Issue 16: Unlocking the Potential of Dyslexic Learners: One Mother's Approach to Bat Mitzvah Preparation | Stacey Shubitz

What if I told you my decision to become my daughter's fifth-grade teacher during the pandemic led to an inspiring and life-changing experience?

Covid-19 paused my daughter's in-person education while she was in third grade. While my daughter, Isabelle, completed all her assignments during her synchronous fourth-grade class, there was room for improvement. A vaccine for children was on the horizon but not yet in their arms when fifth grade rolled around. Given 1.5 years of remote instruction, I had to step in to guarantee that Isabelle was getting the most out of her schooling.

The decision to homeschool came with challenges, but I was determined to make it work. As a former fifth-grade teacher in the NYC Public Schools and a literacy consultant since 2009, I knew the curriculum and what was expected of fifth-grade students. However, teaching my own child was a different experience altogether. I felt an enormous responsibility to help Isabelle progress, especially since she is dyslexic. I had to keep her engaged and motivated while balancing my professional responsibilities and caring for my younger child. Plus, I had to balance being her mom and her teacher.

Setting Objectives

Under Pennsylvania homeschool law, the child's school district must approve learning objectives. I included typical objectives about reading, writing, math, content areas, and related arts. In addition, I included Hebrew/Judaics objectives, one of which was to improve my daughter's knowledge of Hebrew vocabulary and prayers.

My daughter attended Jewish day school from pre-Kindergarten through second grade. I knew she had lost some of her Hebrew reading skills. Since she was approaching her Bat Mitzvah, I devoted about 30 minutes of our school day to working on Hebrew vocabulary and prayers. Many days this was an idyllic way to begin a school day.

However...

Hebrew is Hard.

Hebrew is written and read from right to left, the opposite of English! The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters that look nothing like the Latin alphabet's 26 letters. Some Hebrew consonants have two forms or different characters that appear as the final letter of a word. In addition, Hebrew has a five-vowel system; the vowels are represented by marks placed above the letter, directly underneath the letter, or beside the letter.

While many people think Hebrew's five-vowel system is easy, I understood how challenging it was for Isabelle since I worked beside her daily. Isabelle would feel like the vowels were playing tricks on her as she tried to decode some words. For example, she would get frustrated when a two-vowel sequence occurred. As a proficient prayerbook Hebrew reader who is nowhere near fluent in Hebrew, it became incumbent upon me to help Isabelle sort this out.

Strategies for Mastering Hebrew

I used some of the strategies my teachers used with me when I attended Hebrew school as a child. Plus, I applied some of the strategies I've learned as the parent of a dyslexic child to adapt the text to make it easier for Isabelle to read fluidly and confidently.

Limit Distractions

Many prayerbooks and Torah practice booklets contain the Hebrew text, the translation of the text, and commentaries on the text. That's a copious amount of writing on a page! We used sticky notes to cover up parts of page spreads, so Isabelle's eyes could focus only on the Hebrew text.

Seek Out Easy-to-Read Font

Over the years, I’ve learned fonts must be accessible to children. Embellished typefaces with eccentric flourishes or swashes are more challenging to read. Since a few Hebrew letters look similar, a font that ensures letters are easily identifiable and distinguishable from other letters is crucial. In addition, white space between lines and margins also increases readability.

Our local rabbi encouraged us to buy the Mishkan Tefilah prayerbook since our synagogue uses it on Shabbat. However, my daughter would have her Bat Mitzvah in Israel with one of my dearest friends, who is a rabbi, officiating the ceremony. The Bat Mitzvah service booklet Isabelle would use was written in smaller font with less spacing between words and lines. The booklet's size, spacing, and font were more challenging for Isabelle to read. My friend encouraged Isabelle to practice reading the prayers in Mishkan Tefilah and told her to use whatever prayerbook was most accessible to her on the day of her Bat Mitzvah.

