Marci Karoll, guest blogger, introduces Dah Bear

Chevre, periodically I invite a colleague to share the work he or she is doing to promote Jewish education. In this blog post Marci Karoll, Program Officer at the Legacy Heritage Fund tells us about Dah Bear.

Dah Bear helps students study Hebrew vocabulary and increase proficiency in Hebrew language. This dynamic new online educational tool is intended for use by teachers and students in school and at home. With over 1,300 word lists online and more than 300 teachers from over 200 schools using the site in their classrooms. Dah Bear is rapidly becoming a part of the Hebrew classrooms all over the United States. Dah Bearhas been redesigned for teachers to engage directly with their students more effectively and makes it easier for students to learn Hebrew vocabulary words, phrases and sentences. Positive feedback from this dynamic new tool has been overwhelming; students and teachers alike have told us how much fun classroom and homework learning has become! Dah Bear is a new endeavor of the Legacy Heritage Fund and is free to students and teachers in all Jewish educational settings.

Among the many new features, Dah Bear now includes:

·           List Creation – lists can be created by teachers with pop-up word identification in a growing database of terms and definitions

·           Teacher/Student Interface – allows students to directly link to lists and teachers to track student activity and achievement

·           Search and Share - allows for teachers to search for lists by subject and topic and to share lists with colleagues 

Now teachers may upload their own word lists directly into the Dah Bear website and send students a link to the words and activities instantly. The new features allow teachers to type their own lists and/or use Dah Bear’s word bank. Word lists can now be searched and shared among colleagues in schools as well as across the globe by a rapidly growing community of teachers. Shared lists can be copied or customized for specific classroom curriculum and activities. Word lists may be in Hebrew, with or without nikud, as well as inRashi or script. Additionally, teachers may set timeframes for list to be viewed – during the school year or for summer review.

Features of Dah Bear enable students to:

·        Study Hebrew word lists
·        Review flash cards

·        Play interactive educational games

·        Take tests to assess mastery

We encourage you to go to the Dah Bear site to see what we have to offer.