Join the Institute of Southern Jewish Life on June 22-24, 2008, as we launch the sixth year of our religious school curriculum/education pilot program. The curriculum was originally developed by the ISJL in conjunction with the Community Foundation for Jewish Education of Metropolitan Chicago (CFJE). The curriculum is designed for communities where religious school teachers and administrators are largely volunteers — parents and community members taking their turn to teach. This past year, our Education Department worked with the 36 congregations using the curriculum. The curriculum includes eight core content areas: Jewish holidays; Torah; Jewish values; God; Prayer; Israel; Jewish history and culture; and basic Hebrew. Designed as a spiraled curriculum, the program revisits these core content areas in different grades. This technique reinforces the material, and allows students to encounter these topics with increasing sophistication. Music, art, and technology supplement reading-based learning to engage students and to provide multiple avenues for student expression. The ISJL curriculum provides class-by-class lesson plans for each grade, which include both the big picture (goals and objectives) and the details (things to prepare and supplies needed). We have even provided a script and a time allocation for teachers who want further guidance in the classroom.

The curriculum has received rave reviews, yet it is still a pilot project with room for growth. In our continuing efforts to improve this evolving curriculum to address communities' needs, the Fellows have been receiving feedback from teachers, students, and parents from the schools using the curriculum. At the workshop, we will be distributing the newly revised, third draft of the curriculum, which will include an Early Childhood curriculum created by CAJE (the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education) and the newest version of our Hebrew program, which includes individualized Hebrew lessons for K - 7th grades.

We encourage congregations to bring their entire teaching staff to be part of this enriching educational conference. At the workshop, the ISJL's professional staff along with guest faculty from across the country will provide both an overview of the entire program and specific age-appropriate instruction for returning and new communities. Attendees will have the opportunity to choose seminars that address the needs of their specific classrooms or schools.

The workshop will be an excellent opportunity for you to discuss this material, ask questions, and network with other teachers from schools similar to yours. After the workshop, the ISJL education staff will continue to help you implement the program. Education Fellows will serve as educators-in-residence, visiting congregations for Shabbat, providing adult education, teacher training, in addition to cultural and religious school programming. Staffers will also be available by phone and e-mail as curriculum “tech support.” We’ll be eager to answer your questions or to discuss problems you encounter in the classroom.

This annual workshop and curriculum are part of ISJL’s overall education program. There is no registration fee for the conference- only room and board. However, there is an optional $50 registration fee to help ISJL with its costs.

The ISJL’s goal is to make excellent Jewish education available for all Jewish children, no matter where they live, no matter how small the community.

Bo ul'mad, tzei ve lameid — come and learn, go and teach!