The Kefar Hebrew Phonics Puzzles

HEBREW PHONICS PUZZLES “A” & “E” Vowels

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Thank you for using The Kefar’s Hebrew Phonics Puzzles! These are great tools for helping learners strengthen their Hebrew spelling skills and increase their vocabularies. This Educator’s Guide will explain how to read Hebrew, and how to use these phonics puzzles with your learners.

Reading Hebrew Hebrew is a Semitic language with a writing system in which every symbol (letter) represents a consonant. Vowels in Hebrew are made up of dots and dashes that are added underneath, above, or to the left of Hebrew letters. These vowels, called niqqud, help Hebrew students learn how to pronounce words. As learners become more familiar with the language, and their vocabularies increase, they are able to read words without niqqud, supplying the correct vowel sounds based on their knowledge of Hebrew.

There are three vowel sounds in this Hebrew Phonics Puzzles packet: ;These vowels [ ָ ַ ] make the “ah” sound, as in father This vowel [ ֶ ] makes the “eh” sound, as in bed; and .This vowel [ ֵ ] makes the “ei” sound, as in weigh

To read, blend the sound of each Hebrew letter with the vowel sound (in that order). Note that Hebrew is read and written from right to left. is pronounced “seifel” - Samech + ei vowel ֵס ֶפל Example 1: The word (sei) / Fey + eh vowel (feh) / Lamed (l) is pronounced “aleh” - Ayin + ah vowel ָע ֶלה Example 2: The word (ah) / Lamed + eh vowel (leh) / Hey (h)

You can refer to the included pronunciation chart at anytime to ensure that the words are read correctly.

Using These Puzzles Preparation: Cut out each puzzle along the solid lines, then cut along the dotted lines to create the pieces to each puzzle. There are four puzzles per page, and each puzzle has three pieces, one for each letter.

Activities: You can use this activity in a couple of ways to strengthen .as the example for each activity ֵס ֶפל phonemic awareness. We will use To develop/strengthen READING skills, lay the first piece of the Ask your learner to name the letter .( ֵס) puzzle on your work surface sound, vowel sound, and then blend the two (/s/, ei, SEI). Then add and repeat (/f/, eh, FEH). Review the first sound ,( ֶפ) the second piece (SEI) then the second (FEH), and ask your learner to blend the sounds and let your ,(ל) put them together] (SEIFEH). Add the last piece] learner say the final sound (/l/). Finally, have the learner blend all three sounds together - reviewing each one individually again if needed - to say the complete word (SEIFEL). Let your learner tell you its meaning (mug), and then review again before moving on: i.e. “how do we say mug?” To add a critical thinking twist, after reading the first piece of the puzzle, ask your learner to guess what the final image will be.

To develop/strengthen SPELLING skills, turn one puzzle’s pieces face down on your work surface (in random order). Ask your learner how to spell the word (seifel). Once they name the three letters they think are correct, have them turn the puzzle pieces over, assemble the puzzle, and check to see if they were correct (Samech/Fey/Lamed) before moving on. To add a writing component, you can have your learner write each word before assembling the puzzle, and then at the end of the activity, re-write any misspelled words three times.

To develop/strengthen COGNITIVE skills, provide several puzzles, mixed up, for your learner to correctly assemble. For younger learners, you can give 3-4 puzzles at a time, and provide more for more advanced learners. If your learner likes a bit of a challenge, use a timer and see if they can assemble all the puzzle pieces within a time frame that you set. Or, time how long it takes them to assemble the puzzles, and then challenge them to beat their time.

Thank you again for using The Kefar’s Hebrew Phonics Puzzles with your learners. I would love to see photos of the learning in action! Tag me on Instagram @thekefar and I’ll send you a code for 15% off your next Kefar purchase. You can also review this packet on the website, and get 10% off as a thank you. Do both of these things, and you can combine your

Hebrew Phonics Puzzles ©2018 by The Kefar. All rights reserved. www.thekefar.com HEBREW PHONICS PUZZLES Educator’s Guide discounts to save a whopping 25%! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, I’m always available at [email protected]. Happy teaching!

! T’helah Ben-Dan, The Kefar