CU2-7

2:7 **Title:** Hebrew Calendar - Names of months and their Babylonian Origins 1.  **Gain the attention of the learner.** Have students determine the Hebrew year and date of their birth. Each student will write their name and date of birth on a card. 2.  **Review relevant past learning.** The time for the phase of the moon to repeat itself became the measure for a month in the Hebrew calendar. 3.  **Present new material.** The word month comes from the word for Moon. The names of the Jewish months are actually Babylonian and were brought back to Israel by Ezra and Nehemia after the Babylonian Exile. Until the naming of the Jewish months, they were simply known as the "first month", the "second month", and so on, starting their counting with the month of Nissan (when Passover occurs) and NOT with Tishrei (Rosh Hashana). So Rosh Hashana actually happens in the seventh month. 4.  **Provide guided practice. **Students will pick a card with the name of the month on it for a bag and then place it in the appropriate place on the scroll just below the top edge. Students will place their birth cards in the appropriate place on the scroll just above the bottom edge 5.  **Provide independent practice.** Divide the class up into 2 groups. Give each group a set of cards with the names of the months. Mix up the order of the cards. When the leader says go, each group will lay the cards on the floor in the correct order (the leader can write the order on the board for reference) and then say the names of the months in order. The first group to complete saying the names gets a point. Do 2 or 3 times and then erase the list of months from the board and repeat without the reference.
 * Goals:** Students will learn the names of the Hebrew months and the Babylonian origins of the names. Students will lean the Hebrew year and date of their birth.
 * Materials:** lined paper, pencils, construction paper, crayons, Hebrew calendar wheels. Three sets of 5 x 8 inch cards the names of the Hebrew months, one to a card. Do not include Adar II in the sets of cards. Blank 3 x 5 inch cards for students to write their names and Hebrew month and day of their birth. A Hebrew/Solar calendar or spreadsheet for the years of the students’ birth. (http://www.uwm.edu/cgi-bin/corre/calendar). A scroll of the same size and scale as the solar calendar of lesson 1 with the lines separating the lunar months brightly drawn 11 ½ inches apart. Make sure the lunar year is 4 ½ inches shorter than the solar year on the scroll from lesson 1.
 * Close the lesson. **Create a decorative drawing of their name and Hebrew date of birth for their Holiday Passport