Parent guide · Grade 3 Biblical Hebrew · Unit 1
Lesson 1.2 Hireq, the Ee Vowel
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 20–30 minutes
- Goal
- Find hireq ִ and say ee. Read hireq with and without a yod after it. Read אִישׁ, עִיר, שִׁיר, מִי.
- You need
- Paper
- Markers
- A sketchbook or plain paper, and crayons
- A King James Bible
- Worksheet A · the lesson page (it also has a short video (2:21))
Steps
Do this together: Smile as wide as you can and say “eeee!” That big smile is the sound of today’s vowel. It is just one tiny dot under a letter.
Read aloud: The story. David wrote: With my whole heart have I sought thee. In Hebrew that verse is full of the ee sound: בְּכָל־לִבִּי, bekhol-libbi, with all my heart. To seek God with all your heart means to love Him more than anything else.
Read aloud: How Hebrew sounds. Hireq is one dot under a letter: בִּ bee, מִ mee. Often a yod follows it: מִי mee. That yod is silent; it just helps show the ee. Words: אִישׁ EESH (man), עִיר EER (city), שִׁיר SHEER (song), לִי LEE (to me).
Read aloud: Careful. One dot under the letter is hireq. Two dots side by side is tsere (ey). Three dots is segol (eh).
Do this: Say each word clearly; your child says it back twice. Point to a picture or the real thing when you can.
- אִישׁ (ish) [EESH]: man
- עִיר (ir) [EER]: city
- שִׁיר (shir) [SHEER]: song
- מִי (mi) [MEE]: who?
Show: Read: עִיר
Say this: “Ayin is quiet + hireq = ee.”
Say this: “yod is silent; resh = r.”
Answer: EER (city).
Show: Read: לִבִּי
Say this: “lamed + hireq = lee.”
Say this: “bet with dagesh + hireq yod = bee.”
Answer: leeb-BEE (my heart).
Do this: Ask out loud. Let your child try first; help only after a real try.
Ask: Read: בִּ
Listen for: bee.
Ask: Read: מִי
Listen for: mee (who?).
Ask: How many dots does hireq have?
Listen for: One, under the letter.
3 more on the lesson page.
Read aloud: Make a song sheet with the hireq word שִׁיר.
Steps:
- Write שִׁיר (song) as a title.
- Below, write five hireq words: אִישׁ, עִיר, מִי, לִי, לִבִּי.
- Read them to the tune of a song you know, one word per beat.
Tips for you:
- Hireq is one dot; check it is under the right letter.
Done when your child can say:
- My song sheet has six hireq words.
- I can read them all.
Do this: Your child picks one or more; you write the date.
- Write hireq under five letters and read them. Copy אִישׁ, עִיר, שִׁיר with their meanings.
Read aloud: The tiny dot of hireq is one of the smallest marks in the Hebrew Bible. Scribes had to keep their pens sharp so that it would not blur into tsere.
- Reading the yod after hireq as y. It is silent.
- Mixing hireq (one dot) and tsere (two dots).
The parent writes syllables with different vowels. Smile big and say ee for every hireq; frown for every other vowel and read it.
Say this: “Tell me what you learned today.”
Listen for: Find hireq ִ and say ee.; Read hireq with and without a yod after it.; Read אִישׁ, עִיר, שִׁיר, מִי.
With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.
Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex, vowel points shown, cantillation marks left out): <span class="heb-block" lang="he" dir="rtl">בְּכָל־לִבִּי דְרַשְׁתִּיךָ אַל־תַּשְׁגֵּנִי</span> Find bekhol-libbi, with my whole heart, the first word joined by a maqqef. The second part, libbi, has two hireqs.
Spread over the week
3 sessions of 20–30 minutes. Stop while it is still going well.
- Session 1. Warm-up, then read and teach the new idea and the new words. Show how.
- Session 2. Practice together, then start the project. Finish the project, then the sketchbook.
- Session 3. Narration, the game and the Scripture.