Dear 4th - 6th grade Families,
On
Sunday and Tuesday we spent some time reviewing the Hebrew vowels and
look-alike letters. We also worked hard in our groups and played a few
reading games. During the 5th and 6th grade class on Sunday, one of the
students who had recently been in Israel, asked how Edna and I were able to
read Hebrew words without vowels, and also how people in Israel are able to
read the street signs, which also do not contain vowels. We explained how
once you become familiar with the words, the vowels are no longer necessary and
recognizing the words becomes second nature. We did an experiment to see
how many Hebrew words the kids were able to read / recognize without adding
vowels -- it was truly amazing to see that they actually new quite a few, and
everyone was shocked at how quickly and easily they were able to read them!
Ask your kids about this activity.;).
This Sunday we will begin to assess the children and evaluate their reading
levels and fluency. They do not need to prepare for the assessment and
should not feel nervous about the process. The point of the assessment is
to make sure that everyone is in the appropriate reading group for their
ability. Each student will be asked to show us the following knowledge:
* Know the name
and sound of the letters of the alphabet including sofit (final)
letters.
* Know the
different sounds of the Hebrew nekudot (vowels).
* Understand
the correspondence between letters and nekudot (vowels.
*
Explain the visual differences between letters that look alike but are
different.
* Practice right to left
dictionality of Hebrew.
* Decode one to three syllable sounds and combination words.
* Use a list of vowel rules to
aid in decoding difficult or unusual sounds
combinations such as:
a) When ה and י are
silent.
c) Identifying the “double duty dot” on the שׁ and שׂ.
As
always, the Hebrew Resource page is available as a tool for you to
assist your child on their
Hebrew
reading and tefillah chanting. Please feel free to contact me if you
have any questions.
Wishing you all a
wonderful Shabbat!
B'Shalom,
Dona Levinson
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