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Parent guide · Grade 2 Biblical Hebrew · Unit 2

Lesson 2.2 The Dot That Changes Sounds

Written for the parent. The Read aloud parts are written to your child; read them as they are. Do this parts are for you. Answers for you are marked Listen for.

At a glance

Time
3 sessions of 15–20 minutes
Goal
Say b or v for בּ ב, k or kh for כּ כ, p or f for פּ פ. Tell shin שׁ (sh) from sin שׂ (s). Read the letter sounds in a short word.
You need
  • Cards with ב, כ and פ written large
  • Small round stickers or a marker
  • A sketchbook or plain paper, and crayons
  • A King James Bible
Print
Worksheet A · the lesson page (it also has a short video (3:24))

Steps

  1. Do this together: Put your hand in front of your mouth and say b, then v. Feel the difference? For b your lips close; for v the air keeps flowing. One little dot in Hebrew decides which one you say.

  2. Read aloud: The story. David loved God’s law so much that he wrote: O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. To read it, Hebrew readers learned the little marks that the scribes added to the letters. The most important mark is a dot inside the letter, called a dagesh.

    Read aloud: The three pairs. With a dot, בּ says b; without, ב says v. With a dot, כּ says k; without, כ says kh (the throaty sound). With a dot, פּ says p; without, פ says f. At the start of a word, these letters usually have the dot. Shin has a dot on top instead: on the right שׁ sh, on the left שׂ s.

    Read aloud: Practice. Say each pair with your hand in front of your mouth: b v, k kh, p f. The dotted one stops the air; the plain one lets it flow.

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

    • ב (bet) [BAYT]: the letter bet: b with a dot inside
    • כ ך (kaf) [KAHF]: the letter kaf: k with a dot inside
    • פ ף (pe) [PAY]: the letter pe: p with a dot inside
    • ש (shin / sin) [SHEEN / SEEN]: the letter shin / sin: sh with the dot on the right
    • תּוֹרָה (torah) [toh-RAH]: law, teaching

  4. Show: Say the first sound of בַּיִת.

    Say this: “Is there a dot in the bet?”

    Say this: “Yes: b.”

    Answer: b (bayit).

    Show: Say the first sound of פְּרִי.

    Say this: “The pe has a dot.”

    Answer: p (peri).

    Show: Is it sh or s? שָׂם

    Say this: “Where is the dot on the shin?”

    Say this: “On the left.”

    Answer: s (sin).

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

    Ask: Sound: בּ

    Listen for: b.

    Ask: Sound: ב

    Listen for: v.

    Ask: Sound: פּ

    Listen for: p.

    3 more on the lesson page.

  6. Read aloud: Turn soft sounds into hard sounds with dot stickers.

    Steps:

    1. Read each card with its soft sound: v, kh, f.
    2. Put a dot sticker inside each letter.
    3. Read them again with the hard sound: b, k, p.
    4. Write a shin and put its dot on the right; another and put its dot on the left.

    Tips for you:

    • The dot goes in the middle of the letter.

    Done when your child can say:

    • I can change v to b, kh to k, f to p.
    • I can tell shin from sin.

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

    1. Write the three pairs: בּ ב, כּ כ, פּ פ, with the sound under each. Then שׁ sh and שׂ s.

  8. Read aloud: The dots and vowel marks were added by scribes called Masoretes, more than a thousand years ago, so that the right pronunciation would never be lost. The letters themselves were never changed.

    • Ignoring the dot. Look inside the letter before you say it.
    • Mixing the shin dot and the sin dot: right sh, left s.

  10. The parent holds up a card: בּ, ב, כּ, כ, פּ or פ. Stamp your foot for a hard sound (b, k, p) and wave your hand for a soft one (v, kh, f), then say it.

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

    Listen for: Say b or v for בּ ב, k or kh for כּ כ, p or f for פּ פ.; Tell shin שׁ (sh) from sin שׂ (s).; Read the letter sounds in a short word.

  12. O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.

    Psalm 119:97 (KJV)

    In Hebrew, from the Leningrad Codex: <span class="heb-block" lang="he" dir="rtl">מָה־אָהַבְתִּי תוֹרָתֶךָ כָּל־הַיּוֹם</span> This verse begins the mem stanza. In ahavti, I love, the bet has no dot, so it says v: ah-HAHV-tee.

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.