3-4 Kehillah
The Kehillah Teaching and Learning Model
At Schechter Bergen, our first through fourth grades follow what we call, “The Kehillah Model,” a collaborative and flexible approach designed to meet the needs of every student. Small class sizes, along with homeroom teachers, learning specialists and assistant teachers, provide a warm community environment where learning, joy and social emotional growth are paramount. Teams of teachers plan together, leveraging one another’s strengths and partnering with curriculum leaders, learning specialists, and support staff to ensure academic, social, and emotional growth. Lessons are hands-on and project-based, connecting learning to real-life experiences, while flexible grouping allows students to engage with different teachers and peers for intervention, enrichment, or new learning. Differentiation is central: teachers focus on specific skills, recognizing that each child may excel in one area and need extra support in another. Literacy, mathematics, and Hebrew & Judaic studies learning specialists are fully integrated into each Kehillah team, providing targeted support and enrichment across all subjects.
Our classrooms follow the Responsive Classroom approach, with social-emotional skills explicitly taught and reinforced. Morning meetings take place in both general and Judaic studies classrooms, creating a shared space for community building and reflection. Across all subjects, we emphasize teaching students how to think, not what to think, equipping them with critical thinking, problem-solving, and lifelong learning skills. Through formative assessment, shared tracking, common planning time, and professional learning communities, teachers make real-time instructional decisions that ensure every student thrives academically, socially, and emotionally.
In our 3-4 Kehillah, our third graders begin their day in their General studies homerooms, while the fourth graders begin their day in their Judaic studies homerooms. The 3-4 Kehillah builds upon the foundation of joyful learning established in the 1-2 Kehillah, bringing students to the next developmental and intellectual level. Each morning begins with children sitting together in a circle for their morning meeting (mifgash boker), turning to face one another, making eye contact, and greeting each other with a warm “Boker Tov.” This daily act of seeing one another - and being seen - forms the foundation of a true Kehillah, a community built on belonging and mutual respect. Our commitment to project-based learning (PBL) gives students meaningful problems to explore, real questions to answer, and purposeful work to create. Through asking questions, gathering information, collaborating with peers, and sharing what they discovered, PBL allows students to apply their learning in integrated and authentic ways.
Through individualized attention and the use of our Kehillah Model, teachers guide students to think deeply, make connections, and express their ideas with clarity. We encourage students to take intellectual risks, problem-solve, and develop curiosity about the world around them. Teachers nurture strong relationships with every child, creating an environment where students feel safe to explore, reflect, revise, and take ownership of their learning. This approach supports not just skill development, but the growth of thoughtful, confident learners who see themselves as active participants in their Kehillah and beyond.
Learn More About the 3-4 Kehillah Curriculum
Judaic Studies and Hebrew Language
In Judaic studies, third-grade students continue to build upon language skills learned in the 1-2 Kehillah. Reinforcing reading and writing skills is emphasized as students continue to develop their vocabulary and begin to write more complex sentences, demonstrating their understanding of the conventions of the Hebrew language. Third-grade students participate in an in-depth study of Shabbat. Through a study of the sacred rituals and commandments of Shabbat, students learn about the beautiful diversity of traditions within each others’ families that help make this time personal and meaningful. Shabbat nigunim (melodies), passed from generation to generation, are shared giving students an opportunity to reflect upon what makes each of us unique, yet binds us together as a Kehillah. The unit culminates with a beautiful student-led Havdalah ceremony with our families, showcasing all they have learned.
In fourth grade, students deepen their Hebrew and decoding skills as they learn to read and analyze Torah texts with a more critical lens. They strengthen their text-analysis skills and begin exploring deeper questions that help them connect the Torah’s lessons to their own lives.
As students study Parashat Va’yera, class conversations about caring for others and welcoming guests naturally lead to discussions about the observance of mitzvot (commandments) and their sources. By identifying the texts behind our traditions, students gain a deeper appreciation for how the Torah continues to guide our behavior today, and how they themselves are part of carrying those traditions forward.
