Highly Recommended - The Bedside Torah

Remember bedtime stories? Comforting, entertaining, perhaps even instructional. In the spirit of those appealing, memorable narratives, The Bedside Torah by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson (McGraw Hill Publishers) features three of what the author calls "meditations" on each Torah Portion. These essays or meditations originated as weekly columns in the Orange County Heritage. Some also appeared in Rabbi Artson's on-line commentary, "Today's Torah."

Each set of three meditations begins with a succinct description of the major themes and events in the Torah Portion. The meditations are readable, insightful, engaging, and inspiring. They are easily understood without the need to consult a dictionary or scholarly reference book. In crafting each meditation, Rabbi Artson weaves in midrashim and the ideas of other commentators ancient and modern.

Many of his meditations encourage the reader to actively apply the lessons which the Portions teach:
"...All of us have the ability to come face to face with God in our contacts with each other. The midrash tells us that Moses had to confront Pharaoh so that the self-obsessed monarch would be able to look upon a former slave and say, 'This is God.'
Can we, in the weeks ahead, teach ourselves to regard our fellows and to say the same?"
(From a meditation on Parashat Va-Era - page 101)

Rabbi Artson's meditations frequently relate current Jewish traditions, observances, and experiences to the images expressed in the Torah Portions. His approach to interpreting Torah Text is contemporary without being self-consciously trendy:
"The bush is still burning, still giving off light. In our generation, we have been blessed to witness the revival of our ancient language (Hebrew) in our ancient land (Israel). The lesson of the burning bush is a lesson about the shining light of being Jewish..."
(From a meditation on Parashat Sh'mot - page 96)

The final section of each meditation personalizes the Portion for the reader:
"Today's Torah portion insists that our deepest convictions find articulation in deeds and cooperative behavior. By training ourselves to perform mitzvot, we school ourselves anew in the values and perspectives of Judaism. We transfer an aspect of the original peak experience, a spark from the original flame, into the remotest aspects of our daily lives.
With the light of those sparks, we warm our fellow human beings and ourselves. We illumine our lifelong journey, invigorating ourselves, our traditions, and our God."
(From a meditation on Parashat Mishpatim - page 131)

By speaking of "we," "us," "our," "ourselves," Rabbi Artson draws us in to the message of the Portion and leaves us with ideas to ponder as we fall asleep and to apply as we wake up to face the new day.

The Bedside Torah is an excellent resource for group Torah Study sessions as well as for personal enlightment.
Be sure to read the Introduction, Reading Torah and Hearing God's Voice. This section explores the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual aspects of Torah Study and sets the stage for an appreciative Portion by Portion reading of the whole book.

Highly Recommended - The Teacher's Big Book of Graphic Organizers

I've added a new book to my collection of teaching resources - The Teacher's Big Book of Graphic Organizers by Katherine S. McKnight, published by Jossey-Bass www.josseybass.com

Graphic organizers are formats for presenting information visually. If you've ever drawn a circle with lines coming out of it to represent a main topic (circle) and sub-topics (lines), you've used a graphic organizer. The Teacher's Big Book of Graphic Organizers contains 100 graphic organizers for grades 4-12. Each graphic organizer is presented on two adjoining pages. The first page describes the unique features of the graphic organizer; the specific grade level and level of difficulty; an example of the graphic organizer filled-in with information; and "Tips for Classroom Implementation." The second page is the actual graphic organizer in black and white, ready to be copied for classroom use.

The book is well designed to enable the teacher to choose the most appropriate graphic organizer for the desired learning outcome. Chapter One, "Why Are Graphic Organizers Such Important Tools for Teaching and Learning?" discusses ways that graphic organizers enhance instruction for all learners and for any subject matter. It also includes suggestions for using graphic organizers with special needs students,

The remaining five chapters group the 100 graphic organizers according to purpose, such as "Graphic Organizers for Brainstorming and Idea Generation" (Chapter Two) and "Graphic Organizers for Supporting Reading Comprehension" (Chapter Five).

Although The Teacher's Big Book of Graphic Organizers is designed for secular studies, many of the graphic organizers can be used as-is or easily modified for use in Judaic Studies and Hebrew Language classes.
For example, a graphic organizer called "ABC Brainstorm" requires students to recall and record points of information for each letter of the alphabet. This graphic organizer could be used to indicate students' prior knowledge of a subject or knowledge gained after a unit of study.
If the subject were Passover, "A" might be "anger" (how Pharaoh felt when the Israelites fled); "B" for "beating" (of Jewish slaves); "C" for "charoset;" "D" for "darkness;" "E" for "exodus;" and on through "Z" for "zapping" (the Egyptians with Plagues).

The "Vocabulary Tree" graphic organizer is perfect for showing Hebrew three-letter roots and the words derived from them.

The "REAP" graphic organizer helps students to understand written material by instructing them to:
"Read the text
Encode into your own language (summarize the passage in your own words)
Annotate: Write down any connections, questions, or notes about the text
Ponder What is this passage about?"
What an appropriate approach to studying the weekly Torah Portion!

Not only are the graphic organizers useful for students, but many can be used to record, organize, and examine information generated at faculty meetings or in professional presentations.

I plan to use material from The Teacher's Big Book of Graphic Organizers with my students and highly recommend it as a personal resource or for shared use through a Teacher Resource Center.