Trope Class
Posted on November 28, 2018
3-25-2020
Great to see you today and yesterday. I just wanted to make sure that everyone had access to recordings of the blessings before and after the haftarah– I am including links below. I wanted to make sure that the students were able to master these blessings over the next couple weeks, and wanted to request that you use the recordings as much as you can over this stay-at-home period to master the words and melodies. Please email me privately with any questions. Wishing you all health, and making the most of this difficult time.
Cantor Ken
11-28-18
Both our Tuesday and Wednesday classes have finished learning all of the Torah trope!
For the next couple weeks, we’ll be practicing our trope skills using the Maftir Torah portions from the earliest b’nai mitzvah from each class.
Yesterday we practiced the beginning of Sam, Ella, and Avi’s (also Caleb’s) portions, and today we’ll look at the beginning of Madelyn, Ava, and Molly’s.
This practicing should help all the kids build their Torah reading skills as they practice putting the words to the melodies of the trope, and it will help those with a relatively early bar or bat mitzvah get a head start on their portions.
For homework, they should review the first sentence of each of the three portions that we worked on in class, and if possible, look ahead to the second sentences too. Generally, they should read each word out loud, say and then sing the trope name, and then put the word to the tune of each trope.
They should also review trope, either/both by singing the trope song (p. 7) and/or the trope combinations (p. 6) several times a week, the first 11 recordings on this page:
https://www.tiofnatick.org/Torah
Let me know if you have any questions–
Cantor Ken
11-18-18
A quick pre-Thanksgiving update:
Trope assignment:
We are almost done with learning the trope! We’ve gone through the first 8 trope families (pages 3-6 in the packet) on both Tuesday and Wednesday, and by the week after Thanksgiving, you should have flashcards for the first 9 trope families and listen to the first nine tracks of the recordings. Feel free to go ahead and sing along with tracks 10 and 11 as well (track 11 is the trope song, on page 7 of your packet).
https://tiofnatick.org/Torah. The students can use their bar or bat mitzvah Torah portions in your folders for practice– read each Hebrew word out loud, say and then sing the trope name, and when you’re ready, do your best to put the tune and the word together.
Have a happy Thanksgiving!
Cantor Ken
11-4-18
Here’s a similar update to last week, along with a reminder that in general, the 6th graders should keep reviewing the trope they’ve learning and looking ahead to the next family or two. And they should please bring their packet/binder to class each Tuesday or Wednesday, along with their highlighters (yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, and pink).
Trope assignment:
The 6th graders should make flashcards for the first 10 trope: on page 3 in the packet: mercha, tipcha, munach, etnachta, and sof pasuk, and on page 4: kadma, mapach, pashta, katon, yetiv. Put the
trope symbol on one side of the flashcard, and the name (in English or Hebrew lettering) on the back side. The goal is to see the symbol, know the name, and then sing the tune.
They should listen a lot to the first three tracks, and then get acquainted with the fourth and fifth tracks, on this page: https://tiofnatick.org/Torah. We’ll introduce the fourth and probably fifth families this coming week on p. 5, involving revi’i and the kadma-v’azla combination; they can go ahead and make those flashcards if they get a chance.
Please let me know if you have questions!
10-23-18
Two dates to remind you about or ask you to reserve in advance:
1) The most important is Shavuot, which this year is on a Sunday morning after Hebrew school is over for the year, June 9. Please reserve this important morning for our end-of-year Torah reading celebration, when we’ll have the 6th graders chant individual Torah portions and share the Haftarah and blessings that morning as a culmination of our studies all year. Please plan to stay for lunch afterwards if you can.
2) Thursday, October 25, 7:00-8:00 PM, we’ll have a session for parent/s only to check in with me and Rabbi Liben and ask any questions that came up from reading the guidebooks or our first meeting on Sunday.
The 6th graders should make flashcards for the first 5 trope: mercha, tipcha, munach, etnachta, and sof pasuk (if you get a chance, please go ahead and make flashcards for the 5 trope on the next page: kadma, mapach, pashta, katon, yetiv). Put the
trope symbol on one side of the flashcard, and the name (in English or Hebrew lettering) on the back side. The goal is to see the symbol, know the name, and then sing the tune.
They should listen a lot to the two tracks, and also get acquainted with the third track, on this page: https://tiofnatick.org/Torah. By next class we’ll be recognizing the
tropes, saying and singing the names, and applying these melodies to other words.
The students should bring their trope packet each Tuesday or Wednesday to Hebrew School, and we’ll use them for trope class each week from 5:30-6:00 PM. (we have binders for the students which we gave out on Wed. but didn’t have handy for Tuesday– we’ll give them out this coming week to those who didn’t receive them yet). If you didn’t receive a
trope packet yet, you can use the virtual ones on the page with the
trope https://tiofnatick.org/Torah you can click on the whole packet or on individual pages for the
trope you’re working on.
Generally, the 6th graders should spend about 10 (to 15) minutes a day learning and reviewing their trope. I’ll send out reminders weekly or biweekly, but if I ever miss an email, the general assignment is to keep learning and reviewing what we’ve been doing.
Please let me know if you have questions! I’m looking forward to an exciting year of learning to chant Torah and Haftarah with the 6th graders.