bet assessment, and throughout the year the teacher made continual adjustments using formative assessment notes she recorded during lessons.
Independent stations included iTaLAM or Daber Ivrit practice and hands-on vocabulary or shorashim (Hebrew verb roots) activities, with color-coded materials so students could navigate independently.
After working in this model for several years, the teacher remarked: “If you told me today that I had to go back to teaching the whole class the same thing at the same level, I would turn around and never go back to my classroom.”
2. Third Grade Humash: Skill-Based Differentiation Through Rotations
A third-grade Humash teacher, working without an assistant, used BPL to manage a range of abilities in decoding, translation, and textual-analysis skills. Students were assessed on reading fluency, their ability to break down a verse, and shorashim knowledge, and grouped accordingly. Each group learned the same verse, but instruction was tailored: some focused primarily on translation and structure, while others analyzed shorashim or examined commentary.
Two independent stations supported the same learning goals: Lehavin U-Lehaskil workbook practice and a Humash software program aligned to the unit. The teacher did not run full rotations every day, but on the days she did, she saw a dramatic improvement in her ability to address each student’s needs. Directions for every station were displayed in lucite frames and updated daily; a rotation board and timer kept the class focused; and grouping decisions were flexible, continually informed by data.
With the structure in place, the teacher found she had more capacity to remediate struggling learners—and even introduce Rambam to advanced students later in the year. What began as an experiment became an integral part of how she taught.
3. 5th-6th Grade Mishnah: From Frontal Teaching to Student Choice
In a 5th-6th grade Mishnah class, the teacher began with a traditional frontal model and worksheets. As he experimented with BPL, he started with a simple two group, “flip-flop” structure: while one group learned with him, the other worked through a guided hevruta worksheet. After gaining confidence, he transitioned to a full station-rotation model of a three-group rotation, and eventually introduced student choice.
Choice boards allowed students to select from activities such as:
- reading and translating a mishnah,
- identifying key vocabulary or shorashim,
- working on conceptual understanding, or
- reviewing with games the teacher made in Kahoot.
Over time, the teacher became comfortable running three different activities at once—something he once thought impossible. He found he could check in on individual students more effectively, assess their progress with greater precision, and ensure growth in a more personal, targeted way. Student engagement rose noticeably as students appreciated being able to choose their activities.
4. Middle school Humash: Veteran Teacher Transforms a Lively Class
A veteran teacher (who was also an administrator) brought BPL into his 7th-8th Grade Humash class. He began with frontally delivered lessons but soon adopted a flip-flop model, then full station rotation. His 19 eighth-grade boys were lively and often challenging to manage; at first the independent-work expectations felt so overwhelming that he considered abandoning the model. Through discussing it with his coach, and through consistent reinforcement of routines, the class gradually learned how to work independently. Once routines took hold, the benefits became clear: behavior improved, and the teacher could work in small groups on reading, translating, shorashim, and Rashi while the rest of the class remained productively engaged. He began using SMART goals with students to track skill development and improve accountability.
The smaller haburah-style groups opened deeper opportunities for discussion, from questions about hashkafa to comparing commentaries. Students responded well to the more intimate learning format, and their written interpretations improved significantly. By the end of the year, the teacher said BPL had become “the only way to teach a class like this”—a strategy that finally allowed him to reach every learner.
Summary
Even for educators who are not ready to implement a full Blended and Personalized Learning model, several practical techniques from BPL can be adopted immediately with meaningful impact. Simple structures, such as running an occasional flip-flop lesson, can create space for small-group instruction without overhauling the entire class. Training students in just one or two independent routines, like how to complete a repeated practice task or how to problem-solve before approaching the teacher, can dramatically reduce interruptions and increase productive learning time.
These small steps offer many of the same benefits seen in fully blended classrooms: stronger differentiation, more targeted support, and increased student ownership. Whether a teacher chooses to adopt one routine or a full BPL structure, the underlying goal remains the same—empowering educators to reach students more effectively and giving learners the tools to grow at the pace and depth that fit them best.
I would like to acknowledge the contributions to this article of Chani Richmond, Lauren Adler, Rabbi Pepper, Rabbi Soroka, and Lakie Blech.
Shulamit Lichtenstein has over 15 years of teaching experience in the UK and Israel. Currently based in Toronto, she loves working as an Instructional Coach for Lomdei, supporting teachers in strengthening classroom practice and professional growth. She also writes freelance on media coverage, Israel, and public discourse.
From The Editor: Winter 2026
For many years I believed that I was a good educator. Students, alumni, and parents told me so. I was mostly effective at exciting my students to learn, drawing them in, and teaching them content and skills they remembered for a long time. Students thought that I was fair and sensitive and really committed to their success. Hey, I even learned how to admit my mistakes and learn from them.
And then I got married and started raising children.
From Scaffolding to Independence
I run a progressive N-8 Jewish day school (Luria Academy of Brooklyn) committed to inclusion of children with a broad range of abilities and needs and backgrounds. One of the questions I get asked frequently by parents is when we are going to build a high school. Truthfully, it’s not currently part of our plan and we are blessed to be in New York City where Jewish high school options abound. What prompts the parental requests for a high school is their very reasonable concern for how their child will transition from our student-centered, individualized, supportive classroom to a more traditional, less flexible environment.
What Mainstream Schools Can Learn From a School Like Mine
I recently had a conversation with a faculty member at a school of education which is part of a local university. He teaches a course titled “Learning and Cognition” and finds himself under pressure from students every year not to teach it. The students, as they enter the classroom, understandably want practical tools, and do not see the connection between how people learn and what they do in a classroom.
