Welcome to Eizeh Kef, a Modern Hebrew reading programme for children aged between 5 and 10 years.
The programme, including its graphics and design, has been produced exclusively for Leo Baeck College in the United Kingdom and is unique.
The programme comprises seven units, with the fifth unit having just been published. The first four units are already being used widely in the UK, some parts of Europe, the USA and South Africa.
Background to the Programme:
The premise of the programme is to teach Hebrew reading using a meaningful learning approach where the letters and vowels come from vocabulary, which children have already acquired orally. This goal is achieved by engaging the learners in a variety of enjoyable activities focusing on a realistic amount of key vocabulary found in each unit. Learning through games is crucial to the philosophy of the programme as it minimises the fear factor for children and helps to nurture within them an enduring love of and relationship with the language.
- Each new unit builds on the previous one and incorporates all the vocabulary from each. In this way, children learn the language in building blocks.
- Learners are first introduced to the images/pictures of the key vocabulary, then to the whole words and then to the first sound of each word. In this way, learners have formed a relationship already with the key vocabulary through the different fun oral activities before they even get to see the written word.
- Learners acquire all the letters and vowels from the first sounds (letter and vowel) of all the key vocabulary in each unit.
- By the end of the first unit, children are able to read and understand simple short texts in Hebrew comprising the six letters and five vowels they have learned. By the end of the fourth unit, children will have learned all their Hebrew letters and vowels. The remaining three units build on this knowledge in the form of short stories, texts and more complex grammatical structures.
- The programme allows for differentiation in the class from the start as three different sizes of the same images and vocabulary are provided in the Teacher’s Kit so that learners of mixed abilities can access the same content at the same time, but in smaller groups/pairs etc.
- The programme also allows for different assessment stages. For example, the bingo game is played when all words, sounds and images have been introduced and is an effective assessment tool to check whether children can read, know the vocabulary and if not, what needs to be recapped. There are also pauses in the student activity books for teachers to assess learning.
- The programme is inclusive as the images depict characters that can be suitable for all types of family units
- Each unit is predicated on a Jewish value from Tanach – so the programme, albeit a Modern Hebrew programme, is never far from Jewish sources.
Each unit comprises a Teacher’s Kit with all the resources needed to support the teaching of that unit, plus a student activity book for each learner. Have a look below.
This is a sample of some of the pages from the student activity book.
This is a sample of some of the pages from the student activity book.
This is a sample of some of the pages from the student activity book.
This is a sample of some of the pages from the student activity book.
This is a sample of some of the pages from the student activity book.
In addition to the Teacher’s Kit and student activity book for every unit, there is also a set of separate letter and vowel cards. These are colour coded to indicate which are to be used in which unit, for example, light blue is to be used for Unit 1, gold for Unit 2 etc.
