• Because Parshipt are large, and the quantities of text we deal with in any one inquiry will be small, we are identifying units of text under ‘Parshiot’ by the actual text reference. As the databank of resources grows you will find multiple units of text developed for any one parashah. Clicking on a particular reference will lead you to the resources for that piece of text. Within that selection, you will often find that the name of the parashah is used as a reference point.  For example, if you go to the text Vayikra 12:1-15, the resources listed often refer to the name of the parashah (Parshat Tazria-Metzora). Within the biblical text, and onadditonal pages, you will occassionally find words hyperlinked to other websites or resources that offer a deeper explanation of a concept in the text.

• Each text selection listed under Parshiot opens a page that contains the Biblical text, with an individualized right hand side bar that lists resources just for that text (leading ideas, inter-textual references, discussion plans, exercises, secondary sources, and activities.). However you can search the whole site from this page by typing in a search word or selecting a tag. This initiates a search across all material on the site.

• In some cases, different resources are offered in multiple versions for early childhood, primary school,  middle school and high school. This is in order to make the texts and discussion plans accessible to the world of the child at that age level. You are the best guide to which set of texts are suitable for your students. There may be times when a high school class is best using materials listed as primary school, and primary school students are best met by materials labelled here for middle school.  Knowing students are sensitive to these differences, the coding we have used is minimal. In the sidebar we use the following marks to identify appropriate ages. Resources are only identified with a code if multiple versions of the same material (secondary source, discussion plan, etc) are available.

1. Early childhood:  ec
2. Primary: p
3. Middle School: ms
4. High School: hs

The level at which each booklet is aimed is identified next to the page number at the bottom of each page. For example “5 p” or “5 ms/hs”

• While each page  on the website can be downloaded in a print-friendly version, Each text selection comes with a compilation of all resources available as a single download in the form of a booklet. these are available in word and pdf formatting. The pdf version guarantees that the page layout will remain stable, the Word version may shift according to your own Word document settings (eg, different page width on your template, or using a different page size may shift the formatting around). However the advantage of the Word document is that it allows you to download and then edit material to meet the needs of your own students.  The value of having each page on the site downloadable is that you can search across the site and may find one particular resource from a different parashah that best serves your purpose, and you can find and download that  one piece without dowloading the whole booklet.

• Each page has a space for comments – if you notice something about a resource, or want to let other teachers know about something you found helpful about the content on that page, please send a comment. General teaching questions and comments should be directed to the Community of Practice website.

If you have any questions or comments about the materials, you may ask them in the comments section on each page or send me an email to: glaserjen’at’gmail.com (nb. please replace ‘at’ with ‘@’ when writing – writing my address this way reduces the chance I will get spam from listing my email address)

Thanks,

Jen Glaser