Hey is for...Honey Nut Cheerios!

We started working on the letter Hey. We covered the entire letter with glue and then glued on the Honey Nut Cheerios one-by-one. Well, we started with more, but we lost some of them along the way… It was very tempting to eat some Honey Nut Cheerios while we did our work! We left it to dry on the side and then added another coat of thick layer of glue.

We placed our hand over the bumpy surface and were able to make the sound of letter HEY!! 

To work on the rest of the letters, read more about "My Aleph Bais Touch!" by following this link

Daled is for Dollars

And here comes the letter Daled! We glued on paper dollars right on the letter Daled. We first spread the glue to make sure it covers all the surface and then folded the paper dollars. It was so much fun to see the letter Daled turn into Dollars! Once dried, we were able to "feel" letter Daled and  make the sound. 

Paper money is always good to have around. We mostly use it for math unit or for pretend-play. The kids usually ask me for the paper money during center time.  The grocery corner is the most popular center and the most looked after. Once free play is over, I just hope a get all my "money" back ;)  

To work on the rest of the letters, read more about "My Aleph Bais Touch!" by following this link.

My Aleph Bais Touch!

Click here to download the PDF file!

This is a great way to teach the Aleph-Bais sounds. Many children learn the Aleph-Bais (the typical way) with a Hebrew picture beside it, such as Bais is for Bubbah, Gimmel is for Glidah… and so on. But, I always find that this system does not work for all children.

For instance, when I was working with Tehilla, one of my students, I would point at letter Dalet with a Deles next to it, not only did she not remember the sound, but did not know how to say door in Hebrew. So we started making “My Aleph –Bais Touch” book I was amazed how fast Tehilla started picking up the sounds. Not only that, but she looked forward in learning a new sounds.

“My Aleph-Bais Touch” consists of the Hebrew letters with a tactile material glued to it. Since Aleph is silent, we left it blank. We then moved to Bais, Tehilla glued colorful buttons all over it. Once dried, she placed her hand over the buttons while whispering “buttons.” After a few seconds, she looked at me and made the Bais sound. Slowly we continued moving on to different sounds.

Why was the “My Aleph-Bais Touch” a success with Tehilla? Well, some children learn through touch. This sensory activity was a wonderful way for her to learn and retain the sounds she has already learned. Also, Tehilla was able to associate the letter to something that was familiar to her or/and English words in her vocabulary.

Every week we’ll be working on a different letter. You can print out the cover and the Aleph Bais letters by following this link. The best way to make “My Aleph- Bais Touch” is to print out the letters on hard paper, hole punch and place them in a loose-leaf. Keep the glue around and maybe some tape to paste the materials on the letters. “My Aleph-Bais Touch” will look fantastic when completed!

Get yourself ready by printing out your letters and gathering the material needed. You are about to take an Aleph- Bais adventure… Touch!

Veis is for Velcro

Follow this link to read more about it!

Gimmel is for Glitter

Follow this link to read more about it!



Daled is for Dollars

Follow this link to read more about it!

Hey is for Honey Nut Cheerios

Follow this link to read more about it!

Magnetic Aleph Bet Letter Activities

Magnetic Aleph Bet Letter Activities

One of Torah Toy's  top sellers is the Magnetic Aleph Bet Letters. The Aleph Bet manipulatives is parents and teachers "must have" because they are brightly colored, can pretty much be arrange on any metal surface and its a great way to teach the Hebrew letters. 

Basically, the Magmetic Aleph Bet Letters can be arrange in most metal surfaces such as a refrigeration, file cabinet or cookie sheet. They also come in clear plastic container - a fabulous way to keep all the pieces together.

We get lots of emails from parents and teachers asking us for different ideas and suggestions on how to use the Aleph Bet Magnets. Here are some great ideas:

Sing Along Aleph Bet Song

Name Recognition

Bingo

Color Sorting

Identifying Sight Words

First , round up all the materials needed:

Magnetic Aleph Bet Lettes

Large cookie sheet

Small cookie Sheet

Dry erase marker

Paper

We prefer using cookie sheets because as teachers, we able to work closely with the child. However, the refrigerator  is great for parents too! Parents are able to keep children busy while cooking or catching up on laundry. Some parents also have shared with us that they keep the Magnetic Aleph Bet Letters on the desk. Whenever their children come to their office for a quick visit, they remove the letters from the clear container and form words on the file cabinet.

Sing Along the Aleph Bet Song

Have your child arrange the Magnetic Aleph Bet Letters in order while singing the Aleph Bet song! For just beginners, its good to have around a chart to help them out whenever needed. It's always good to use a large cookie sheet.You want to make sure that all the letters fit on the sheet. 

Name Recognition

Using a dry erase marker, write the child's name in print. Have the child look for the Magnetic Aleph Bet Letters and place them on the small cookie sheet. This size of cookie sheet is perfect for the little hands. Its amazing to see how young children can start spelling their name!

Bingo

Bingo!! The children always ask to play this game. It's really fun! We have several small cookie sheets that we keep together on the side. The children are very used to playing this game and know exactly what they need. Each one pulls out a cookie sheet, they all fight to get out the Magnetic Aleph Bet Letters (of course!), and one is kind enough to bring the dry erase marker. The best way to play this game is to write the letters on the grid in which the child needs extra review and demonstrates greater difficulty in recognizing the letter. The kids take turns pulling out a letter. The child that has that letter, gets to place the letter on the cookie sheet.

Color Sorting

Using a large cookie sheet, have the children sort the Magnetic Aleph Bet Letters by color. This can be done in various ways, for instant ask the child find me all the yellow letters or you can just place a letter of each color in the first line and let the child complete the rest!

Identifying Sight Words

This in one of our favorite activities. Every month we work on a different set of sight words. The children get very excited when they get the new set of words because they know that they get to play this game. To prepare the game, have the list of sight words in front of you. Using the Magnetic Aleph Bet Letters, trace the words. Make sure to also have a picture next to it. Visual learners will gain tremendously from the pictures. Also, remember to box the words. Then, have the children find the letters and form the words.

And there is one more thing before you go... Torah Toy is giving a 10% discount to their friends. Use this coupon code ALEPH10 when you check out! But, hurry! offer ends 10/22/12

Well... Do you have any other ideas? We would love to here what other parents and teachers have to say. Feel free to post your idea on the comments.