Nov 06, 2017
INTRODUCTION
In an effort to pool the wisdom and experience acquired by our contributors’ work in the classroom, In geveb regularly polls Yiddish instructors on topics related to Yiddish pedagogy. In our Loyt Di Lerers series, we compile ideas and best practices for teachers who teach Yiddish, teach about Yiddish, and teach with texts from Yiddish sources. The responses to these polls offer a cross-section of the opinions, approaches, and experiences of Yiddish instructors from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv, from children’s programs to university classes to continuing education courses, from new teachers to those with a lifetime of experience.
In our Loyt di Lerers series we have gathered teachers’ thoughts about Yiddish textbooks, focused on the question of whether and how to use Weinreich’s College Yiddish, asked teachers to describe how they conduct the first day of Yiddish class and what their strategies are for the Intermediate Yiddish classroom, learned how instructors teach with texts translated from Yiddish, asked Holocaust educators how they teach with and about Yiddish, and learned about Yiddish clubs and reading groups.
In honor of the Sholem Aleichem conference at the University of Wisconsin-Madison next week, of which In geveb is a co-sponsor, we’re dedicating this poll to that great Yiddish writer.
Lately, resources about teaching with Sholem Aleichem abound. A high school curriculum and college syllabi bank at SholemAleichem.org, a collaborative digital project we profiled, suggests multiple approaches to the author’s oeuvre: as part of courses on Yiddish literature, Ukranian culture, and Jewish humor, among many others. The Tam: A Taste of Jewish Culture lesson plans developed by KlezCalifornia include several lessons on stories by Sholem Aleichem with discussion questions. A resource kit from the Teach Great Jewish Books site of the Yiddish Book Center offers ideas for teaching about Tevye, while lesson plans from Facing History and Ourselves approach teaching about the author “to help uncover some of the issues confronting eastern European Jews during the period of profound change at the end of the 19th century.”
Do you teach with Sholem Aleichem’s texts? In what contexts, and how? We want to learn from you!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences with the In geveb teaching community.
