Bereshit (Genesis): Lesson One The origins of life in our world have always intrigued man. It is interesting that observations of the natural world can lead to different conclusions depending on the perspective on which they are based. These conclusions can sometimes...
Rubric for Complex Instruction Task Card
Prepared by Participants in the Lookstein Center's annual Principals' Seminar July, 2000 Process Product Presentation Group 1. Follow directions 2. Exhibits collaboration 3. Stays on task 4. Completes task on time 1. Demonstrates organization 2. Represents...
Rubric for Torah Study
Prepared by Participants in the Lookstein Center's annual Principals' Seminar July, 2000 Points I. Skills 10 II. Understanding 20 III. Critical Thinking 30 Total 60 I. Skills Scale Text 1. Reading (decoding) 2. Translating 1 1-2 Commentary 1. Reading 2. Translating...
Returning Lost Objects – Shemot (Exodus) 23:4
A Complex Instruction Unit Prepared by Participants in the Lookstein Center's annual Principals' Seminar, July 2000 Main Concept of the Unit: “Controlling Emotions” This study includes textual analysis of parallel passages in the Torah based on various...
Art and Drama Rubric
The following headings for a rubric were designed for art lessons related to the study of Biblical texts. They were produced by participants of the Principals' Seminar 2000. ART Content Reflects the theme central to the chapter Clarifies reading for the viewer...
Ancient Egypt and Modern Germany
Ancient Egypt and Modern Germany Introduction In both the Biblical text of Shemot 1 and the historical narrative of Nazi Germany, the student encounters events that seem to follow a similar course of progression: from tolerance, even high status, to oppression,...
Nechama Leibowitz Biography
The focus of this page is the work of Nechama Leibowitz, one of the most influential teachers of Torah in the last generation. Information is excerpted from To Study and To Teach: The Methodology of Nechama Leibowitz by Shmuel Peerless (Lookstein Center / Urim...
Teaching Jewish Texts: Authority and Relevance
Teaching Jewish Texts: Authority and Relevance Abstract: Most Judaic learning, especially past the primary grades, is text-based. As people who study texts, we have preconceptions about those texts, which define our relationship to them. When we enter a...
From the Editor Winter 2015
Ethical challenges confront each and every one of us in our daily lives. How honest should we be with our co-workers? To whom do we owe our greatest loyalty? How do we balance between our responsibility to family, community, profession, and self? The famous Mishnaic...
Ethical Challenges Facing Day School Leaders: Symposium #1
For this issue of the journal we turned to two groups of day school leaders, current and former, to draw from their wisdom and insight into complex issues facing decision-makers and leaders. Each group was presented with one question at a time, and in some questions...