Educators

Coming Soon: Multimedia Lessons from Israel21c and The Jewish Lens

In the next few months, Behrman House will release two new series of multimedia content and lesson plans for the Online Learning Center.  These will add to a robust catalog of over 2000 resources, a full online curriculum for Hebrew education, and interactive Jewish Studies software—all fully integrated and easy to use in the Behrman House Online Learning Center. Sign up here to receive more info about Jewish studies content in the OLC.

Online Learning Center: Performance Update

I wanted to give you an update on the launch of the Online Learning Center.    It's been an exciting time for us.  Well over 200 schools have enrolled in the OLC. Most are using one or more levels of our Hebrew software (Ready, Set . . .Go Alef Bet, Alef Bet Quest or Kol Yisrael: the Prayers of Our People); others are creating their own material or using the Resource Libraries to download digital content for use either in class or by students at home.

Reflections from the Virtual School Symposium 2012

I returned yesterday from this year’s Virtual School Symposium (VSS), which is an annual conference of educators from across the United States (and Europe) who are extending the frontiers of education. The focus of VSS is to promote advocacy for and research into online and blended learning. More than 2,000 teachers and administrators attended the conference in New Orleans, where they shared content ideas and strategies for professional development.

Project-Based Learning and the Hebrew Curriculum

Jump Right In: Teaching Jewish Values via Project Based Learning

You know that feeling when you want to swim, but the water’s cold? Sometimes it’s easier just to plunge right in.

There is Still Time to Subscribe! Great Articles Direct from Israel in Zim Zoom Magazine

There is still time to get your expanded digital version of Zim Zoom with your direct-from-Israel print subscription--at no extra charge! Behrman House has partnered with Good Times Ltd to bring Zim Zoom Magazine to your students. Beginning this fall, your 3rd-7th grade students can get a combined print and digital subscription that will bring engaging coverage of today’s Israel right into your classroom and give your students access from home as well—all for one low price.

New Webinar! Kol Yisrael for Self-Paced and Hevruta Learning

Our weekly webinar series is back for fall! Join Terry Kaye on Thursday, September 13 at 1 pm for a webinar that will focus on how to use Kol Yisrael in the Online Learning Center (OLC) for self-paced (individual) and hevruta (pairs) Hebrew learning. She’ll demonstrate how to create groups in the OLC so students can easily move up in level, how to post challenging assignments, how to use hevruta for productive collaboration, and how to track individuals’ progress, and more.

Discovering PBL Resources for the Jewish Classroom

A Rationale for Using Project Based Learning in the Jewish Classroom

  This year, Behrman House editors are producing textbooks and teachers’ guides that emphasize project based learning (PBL). We have set this editorial priority for one important reason: PBL has the potential to liberate Judaism from the exclusive domain of the synagogue.

Affordable, Adorable Family Machzor

This year, bring young families to a meaningful and sweet celebration of the New Year with a machzor designed just for them. Machzor Katan: High Holiday Prayer Book for Families With Young Children, by Jaime Lewis with Michelle V. Katz, is a delightful and brief Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur prayer book your families will love.

Send your Students to J-Land, FREE

Now Kids Can Visit J-Land Virtual World from Behrmanhouse.com A new world of Jewish games and fun has come to Behrmanhouse.com—J-Land Online. This safe, personalized online world for children ages 4-8 features a variety of games that incorporate math, reading, and thinking skills together with activities that highlight Jewish identity through holidays, heritage, Israel, and Hebrew. Children learn through virtual adventures in a safe, closed Internet environment.

Free High Holidays Lesson Plan from Our Resource Libraries

Make lesson planning simpler and faster this year with the Resource Libraries from Behrman House and Babaganewz. Browse over 1800 individual items by subject  to find videos, lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, and more. In addition to multimedia resources for each holiday to enrich your classes, you'll also discover materials covering over 50 Jewish values, including Remembrance, Redemption, and New Beginnings (perfect for this time of year).

Instant Lessons at Your Fingertips--School Subscriptions Now Available!

Give your teachers quick, economical access to instant lesson plans with a prepaid school subscription to the Resource Libraries at Behrmanhouse.com. With a prepaid subscription, teachers you designate will get instant access to individual lessons  complete with step-by-step instructions plus the images, videos, articles or other materials they need might need. What's more, your school will receive a 20% discount on each one.

ISRAEL21c Joins with Behrman House to Create New Approach to Israel Education

New online lesson plans, mini-courses, and experiential connections will help religious schools focus attention on Israel’s diversity, humanity, creativity, and innovative spirit “An exciting array of possibilities for introducing students to Israel in unique ways” ISRAEL21c and Behrman House today announced an agreement to adapt selected ISAREL21c content for use in Jewish religious schools and make it available through the Behrman House Online Learning Center and Resource Libraries. 

Project Based Learning in the Supplementary School—Yes, You CAN!

Learning is most effective when students take charge of their own experiences. But planning these experiences, and finding the time for them, can be a challenge. How then do we engage our students?

What if You Flipped Your Staff Meetings?

By Terry Kaye Most of us know about flipping the classroom.Now how about flipping faculty meetings? Bill Ferriter, a 6th grade language arts teacher in North Carolina, suggests that principals (and, by extrapolation, heads of school and education directors) send teachers the information in advance, and then spend the time in the staff meeting sharing ideas with one another and building relationships among colleagues.

Do You Need a Lesson Plan—FAST?

Even the best advance planner has times when he or she needs some last-minute help before a class. The Resource Libraries at Behrmanhouse.com were designed with just that moment in mind. Now you can download instant lesson plans, complete with step-by-step instructions and the images, videos, articles or other materials you might need.

Your Link to Free Hebrew Help for Students and Families

Now you can give your students and their parents quick access to free Hebrew practice and games right from your school or synagogue website—and with no additional login required! We’ve made our popular practice modules, Click’n’Read, for decoding practice, and Click’n’Learn, for practicing prayers and blessings, available on a new, easy access page with no login required.

Shooting the Proscenium Arch

We’ve been spending a lot of time here at Behrman House, over the past year, preparing material for the Resource Libraries of the Online Learning Center.  You can see them listed here.  It has me thinking about the emerging digital world, how rich yet how confusing it can be.  And how to make best use of it while not sacrificing the quality education we already provide our children.

Training Webinars for the Online Learning Center

Learn how to use our new Online Learning Center! Join us for guidance on how to create—and make the most of—a private online space that can help ignite student learning in your school.  Recorded Webinars: Introduction to the Online Learning Center

Teach Israel

 Experience Modern Israel

New from Behrman House. Fly to Israel without a plane ticket.

Discover Israel

 Let's Discover Israel

Offer younger children an exciting and age-appropriate introduction to the Jewish homeland