Teach Jewish History K–5 Lesson
Handout · tracing sheet

The Alef-Bet

Your Name in Hebrew Letters · Grades K–5
Name:Date:

How to trace

  1. Hebrew goes right to left. Start at the arrow.
  2. Trace each gray letter: finger first, then pencil.
  3. Under each letter: its name and its sound.
  4. The yellow circle: the number it stands for.
← start here
א
alef
silent
1
ב
bet
b or v
2
ג
gimel
g as in go
3
ד
dalet
d
4
ה
hey
h
5
ו
vav
v, or o, u
6
ז
zayin
z
7
ח
chet
kh, in the throat
8
ט
tet
t
9
י
yud
y, or ee
10
כ
kaf
k or kh
20
ל
lamed
l
30
מ
mem
m
40
נ
nun
n
50
ס
samekh
s
60
ע
ayin
silent
70
פ
pey
p or f
80
צ
tsadi
ts
90
ק
kuf
k
100
ר
resh
r
200
ש
shin
sh or s
300
ת
tav
t
400
22 letters, and no capital letters
ך
end kaf
k or kh
ם
end mem
m
ן
end nun
n
ף
end pey
f
ץ
end tsadi
ts

Five letters change shape at the end of a word

Look for them on the name chart, too.

Where are the vowels? Mostly not written. Vowels are small dots and dashes under or beside a letter. Children’s books use them. A scroll or a street sign does not.
How old? Hebrew was first written about 3,000 years ago. Scribes still copy the Torah scroll by hand, one letter at a time, with these same letters.
Letters are numbers too Alef is 1, bet is 2, yud is 10. Find the letter for your age. Eleven is yud, then alef: יא