TDSP Judaics Curriculum Coordinator, Rabbi Nosson Ungar, has started a new spelling program to help students master the spelling of common Hebrew words.
“It’s a program of 100 words that are commonly misspelled, sometimes because kids don’t know how to spell them or because they are not even conscious that there is a correct way to spell them,” said Rabbi Ungar.
Rabbi Ungar chose words that people need to know for everyday Jewish life and learning, such as the months of the Jewish year, the names of the people listed in Sefer Bereishis, names of mitzvos and Yomim Tovim, words that come up in davening, words that sound similar but are spelled differently and mean different things (like Melachim, which means kings, and Malachim, which means angels, and is spelling with an Aleph between the Mem and the Chaf), and other miscellaneous words for different Jewish concepts, like Yiras Shamayim (fear of Heaven/G-d).
The program is run over a nine-week period. The students learn a new list of 12 words every week, and they are tested on those words plus the words from the two previous weeks. At the end of the program there will be a school wide test for all the children who participated on all 100 words. “It is not difficult,” said Rabbi Ungar. “But we want students to know there is a proper way to spell things. This helps make them conscious to put the effort in.”
Rabbi Ungar said he sees real progress in the spelling as the program continues. “You do see from week to week how much the spelling improves,” said Rabbi Ungar.