When I was teaching Chumash, I noticed a disturbing trend. Some students were skilled learners and enjoyed learning anything related to Torah. Others were unsuccessful and also had a negative attitude toward their Torah learning. The gap in skills and attitudes between successful and unsuccessful students grew greater and greater each year of school. I once heard an alarming phrase: If a student dislikes math class, they will hate math. If they dislike their Torah classes, they will hate Yiddishkeit. The responsibility to make sure all students are successful is huge.
My students would look at a pasuk (verse) and quit. I needed to reach them before they got to that frustration point. Literacy research states that if a student recognizes fewer than 85 percent of words and comprehends less than 50 percent of a text, he or she will get frustrated unless motivated or supported. Frustration leads to giving up. The question became how I could help students stay above their frustration level when learning Torah.
In General Studies, to help with reading higher level texts, teachers focus on teaching vocabulary, which is known as academic vocabulary. They do not assume students will pick up the words by learning them in context or repeating them frequently. In addition, they make sure students are reading texts that are on their level or supporting them when they are above their level.
I was giving shoresh (word root) quizzes, but this was clearly not enough. Chumash is made up of more than shorashim. Pesukim (verses) are comprised of high-frequency nouns and connector words as well as shorashim. I needed to focus on all the important words rather than adding more obscure shorashim that I found interesting. When I taught halacha, having shoresh quizzes didn’t help my students understand words like l’chatchila and b’di eved. In older grades, I needed a new vocabulary system as Biblical Hebrew, Mishnaic Hebrew, and the Hebrew of the commentaries differ from each other as well as from modern spoken Hebrew. The various idioms and grammars for each needed to be taught explicitly. What I needed was a systematic method to teach these foundational words for each kodesh subject.
Robert Marzano, a noted academic researcher, did extensive studies on how to increase students’ vocabulary. He outlines a six-step process that can help students learn and retain vocabulary.* If each of these six steps is followed, students are far more likely to learn vocabulary than if any step is skipped. In this case, the sum is greater than any of the parts.
The Six Steps
Step 1: Teacher (or a parent, if necessary) will give a description, explanation, or example of the new term. First, describe the term. Act it out. Draw it on the board. Tell students a story with the word. It should not merely be translated from ArtScroll. Just giving a definition isn’t helpful because that’s not how we learn language. The description needs to be relevant and accessible.
Using both verbal and nonverbal means to explain the term helps the learning and prepares the students for the next step. When teaching Chumash vocabulary, I had pictures for each shoresh; I told stories and did charades. It was fun and helped students learn the new words in the most natural way possible.
Step 2: Students will restate the description, explanation, or example in their own words. Students should write their own explanation (not copying the teachers) in a notebook. It is vital that students use their own words to make sure they get it. By taking ownership of the description, the students take ownership of their learning. Teachers should double-check this work to catch mistakes early on.
Step 3: Students will draw a picture, symbol, or locate a graphic to represent the new term. Marzano found that this step was actually very important. Drawing pictures and symbols forces the student to process the information in a different way, incredibly increasing the learning. For some, this is the way they love to learn, and they brighten up after being forced to read, read, read. They finally get to doodle! Other students find this very challenging and need help to come up with their own pictures or cartoons, especially for abstract ideas. Model this step and don’t be perfect (!), even if you are a natural artist. Let the drawings be a bit rough so students feel safe experimenting. After a while, they will get it, and will enjoy a chance to use their creativity.
Step 4: Students will participate in activities that provide more knowledge of the words. In this step, the students use the words in context and out of context. Have them look for prefixes, suffixes, and roots. Write down antonyms and synonyms. Ask students if they have seen this word in other contexts: for example, tefila, Navi, etc. It is very exciting for students when they remember what they learned in the beginning of the year and are able to connect their learning to previous learning.
Step 5: The learner will discuss the term with other learners. When students interact with others, their learning deepens and becomes more memorable. I had my students explain their drawings to their friends, review the meforshim with chavrusas, use the term in a conversation with a partner, and describe when they may have experienced the terms in their life.
Step 6: The learner will participate in games that provide more reinforcement of the new term. Games are not just a reward; they also push the learning farther along. Marzano found that games are a key step that cannot be dismissed. They motivate the students to learn and force them to use the new terms in context and out of context and with friends. It allows a review with lower stakes. After a review, find out which terms were challenging and then review to fill in the gaps. The list of games is endless: Bingo, Jeopardy, twenty questions, Pictionary, etc.
Putting It All Together
Acting out words in my kodesh classes didn’t solve all the problems. Drawing pictures to review at home for shoresh quizzes didn’t bump up the scores to 100 percent each week. I still needed to come up with strategies to fill other gaps and help my students and children build confidence and skills. But these six steps were a start and gave me tools so I could help. What I saw was progress, more willingness to try, and a smaller gap between the “cans” and the “cannots.” Even if you have been using the same rigid lists for years, give these methods a try. Think about what words truly belong on your vocabulary lists and commit to teaching those well.
*http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/vocab/strategies.html
