The word "nerot" looks feminine, but uses masculine numbers as demonstrated here.
נֵר אֶחָד
שְׁנֵי נֵרוֹת
שְׁלוֹשָׁה נֵרוֹת
אַרְבָּעָה נֵרוֹת
חֲמִשָּׁה נֵרוֹת
שִׁשָּׁה נֵרוֹת
שִׁבְעָה נֵרוֹת
שְׁמוֹנָה נֵרוֹת
תִּשְׁעָה נֵרוֹת
Discuss with the class, what number candle is the Shamash. Likely the first, therefore, the first candle lit is really candle #2 and so on.
For a review of masculine and feminine cardinal and ordinal numbers, click here: https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/hebrew-numbers