[HANASHIR:16165] Re: Songsheets

[Lisa Baydush <LisaB...>]

It seems to me that learning music and learning to read Hebrew are two
entirely separate things (although music will certainly reinforce the
process of learning Hebrew).  When 4th grade students are first learning to
sound out unfamiliar Hebrew letters and vowels, it is unrealistic to expect
them to be able to learn a new melody and follow Hebrew lyrics.  If you
provide the transliteration alongside the Hebrew, then they can at least
learn the song.  Later on, when their Hebrew is more proficient,
transliteration may no longer be necessary.  But I think you spoil your
attempt to teach fun new music, if you expect new Hebrew readers to pick up
the Hebrew immediately.  The only exception I'd make to this is with
prayers. if they are learning the prayers in Hebrew class, then they should
be able to follow the Hebrew when learning melodies to those prayers.
Here's a secular comparison. in a language arts class, if the goal of a
writing assignment is to use a list of spelling words, then spelling the
words correctly is key.  But if the goal is to write a creative story, a
teacher will completely bog down the creative process by making the student
stop and look up how to spell each word in the dictionary.  In Hebrew class,
the goal is to learn to read Hebrew; in music class, it is to learn songs
and to have fun.  Most of all, we want our kids to make a positive
connection with their Judaism. let's not unduly frustrate them by making
difficult something that should be fun and lively.

Lisa

 

-----Original Message-----
From: QuelliPG (at) aol(dot)com [mailto:QuelliPG (at) aol(dot)com] 
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2003 11:12 PM
To: hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
Subject: [HANASHIR:16160] Re: Songsheets

 

of course you should have the Hebrew text!  how else will your students ever
learn to read Hebrew?  I'd leave off the transliteration!