To continue developing their Hebrew language skills, students in the fourth grade use the Haverim B’Ivrit curriculum. This program aims to progress student’s reading, writing, auditory and expressive language skills. The curriculum is designed to share experiences of children growing up in Israel, providing our students with the opportunity to both improve their Hebrew and learn more about their peers in Israel, allowing students to build their Hebrew while deepening their connection to Israeli life. Current events, music, dance, and storytelling help keep Israel present and vibrant in our classrooms.
Humanities
In the 3-4 Kehillah, we ensure every child becomes a skilled, confident, and joyful reader and writer by providing the instruction, practice, and support they need as developing thinkers. Instruction becomes more complex and analytical in these grades, while still keeping learning meaningful, purposeful, and connected across subjects.
We use high-quality, research-aligned resources and targeted instruction to help students deepen comprehension, strengthen fluency, and build knowledge:
- Knowledge-Building Text Sets: A wide variety of rich, content-connected nonfiction and literature that expand vocabulary and background knowledge.
- Explicit Vocabulary and Comprehension Instruction: Students learn how to analyze texts, infer, summarize, identify themes, and support their thinking with evidence.
- DIBELS & Classroom Assessments: Short checks throughout the year help us understand each student’s fluency, accuracy, and comprehension needs.
- Small, Flexible Groups: Groups change frequently based on ongoing data, allowing instruction to be targeted to specific reading skills, Text structure and text evidence. Students move between groups whenever they are ready - ensuring each child grows at their own pace.
In 3-4 Kehillah, students explore the world around them through a rich, inquiry-based Social Studies curriculum that integrates writing through The Writing Revolution (TWR) approach. Writing helps students process, remember, and understand content - and express their ideas clearly and confidently. Writing becomes a tool for deeper thinking.
Students learn how to read and create maps, study the regions and geography of New Jersey, and compare communities across the globe. They investigate influential social activists, examine the history and culture of the Lenape people, and engage in age-appropriate social action projects that connect learning to real-world issues. Throughout each unit, students use TWR strategies to build strong sentences, summaries, and paragraphs, helping them deepen understanding, make connections, and communicate their ideas clearly and confidently.
Math
Mathematics at Schechter Bergen is engaging, skill-building, and rooted in real-life problem solving. Students learn to see themselves as mathematicians who think deeply, embrace the mathematical process, and apply their learning to meaningful situations. Through active, hands-on exploration, targeted instruction, and collaborative problem-solving, they build strong number sense, flexible reasoning, and confidence, developing a growth mindset that encourages perseverance, curiosity, and continual improvement.
In the 3-4 Kehillah, students:
- Engage in small, flexible groups that provide targeted instruction based on each child’s skills and needs.
- Strengthen their number sense, build problem-solving strategies, and practice fact fluency while extending their understanding of place value, multi-digit operations, early multiplication/division, fractions, and decimals.
- Learn to reason, explaining their thinking, understanding multiple solution methods, and applying skills in authentic contexts like measurement, data, elapsed time, money and shapes.
- Partner activities, games, and regular discussions promote creativity, flexible thinking, and meaningful connections to daily life.
- Students are encouraged to try different approaches, make mistakes, revise ideas, and persevere through challenges.
Science
In science, students are empowered to take the lead in their learning through inquiry and hands-on activities. Third-grade students explore forces, astronomy, solar energy, and animal adaptations. Concepts are demonstrated through experiments that range from designing and improving parachutes to creating and testing models of Mars Rovers. Fourth-grade students gain a better understanding of the natural world by learning about machines, energy, human impact on climate change, geomorphology, and wetlands. The students explore these concepts through activities like designing and improving catapults, creating and testing rubber band powered cars, and eroding cornmeal plateaus into canyons.
The Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. Solomon Schechter does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of our educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.