At the beginning of Kriah, teachers naturally want to make sure that every child’s first skills are completely secure before introducing anything new.
When several children struggle with an early skill, our first reaction may be to stop, go back, and continue reviewing until everyone has mastered it. Sometimes that is necessary. However, I recently had a classroom experience that reenforced to me the idea on how tracking and moving forward can work together, even at the very beginning of the Kriah journey.
An Unexpected Difficulty
After teaching the first Komatz pages in Derech LeKriah, I conducted the Decoding Rhythm Evaluation.
During this evaluation, each student says the complete decoding rhythm. For example, when looking at a Komatz-Alef, the child says, “Komatz-Alef-Au.” This demonstrates that he can identify the Nekudah and letter and then use those two codes to produce the correct sound.
As I conducted the evaluation, I found that some boys could not properly complete the rhythm and reach the sound without prompting.
My first reaction was that perhaps I needed to go back and teach those pages again. We were still at the beginning of Kriah, and I felt that the class might need another opportunity to practice the rhythm before moving forward.
However, when I reviewed my class list, I saw a different picture.
There were 18 boys in the class. Fifteen performed the rhythm smoothly. Only three needed prompting.
Before reviewing the tracking sheet, it felt as though the class was not ready. After looking at the actual results, I could see that most of the class had mastered the skill. The difficulty involved three particular students, not the entire class.
A Difficult Decision
I was still doubtful about moving forward.
These boys were not struggling with an advanced Kriah skill. They were struggling with one of the first steps in the entire decoding process. I did not want them to begin their Kriah journey with a weak foundation.
On the other hand, more than 80 percent of the class had performed the rhythm properly and was ready to continue.
I therefore decided to move forward while paying special attention to those three boys.
Instead of going directly to the next evaluation, I first reviewed the Derech Lekriah pages with the entire class using the Answering Routine. I said, “Komatz-Alef,” and the students responded, “Au,” while following inside the sefer.
This gave the three boys another opportunity to connect the codes with the correct sound. At the same time, the rest of the class continued strengthening the skill without being held back.
Moving to the Next Stage of Decoding
We then moved to the next stage of decoding.
Instead of saying the entire rhythm aloud, the students now had to think, “Komatz-Alef,” and pronounce only the resulting sound: “Au.”
I paid special attention to the three boys during this second evaluation.
The results were already different.
During the first evaluation, none of them needed prompting to produce the correct sound. Two of them only needed some direction, of the letter name.
There is an important difference between prompting and direction.
Prompting helps the child produce the actual rhythm or answer. Direction simply reminds him what process he is supposed to follow. Once these boys understood the task, they were able to think through the codes and pronounce the correct sounds themselves.
They had not yet demonstrated complete independence, but they had clearly progressed.
The Skill Began to Click
The class then continued to the two-syllable pages. The students practiced decoding two sounds and beginning to join them together. Eventually, we reached the regular Decoding Chazan Routine.
During the Chazan Routine, I noticed that these three boys were properly thinking through the codes and sounding out the letters.
I decided to check the original Decoding Rhythm again.
Could they now say the rhythm that they had been unable to perform during the first evaluation?
This time, all three boys performed it correctly.
During the first evaluation, they needed prompting. During the second evaluation, they needed only direction. After continuing to the two-syllable pages and the Chazan Routine, they were able to return to the original rhythm and perform it independently.
The skill they had struggled with at the beginning became clear as they moved forward and began using it within the next stages of decoding.
Seeing the Principles in Practice
This experience was especially meaningful because it happened at the very beginning of Kriah.
It may be easier to understand the need to move forward later in the year, when the children already have a collection of established skills. It is much harder when they are learning Komatz-Alef and taking their first steps in decoding.
At that stage, a teacher may feel that every child must demonstrate complete mastery before the class can continue. In this case, however, remaining on the same pages was not what helped these three boys.
Moving forward gave them additional opportunities to use the skill. The new routines required them to think, concentrate, and apply what they had learned. It gave them the push to “jump onto the wagon” and begin using the decoding process properly.
Moving forward did not mean forgetting about them. I knew which boys needed attention because I had tracked the evaluation results. As we continued, I watched them carefully, directed them when necessary, and checked the original skill again.
The tracking showed me who was actually struggling. Moving forward gave those students the opportunity and push to strengthen the skill.
Sometimes the best way to strengthen the first step is to take the next one.
