Lesson 3.2 Samekh and Ayin

Steps

1. Warm-up

   Do this together: Go to a window and look up at the sky or the trees. Lift your eyes as high as you can. Where does your help come from? The Bible answers: My help cometh from the LORD.

2. Teach the new idea

   Read aloud: The story. Psalm 121 was sung by travelers walking up to Jerusalem for worship. As they saw the hills ahead, they sang: I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. The Hebrew word for my eyes, עֵינַי, begins with ayin, the eye letter.

   Read aloud: How Hebrew sounds. Samekh says s. It is round, like a closed circle, with a flat top. Ayin is a quiet letter for most readers today, like alef: it holds a vowel. In Bible times it was a sound deep in the throat. Ayin looks like two eyes looking up and a line going down. Say SAH-mekh, SOOS, AH-yeen, AYTS.

   Read aloud: Say it and move. Gallop like a horse: Samekh! sus! Point to your eyes and look up: Ayin! Stand like a tree with branches: ets!

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.

   • ס (samekh) [SAH-mekh]: the letter samekh: s
   • ע (ayin) [AH-yeen]: the letter ayin: silent for most readers today
   • סוּס (sus) [SOOS]: horse
   • עַיִן (ayin) [AH-yeen]: eye
   • עֵץ (ets) [AYTS]: tree
4. Show how

   Show: Which is samekh and which is end-mem? ס ם

   Say this: “Samekh is round.”

   Say this: “End-mem is square.”

   Answer: ס (right) is samekh; ם (left) is end-mem.

   Show: What does the letter’s name ayin mean?

   Say this: “Think of what the letter looks like.”

   Answer: Eye.

5. Practice together

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

   Ask: What does sus mean?

   Listen for: Horse.

   Ask: What does ayin mean?

   Listen for: Eye.

   Ask: Say samekh.

   Listen for: SAH-mekh.

   3 more on the lesson page.

6. Project: Eye-spy ayin

   Read aloud: Make an ayin with googly eyes and a horse with a samekh.

   Steps:

   1. A parent writes a big ע. Glue an eye at the top of each arm.
   2. Write עַיִן under it.
   3. On the other side, draw a horse and write ס on its side and סוּס underneath.

   Tips for you:

   • Samekh is round with a flat top. End-mem is square.

   Done when your child can say:

   • My page has ע and ס.
   • I can say ayin and samekh.
7. Sketchbook

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

   1. Draw an eye beside עַיִן, a horse beside סוּס, and a tree beside עֵץ.
   2. Circle the end-tsade at the end of עֵץ: you will learn it in Unit 4.
8. From history

   Read aloud: Ayin became the Greek letter omicron and our letter O: the round eye became a round letter.

9. Watch for
   • Mixing samekh ס and end-mem ם. Samekh is round; end-mem has corners.
   • Trying to say ayin as a letter sound. Like alef, it holds a vowel.
10. Game: I spy

    Play I spy, but the spy must say the Hebrew word: I spy a סוּס (a horse toy), an עֵץ (a tree out the window), a נֵר (a lamp). Point to the matching letter card when you find it.

11. Narration

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

    Listen for: Point to samekh and ayin and say their names.; Say that ayin began as an eye.; Say sus (horse), ayin (eye) and ets (tree).

12. Scripture

    A Song of degrees. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

    In Hebrew, from the Leningrad Codex: <span class="heb-block" lang="he" dir="rtl">אֶשָּׂא עֵינַי אֶל־הֶהָרִים</span> This is the start of the travelers’ song. Find eynai, mine eyes, the second word here; it begins with ayin, the eye letter.

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.