Lesson 1.2 Five Letters with Tails

Steps

1. Warm-up

   Do this together: Write your name in cursive or with a fancy last letter. Some people add a flourish at the end of their name. Hebrew does something like that: five letters change shape when they come at the end of a word.

2. Teach the new idea

   Read aloud: The story. The very first verse of the Bible says: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. In Hebrew the last two words are הַשָּׁמַיִם, the heavens, ending with end-mem, and הָאָרֶץ, the earth, ending with end-tsade. Even the first verse shows two of the five tails.

   Read aloud: The five end forms. Kaf כ becomes ך; mem מ becomes ם; nun נ becomes ן; pe פ becomes ף; tsade צ becomes ץ. Four of them drop a long tail below the line; end-mem instead closes into a box. They sound exactly the same as the regular letters.

   Read aloud: A memory help. The five letters in order are kaf, mem, nun, pe, tsade. Say them quickly: kaf-mem-nun-pe-tsade. Hebrew teachers often remember them as one funny word.

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.

   • שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) [shah-MAH-yeem]: heaven, heavens
   • אֶרֶץ (erets) [EH-rets]: earth, land
   • אָמֵן (amen) [ah-MAYN]: it is true; so be it
   • מֶלֶךְ (melekh) [MEH-lekh]: king
4. Show how

   Show: Where in a word does an end form go?

   Say this: “Only the very last letter takes the end form.”

   Answer: At the end of the word (on the left).

   Show: Find the end form in מֶלֶךְ.

   Say this: “Look at the left end.”

   Answer: ך, end-kaf.

   Show: Which end form has no tail?

   Say this: “One closes into a box.”

   Answer: End-mem ם.

5. Practice together

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

   Ask: Name the five letters with end forms.

   Listen for: Kaf, mem, nun, pe, tsade.

   Ask: Write the end form of nun.

   Listen for: ן.

   Ask: Write the end form of mem.

   Listen for: ם.

   3 more on the lesson page.

6. Project: Tail cards

   Read aloud: Make matching cards for the five letters and their tails.

   Steps:

   1. Write the five regular letters on five cards: כ מ נ פ צ.
   2. Write the five end forms on the other five: ך ם ן ף ץ.
   3. Mix them up, turn them face down and play memory: match each letter with its tail.

   Tips for you:

   • Say the name of each card as you turn it over.

   Done when your child can say:

   • I can match all five pairs.
   • I can say the names.
7. Sketchbook

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

   1. Write each regular letter with its end form beside it. Underline the tails.
8. From history

   Read aloud: In the oldest Hebrew writing there were no end forms. Scribes gradually began stretching the last letter of a word, and by the time of the Dead Sea Scrolls the end forms were in regular use.

9. Watch for
   • Using an end form in the middle of a word.
   • Mixing end-nun ן and vav ו, or end-kaf ך and resh ר: the end forms drop below the line.
10. Game: Tail tag

    The parent says a word (shalom, melekh, erets, amen, kaf). Run and touch the end form it ends with (the five cards are on the wall).

11. Narration

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

    Listen for: Write the five end forms ך ם ן ף ץ.; Find end forms at the ends of words.; Read the first verse of the Bible and find two end forms.

12. Scripture

    In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

    In Hebrew, from the Leningrad Codex: <span class="heb-block" lang="he" dir="rtl">אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ</span> These are the last words of the first verse: the heavens and the earth. Find the end-mem in hashamayim and the end-tsade in ha’arets.

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.