The Ji Alef-Bet series, produced in partnership with the Michael Goulston Educational Foundation, is a curriculum to teach young children how to read Hebrew.
We have developed 6 of the series so far – watch out for the next additions!
Ji Alef-Bet: A Curriculum for Teaching Hebrew Reading
Note: From August 2023 you will need to have a Jigzi subscription to run these lessons in the Ji Alef-Bet series.
Stage 1
Hebrew Letters
Stage 1a
Mish Mash Letters
Stage 2
Simple Stories
Stage 2a
Letters, Gematria and Riddles
Stage 2b
Vowels & Symbols
Stage 3
Prefixes & Suffixes in Tefillot
Learn Hebrew letters
and simple words
Differentiate commonly
confused letters
Initial reading exercises
in Hebrew
Revise the alphabet and learn about the numerical values of each letter
Recap the Hebrew
vowels and symbols
Learn about a shoresh, prefixes and suffixes, and practice reading them in tefillot
Preschool/Reception
170 Hebrew words
24 units
Preschool/Reception
27 Hebrew words
6 units
Grade/Year: 1
154 Hebrew words
22 units
Grade/Year: 2-5
6 units
Grade/Year: 2-5
5 units
Grade/Year: 2-5
58 Hebrew words
11 units
Course links
Course links
In Stage 1, each letter starts with an animation of the current letter interacting with Kivi, our guide through the series. Where possible, we have integrated an activity within the animation, where the learner can interact with the letter. The lesson then has puzzles, reading exercises and a section to learn Hebrew words with that letter. By the end of the series, children could learn up to 170 new Hebrew words!
This Mish Mash series is designed as a remedial course to help students who confuse the similarly-shaped letters in the Hebrew alphabet. The stories emphasize the differences between the letters, and the exercises that follow the story provide practice in recognizing and discriminating between the commonly confused letters.
In Stage 2, we begin with initial reading exercises in Hebrew. We have produced a story on each letter, trying to incorporate many Hebrew words with that target letter. The animations are in simple Hebrew, and the child progresses from watching animations to reading the story independently from a virtual book. Much care was taken in the design of the book to give the child the feeling of a Hebrew book, reading from right to left.
Revise the alphabet and learn about the numerical values of each letter (gematria) in the Hebrew alphabet through riddles.
Each riddle also highlights possible discussion points for class.
Before starting Stage 3, where Tefilot and Biblical texts are used to teach 6 prefixes and 3 suffixes, students may need to make sure they know how to pronounce all their vowels. This series recaps all the vowels, symbols and sounds, and also teaches the vowel combinations at the end of words: Oy, Aye and Av.
In Stage 3, we introduce the concept of the shoresh (using the root גדל), God’s name and the Hebrew word for God, prefixes ה, ו, ב, כ, ל, מ and suffixes י.,ךְ, ךָ . For reading practice, children read selected prayers and texts from the Tanach. We visually divide syllables to help with the reading, use images to reinforce the understanding of words, and give the full English translations and ‘karaoke’ songs.
Printables
Printables
Printables
Printables
Ji Alef-Bet: A Curriculum for Teaching Hebrew Reading
The Ji Alef-Bet series, produced in partnership with the Michael Goulston Educational Foundation, is a developing full curriculum to teach young children how to read Hebrew.
We have developed 6 of the series so far – watch out for the next additions!