Enlarge the Font

Occasionally, I enlarged the size of the Hebrew text on our home copier. Bigger text versions helped Isabelle decode words easier by improving the visibility of the vowels.

Use a Finger

I encouraged Isabelle to use her left index finger, since Hebrew is read from right to left, to keep track of her place in a text. Once Isabelle mastered a prayer, I noticed she’d often use her finger to keep her place in denser text parts.

Segment Words

One of the primary ways I learned to read Hebrew was by breaking the words into syllables. My teachers had us use a pencil to draw lines wherever a syllable broke. Isabelle was unable to look at a word and break it down independently. However, if I pronounced a word, she could chop it up orally. Once Isabelle successfully segmented a word, I marked the syllables in the prayer book.

Stacey Levy, M.S., CCC-SLP and Rabbi Steven Rau are specialists in inclusive Judaic education for children with learning differences. They suggest highlighting each syllable in alternating colors. When Isabelle encountered challenging words, we used the highlighter method to help her better understand precisely where the syllables broke, which enabled her to decode a tricky word properly. In addition, when there were a couple of challenging words in a row, I’d scoop the text with a pencil, so she’d practice the prayer with the correct prosody.

Utilize a Transliteration

Words didn’t make sense occasionally due to a complex combination of vowel sounds. I provided Isabelle with a written transliteration above the tricky word to help her master the pronunciation. Once mastered, transliterations can be erased. However, there is no shame in keeping transliterations for tricky words.

Seek Out Patterns

Many words and phrases are repeated in different prayers and in the Torah, which helps children use patterns to help them read parts of texts. Hebrew has patterns and rules that govern the placement of vowels in words. Hebrew readers learn these patterns and rules over time, which helps them to read an unvoweled text more easily.

Use Recordings

I sought out recordings on YouTube for prayers, which helped Isabelle develop an awareness of the cadence of words. Listening to recordings several times helped Isabelle learn where to pause, speed up, and slow down. In addition, for any texts sung or chanted, Isabelle searched for melodies she liked to take the words she decoded and put them to a pleasing tune.

Once Isabelle mastered a prayer, I used the Voice Memo app on my phone to record her. From there, we uploaded recordings to SoundCloud so they’d be accessible to her anytime. This was useful when she encountered difficulty with a text months after learning it. She’d listen to the recording of herself and would get back on track faster since she knew how her voice needed to sound.

Start with Vowels

A Torah scroll is an unvoweled text. (So are many printed texts written in Modern Hebrew) Isabelle learned her Torah portion by reading the Hebrew Text containing vowels. It provided her with a familiar structure for reading Hebrew and helped her recognize sounds and patterns more easily. Once Isabelle could read it, she listened to a recording of it chanted using the trope marks (those are also missing when one reads from the Torah scroll). After repeatedly listening to the recording, Isabelle could chant the Torah Scroll Text perfectly.

Memorize

Isabelle practiced frequently, which allowed her to memorize common words and phrases. This helped her recognize parts of the text without the vowel markings.

Practice Regularly

Like any language skill, reading Hebrew requires regular practice. We set aside time first thing every morning to practice reading Hebrew when she was in fifth grade. Once Isabelle returned to school and mastered her Torah portion, we used a combination of short, bi-weekly Bat Mitzvah tutoring sessions and afternoon practice with one of us twice a week so Isabelle would retain the material she learned.

Connecting the Big Day to Deeper Understandings

I was proud of Isabelle for working diligently, even when texts were hard, to master all the material she needed to know for her Bat Mitzvah. She faced every challenge with grit and shone when she read from the Torah.

Reading Hebrew requires combining various strategies, memorization, pattern recognition, and practice. With time, dyslexic learners can become proficient at reading voweled and unvoweled Hebrew texts so they can grow to enjoy the many benefits of reading a beautiful, ancient language.

