Lesson 4.1 Pe, the Mouth

Steps

1. Warm-up

   Do this together: Open your mouth wide and say ahh. Now press your lips together and pop them: p! p! p! Today’s letter is the mouth letter, and it makes a popping sound with your lips.

2. Teach the new idea

   Read aloud: The story. On the third day of creation, God made the trees that bear fruit, פְּרִי, peri, each with its seed inside. And David sang that God had put a new song in his mouth, his פֶּה, peh: a song of praise to our God. Both words begin with pe, the mouth letter.

   Read aloud: How Hebrew sounds. Pe with a dot inside, פּ, says p: pop your lips. Without the dot, פ, it says f: let the air blow through. At the end of a word pe stretches down: ף. Pe looks like an open mouth with a little tongue curling inside. Say PAY, PEH, peh-REE.

   Read aloud: Say it and move. Pop your lips: Pe! Point to your mouth: peh! Pretend to bite an apple: peri! Blow out a candle: fff, the sound of pe without the dot.

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.

   • פ ף (pe) [PAY]: the letter pe: p with a dot inside
   • פֶּה (peh) [PEH]: mouth
   • פְּרִי (peri) [peh-REE]: fruit
4. Show how

   Show: Does this pe say p or f? פּ

   Say this: “Look for the dot inside.”

   Answer: p (it has the dot).

   Show: Which is pe and which is kaf? פ כ

   Say this: “Pe has a little tongue curling inside its mouth.”

   Say this: “Kaf is an empty curve.”

   Answer: פ (right) is pe; כ (left) is kaf.

5. Practice together

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

   Ask: What picture did pe begin as?

   Listen for: A mouth.

   Ask: What does peri mean?

   Listen for: Fruit.

   Ask: Say pe.

   Listen for: PAY.

   3 more on the lesson page.

6. Project: Fruit-print pe

   Read aloud: Make a pe with fruit prints and say p and f.

   Steps:

   1. A parent writes a big פּ (with a dot) and a big פ (without).
   2. Dip the fruit in paint and print around the letters.
   3. Under the dotted pe, write p; under the plain pe, write f.
   4. Write פְּרִי at the bottom and say peri.

   Tips for you:

   • Pe with the dot pops: p. Without it, it blows: f.

   Done when your child can say:

   • My page shows פּ and פ.
   • I can say p and f for the right one.
7. Sketchbook

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

   1. Write פּ, פ and ף. Draw a mouth beside פֶּה and a fruit beside פְּרִי.
8. From history

   Read aloud: Pe became the Greek pi and our letter P.

9. Watch for
   • Saying p for every pe. Without the dot it says f.
   • Mixing pe and kaf. Pe has a little tongue inside.
10. Game: Pop or blow

    The parent holds up פּ or פ. For פּ, pop your lips: p! For פ, blow a feather or a paper scrap across the table: fff! Who can blow the feather the farthest?

11. Narration

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

    Listen for: Point to pe פ and its end form ף and say the name.; Say p for פּ (with a dot) and f for פ (without).; Say peh (mouth) and peri (fruit).

12. Scripture

    Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them.

    In Hebrew, from the Leningrad Codex: <span class="heb-block" lang="he" dir="rtl">פְּלָאוֹת עֵדְוֺתֶיךָ עַל־כֵּן נְצָרָתַם נַפְשִׁי׃</span> This verse begins the pe part of Psalm 119. Its first word, pela’ot, means wonderful things. Find the pe at the start.

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.