Choice in the Middle School Beit Midrash
In a small Jewish day school, differentiation is a fact of life. Some of our students have diagnoses which explain why they have challenges in learning and some do not; some need lots of repetition of material in order to synthesize ideas and others seem to understand and be prepared to explain the content the first time they read or hear an idea. In our small community, some are able to thrive in a Hebrew immersion class while others begin to shut down in this environment. A typical curricular model in middle schools at small Jewish day schools is to offer grade-specific Jewish studies courses; this has the advantage of all students being exposed to the same content, and building upon past learning is an easier task. At Oakland Hebrew Day School (Oakland, CA), a K-8 school, we, too, had this model until ten years ago, when we found ourselves grappling with the following issues:
Traditional Text Study for neurodivergent Students
During our time in school together, Jewish studies classes were streamed based purely on Hebrew language skills. This approach, with its exclusive focus on Hebrew facility, prevented us—and we suspect many other neurodivergent students—from accessing and engaging in the depth and richness of Jewish texts and traditions. Furthermore, by focusing solely on translation and basic comprehension, it denied us the opportunity to apply our own strengths of analytical and creative thinking, which are often reserved for advanced streams.
Trauma Awareness In Jewish Day Schools
A painful reality for Jewish educators is that, despite our most valiant efforts, a significant population of young people who go through the Jewish day school system feels distanced and removed from their education, as if they are perpetually outsiders to their community. Who are these young people? What causes this sense of distance? What can we do to help them? While every case is different, often these children are dealing with some sort of trauma that educators are not always equipped to support, and sometimes can inadvertently inflict. However, proper awareness and appropriate responses can go a long way in helping these young people feel welcome and understood.
The Unique Opportunities for Personalization in Jewish Studies
My experience at Jewish summer camp played an important role in forging my identity, first as a Jew, and then as a Jewish educator. When I made the jump from Director of Education at the camp I grew up at to the Jewish day school classroom, I would often reflect on what made camp so impactful and how I could bring aspects of experiential education into the formal classroom. I soon realized that it is not just about what camp has that the classroom does not, it’s just as much about the aspects of formal education that camps are unburdened by.
Forty Ways to Learn Navi
One of the most powerful sources of professional reflection for me has always been hevruta—the back-and-forth of honest, challenging dialogue. Several years ago, a teacher with whom I shared a classroom told me that my teaching was “too frontal” and that I needed to give students more “voice and choice.”
Being naturally competitive and reflective, I took the critique to heart. During winter break, I spent two solid days redesigning my Navi curriculum for my sixth graders. My goal was simple: to create a system where students could take genuine ownership of their learning while still meeting our academic expectations.
Differentiated Instruction in the Judaic Studies Classroom
Judaic studies is a high-stakes undertaking for teachers who aspire to cultivate in their students not only deep knowledge of texts and traditions that shape Jewish identity, but also a personal relationship with the Torah and with God. Either of those objectives without the other misses an opportunity to foster in children a love of their heritage and the desire to keep it vital in their lives.
Making Tefilah More Student-Centered
Every student enters tefilah with a different story. Some find comfort in familiar words and melodies; others feel unsure, disconnected, or skeptical. Yet tefilah in schools often assumes uniformity—everyone doing the same thing, in the same way, at the same pace. When we shift our focus to the people in the room, new possibilities for meaning can open up.
Differentiation, Relationships, and Planning with an AI Partner
Jewish Studies teachers have long known the importance of meeting students’ individual needs, yet differentiation in practice has remained elusive. Judaic Studies teachers often lack ready-made resources or formal training in differentiation models. In this article, we share our experience using AI to help Jewish studies teachers overcome those challenges.
Unlocking Every Learner: An Instructional Reflection For 1-5 Grade Judaic Educators
Educate the child according to their path (Proverbs 22:6).
This well-known verse beautifully captures the essence of differentiated and personalized learning: each child enters the classroom with a unique constellation of strengths, challenges, interests, and ways of understanding the world.
Hevruta as a Tool for Differentiation and Personalization
Meeting the needs of every learner in the room is one of the most complex tasks a teacher faces. No two students process text in the same way. Some absorb information quickly, while others need more time. Some think visually, others verbally. Some feel confident sharing ideas in front of the class, while others shut down the moment they feel unsure. Even highly motivated learners approach Torah with very different strengths and needs. Teachers want to support every student, yet it is difficult to personalize instruction when the class is moving through the same pasuk or section of Gemara at the same pace.
From Teaching the Class to Teaching Each Student
Walk down the hallways of many schools today or step into a teacher’s lounge, and the shift in conversation is unmistakable. Instead of talking about plans for a trip, Shabbat, or the newest and most exciting curriculum, the conversation frequently has shifted towards struggling students, classroom behaviors, and the plight of supporting an ever-growing diverse Jewish student population. These discussions reflect a new reality: Teaching at a Jewish day school now requires an expanding skill set to meet the evolving needs of students and the growing challenges teachers face.
Differentiating Jewish Education – Not If But How
In the early 1970s, my mother sat in her 9th grade halakha class cowering in fear. Her teacher loudly berated the class as not one student volunteered to translate the words of the Rosh Hashana prayers. Her pulse racing, my mother suddenly realized she had an advantage. As the daughter of Holocaust survivors who came from two different countries, my mother’s first language was Yiddish and the mahzor she had pulled from her parents’ bookshelf the night before was a Hebrew-Yiddish one. She timidly raised her hand, provided the translation, thus saving her class from incurring further wrath from the teacher. Jewish education is unique in that each student brings their own personalized version of Judaism with them into the classroom. For my mother that day, it looked like a mahzor with a Yiddish translation.
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