With the right resources, support, and time, dyslexic learners can learn to read another language using some of the strategies I employed with Isabelle and other multi-sensory strategies. Remembering that each language has distinct characteristics and idiosyncratic features that must be instructed is essential.

As a former classroom teacher, literacy consultant, and parent to a child with dyslexia, I am acutely aware of the importance of tailoring educational approaches to meet the unique needs of each child. This was particularly evident as we prepared for Isabelle’s Bat Mitzvah, when I remained responsive to her learning needs and was willing to adjust my choices based on her needs over time. There is no universal solution in education, and it falls upon us, the caregivers and educators, to provide necessary accommodations and adapt our teaching methods to suit the child before us. By embracing an individualized approach, we can unlock the full potential of every child and help them achieve their goals, regardless of the challenges they may face.

References

• Finding Accessible Fonts for Classroom Use [twowritingteachers.org]
• OG as a Method of Teaching Hebrew Decoding to Students with Dyslexia and other Language Learning Disabilities [oghebrew.com]
• Strategies for Teaching Hebrew Reading to Students Who Learn Differently [YouTube.com/@inclusionlearning]

Stacey Shubitz

Stacey Shubitz is the Chief of Operations and Lead Writer at Two Writing Teachers, a site dedicated to teaching writing, and the co-host of the Two Writing Teachers Podcast. She is a certified literacy specialist and a former classroom teacher who taught fifth grade at P.S. 171 in East Harlem, NY and fourth grade at The Learning Community in Central Falls, RI. In 2009, Stacey turned her passion for supporting teachers with balanced literacy instruction into a career as a literacy consultant based in Central Pennsylvania.

Stacey is the author of Craft Moves: Lesson Sets for Teaching Writing with Mentor Texts (Stenhouse Publishers, 2016), as well as the co-author of Jump Into Writing: A Workshop Approach (Zaner-Bloser, 2021), Welcome to Writing Workshop: Engaging Today’s Students with a Model that Works (Stenhouse Publishers, 2019), and the co-author of Day by Day: Refining Writing Workshop Through 180 Days of Reflective Practice (Stenhouse Publishers, 2010). She has an M.A. in Literacy Education from Teachers College at Columbia University and a M.S.Ed. in Childhood Education from Hunter College of the City of New York. A Kappa Delta Pi Teacher of Honor, Stacey presents at local, state, and national conferences and has published articles for various publications.

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Day by Day - REFINING WRITING WORKSHOP THROUGH 180 DAYS OF REFLECTIVE PRACTICE

Day by Day is organized around six fundamental components of writing workshop—routines, mini-lessons, choice, mentors, conferring, and assessment. Each component is broken down into ten-day sections. Each section includes a detailed discussion, a challenge that teachers can apply immediately, and questions to help teachers assess the process to see what went right, what went wrong, and, most importantly, why. Ruth and Stacey also provide daily encouragement, support, practical strategies, tips, advice, and everything you need to run an effective writing workshop that meets the needs of all the different writers in your classroom.

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Craft Moves - LESSON SETS FOR TEACHING WRITING WITH MENTOR TEXTS

Stacey Shubitz, co-founder of the Two Writing Teachers website, uses twenty recently published picture books to create more than 180 lessons to teach various craft moves that will help your students become better writers. Each of the 184 lessons in the book includes a publisher’s summary, a rationale or explanation of the craft move demonstrated in the book, and a procedure that takes teachers and students back into the mentor text to deepen their understanding of the selected craft move. A step-by-step guide demonstrates how to analyze a picture book for multiple craft moves.

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Welcome to Writing Workshop - ENGAGING TODAY'S STUDENTS WITH A MODEL THAT WORKS

Stacey Shubitz and Lynne Dorfman welcome you to experience the writing workshop for the first time or in a new light with Welcome to Writing Workshop: Engaging Today's Students with a Model That Works. Through strategic routines, tips, resources, and short focused video clips, teachers can create the sights and sounds of a thriving writing workshop.

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Extracts from Dystinct Magazine