Lesson 2.2 Mem, the Water Letter

Steps

1. Warm-up

   Do this together: Fill a bowl with water and make little waves with your fingers. Up and down, up and down. Today’s letter began as a picture of waves of water.

2. Teach the new idea

   Read aloud: The story. Before God made light, the Bible says, the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Later, baby Moses was hidden in a little ark among the reeds of the river Nile, and Pharaoh’s daughter found him and drew him out of the water. His name, מֹשֶׁה, Moshe, begins with mem, the water letter.

   Read aloud: How Hebrew sounds. Mem says m. The regular mem מ is open at the bottom left. At the end of a word it closes up into a box: ם. You already know a word with an end-mem: שָׁלוֹם, shalom. Say MAYM, MAH-yeem, moh-SHEH.

   Read aloud: Say it and move. Make waves with your arm: Mem! mayim! Draw a square in the air: end-mem! Wave hello: shalom! and draw the square at the end.

3. New words

   Do this: Say each word clearly; your child says it back twice. Point to a picture or the real thing when you can.

   • מ ם (mem) [MAYM]: the letter mem: m
   • מַיִם (mayim) [MAH-yeem]: water
   • מֹשֶׁה (Moshe) [moh-SHEH]: Moses
   • שָׁלוֹם (shalom) [shah-LOHM]: peace
4. Show how

   Show: Find both mems in מַיִם.

   Say this: “The first letter on the right is a regular mem.”

   Say this: “The last letter on the left is an end-mem.”

   Answer: מ at the start (right) and ם at the end (left).

   Show: Which is end-mem and which is samekh (Unit 3)? ם ס

   Say this: “End-mem is square with corners.”

   Say this: “Samekh is round.”

   Answer: ם (right) is end-mem.

5. Practice together

   Do this: Ask out loud. Let your child try first; help only after a real try.

   Ask: What picture did mem begin as?

   Listen for: Waves of water.

   Ask: What does mayim mean?

   Listen for: Water.

   Ask: Say Moses’ name in Hebrew.

   Listen for: Moshe.

   3 more on the lesson page.

6. Project: Water-color mem

   Read aloud: Paint mem with water colors and turn it into waves.

   Steps:

   1. A parent writes a big מ and a big ם on the paper.
   2. Paint over them in blue.
   3. Add little waves all around the letters.
   4. Write מַיִם at the bottom and say mayim.

   Tips for you:

   • The regular mem has an opening at the bottom left; the end-mem is a closed box.

   Done when your child can say:

   • My page has מ and ם.
   • I can say mem and mayim.
7. Sketchbook

   Do this: Your child picks one or more; you write the date.

   1. Write מ and ם side by side. Draw water beside מַיִם and circle the end-mem in שָׁלוֹם.
8. From history

   Read aloud: Mem became the Greek mu and our letter M. Its wavy beginning is still visible in our M, which goes up and down like waves.

9. Watch for
   • Writing the regular mem at the end of a word. At the end, mem closes into ם.
   • Mixing end-mem ם with samekh ס. End-mem is square; samekh is round.
10. Game: Waves and boxes

    The parent holds up מ or ם. For מ, make waves with your arms; for ם, draw a box in the air. Add ל (stand tall) and כ (open palm).

11. Narration

    Say this: “Tell me what you learned today.”

    Listen for: Point to mem מ and its end form ם and say the name.; Say that mem began as waves of water.; Say mayim (water) and find the end-mem in shalom.

12. Scripture

    And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

    In Hebrew, from the Leningrad Codex: <span class="heb-block" lang="he" dir="rtl">וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים מְרַחֶפֶת עַל־פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם</span> This is the second verse of the Bible. Find mayim at the very end, on the left: hammayim, the waters, with mem at both ends.

Spread over the week

3 sessions of 15–20 minutes. Stop while it is still going well.

1. Session 1. Warm-up, then read and teach the new idea and the new words. Show how.
2. Session 2. Practice together, then start the project. Finish the project, then the sketchbook.
3. Session 3. Narration, the game and the Scripture.