Help me with my Hebrew class: guess what this means

The Game Room
1

So, I’m teaching 4th grade Hebrew this year. I’ve been teaching 3rd grade Judaics for 4 years, but have been asked to switch to Hebrew, because they really liked the way I taught the Hebrew labs at the end of the year last year, and they are worried about the 4th grade, since they missed a lot of their first year last year.

OK. In introducing new vocabulary to the kids, I’m a big believer in using illustrations instead of English translations, and then letting the kids generate a list of English words that might be used to translate the word. I think it both helps conceptualize the word, by giving them the image, instead of the English to think of when they see the word, and it also drives home the point (a hard concept for language learning at this age) that there aren’t 1:1 word correlations between languages.

The vocab for lesson 1 is all review from last year, and I’ve done that. I’m working on lesson 2 now, new vocab from the new textbook. Most of it it easy: nouns, verbs, prepositions. But one word is a subordinating conjunction. So my illustrations for it are very abstract. I’m pretty well known for talking kids to an answer when it’s not readily apparent, and getting them to generate as much content as possible, instead of just coming out and saying “It’s this.”

But I have my doubts about this language card. Maybe I can’t use a card for this word, or maybe some Dopers can suggest better ways to illustrate it.

The big Hebrew word on the card is what I’m going for. Please refrain from using Google translate, and just tell me some things you think it could mean based on the pictures. (Hope this loads right-- my first time loading an image on the new site.)

OK; apparently I cannot “embed media items in a topic.” How do I post the image?

I’m very serious about getting this right for the kids, so please hit me with lots of suggestions.

If anyone wants to see a different card, one I have more confidence in, just ask, and I’ll post one of those.

2

I have tried several things, and I think I’m going to have to post it to an image site. I have to help my son get ready for school, so I won’t have the image up for another couple of hours-- sorry for the false alarm.

3

Try uploading your image file (eg jpeg) to the Straight Dope or to an external image-hosting site, and then put the URL on a line by itself. I have been meaning to report this annoying problem.

As for the mystery words, maybe a couple of short phrases incorporating it could be useful, especially if it is abstract and not really substantive.

4

At this point, the kids don’t really have enough Hebrew for this, but thanks.

5

Fair enough. I had in mind words like אֲשֶׁר, as in “שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים אֲשֶׁר לִשְׁלֹמֹה”. It is going to be a nightmare to illustrate that with a picture.

6

Well, photobucket won’t let me post it.

7

If upload from your desktop to the SDMB fails, try eg imgbb.com or vgy.me or some other alternatives that I do not recall off the top of my head but you can find by looking for posts with successfully linked images.

8

Photobucket used to be an OK site, but they stopped allowing users to embed images that they host on other sites a couple of years ago (also, their page is chock full of spammy advertising). I’d suggest Imgur or Flickr.

9

OK.

Used flickr.

Let’s see if this works: nope
Once more: https://www.flickr.com/photos/189819890@N02/?saved=1

10

OK. Here’s how it works. If you look at the pictures on each card, you can get a sense of the Hebrew word. Hit the pencil for the details, which will give you transliterations. They are “ki,” “or” and “eretz.”

“Or” is an example of one that should be very easy. “Eretz” will require some thought, and people will come up with different answers, but they will likely be synonyms. “Ki” is the really hard one. Since you are adults, I can tell you it’s a subordinating conjunction, and you may get it from knowing that, but that isn’t going to help 4th graders much, although I am going to talk a little (emphasis on little, as in briefly) about conjunctions, and how there are more than “and,” “but” and “or.”

Some of you may be able to come up with single-word translations for it, and that is probably what most dictionaries say, but there are lots of legitimate two-word translations.

If you speak Hebrew, please don’t participate. I want to know how well these work with non-speakers. If they fail dramatically, then Hebrew speakers are welcome to come in with suggestions for improvement.

Bear in mind, I am trying to create distance learning materials for Sunday Hebrew school at my synagogue.

Now let’s see if I can post here directly from flickr:
Imgur

OK. That’s “Ki.”
Let’s see about getting the others.

11

Imgur
That’s “Or,” with a weird aspect ratio-- nope aspect fixed.

12

Imgur
That’s “eretz”
No idea why it’s not working. But you can click on it to see it by itself. Oh. Nevermind.

13

Sorry so complicated. Thanks to anyone who helps.

14

ki=because (the balloon popped because I poked it)
or=light
eretz=land, earth, soil (some blend of “our land” including a nation, but also referring to soil/dirt)

Assuming I got these right, they seem straightforward enough :slight_smile:

15

Perfect! That’s great. If an adult can get them with no prompting, then my fourth graders can probably get them with a little coaching.

Thanks!

16

Or was easiest.

However, I think for eratz the view from space and the lone flower in front of other flowers sent me off track, I think it actually would have been easier without those two images in the collection. Just my opinion, of course.

17

I did need the subordinating conjunction hint, so hopefully you can relay that to the kids with a little prompting. I missed that at first and trying to interpret it as a more concrete idea wasn’t working out very well :slight_smile:.

18

Well, it’s a Hebrew class, so there will be grammar every day, and since I like to start out with something they already know, I’ll ask them to name conjunctions. They’ll say “and, but & or,” and I’ll tell them those are one type of conjunction, but there are others. I don’t know whether I’ll throw “coordinating conjunction” at them-- some times I throw terms at them, and say "Don’t worry about remembering the name-- just understand that these all belong together in a group. Now, here’s another group.

I have to figure out the fourth grade way of explaining subordination in the grammatical sense. I will probably write out what I’m going to say, then check it with Word to see if it scores correctly in the 3.5-4.75 grade level of comprehension. Maybe I’ll play a video of a Rube Goldberg machine. You know, every action is subordinate to the one before.

Sorry, thinking aloud here guys. My first time teaching Hebrew at this level, and to kids who have been out of school for 5 months, plus the distance learning factor.

But if anyone bothered to read that and wants to offer suggestion, feel free.

19

Makes sense. Initially I was thinking some kind of gadget, due to the magnifying glass, Rube Goldberg machine, etc., but that didn’t really fit all the clues. I then got that there was some kind of cause-and-effect relationship going on, something like “why?”, but didn’t quite make the leap until thinking about the hint. So yeah, I think if you can convey the idea that it’s one of those connecting-type words, they should do well.

20

I’m incapable of studying Hebrew unless I am promised cookies and juice. I’m not sure why, because those dry parve cookies with the sprinkles make me cough. I guess the learning part was a break from stealing your friend’s kippah and throwing it like a frisbee across the room.

That just took me back 40 years…