Session 3 — Family at Home

العَيلة في البَيت

Level: 1 — Hello, Arabic! Time: 25 minutes Audience: Heritage learners + total beginners (ages 5–7) Letter of the day: ت (ta) Big idea: I can name the people in my family in Arabic.

👩‍🏫 For teachers

This session works in a 25–30 minute slot with 5–25 students. You'll need: six family photos or simple drawings (mama, baba, teta, jiddu, akh, ukht) — big enough to hold up. Set up before class: tape the six images to the board in a row, or lay them face-up on a table the kids can gather around. Ask families ahead of time (the day before) to send in one photo of someone at home — a sibling, a grandparent, a cousin. Print one set of vocabulary cards per student.

Differentiation:

• Heritage stretch: Ask heritage kids what THEIR family says — some say sittu instead of teta, some say mama with a long aa — celebrate all of it.
• Beginner warm: Stick to just mama and baba for the first five minutes. Those two alone are a win.

🏠 For parents at home

This session works one-on-one in 20 minutes — and honestly, it's better at home, because your family IS the lesson. You'll need: six small papers or sticky notes, a pen, and (if you can) real photos of the six people, or open your phone gallery to find them. No other prep.

If your child is heritage (Arabic spoken at home): this is the session where they realize all those words you've been saying their whole life are Arabic. Lean into that. "You know what teta is? You've been saying it since you were one!"

If your child is new to Arabic: use YOUR family, even if no one in your family speaks Arabic. Mama is still mama. Baba is still baba (or daddy, papa, dad — whatever you call him). The Arabic word is just a new name for someone they already love.

Materials checklist

• 6 photos or drawings: mama, baba, teta, jiddu, akh, ukht
• 6 small papers or sticky notes (for the matching game in Block 4)
• A pen or marker
• Audio file: session-03-audio.mp3 (vocabulary + a short family dialogue)
• Optional: print the workbook page on regular paper

Block 1: Hello & today's word (2 min)

Goal: Reconnect with the greetings from Session 1–2, then open today's theme.

Script:

Start with the greeting they already know: "مَرحَبا!" (Marhaba!) Wait for them to say it back. Then hold up a photo of your own mom (or any mom) and say: "اليَوم، نَحكي عن العَيلة." (Al-yawm, naḥki 'an il-'ayleh.) — "Today, we talk about the family."

Point to the photo. Say: "هاي ماما." (Hayy mama.) — "This is mama."

Smile. Wait. Let them look.

Block 2: Listen & repeat (6 min)

Goal: Learn the six core family members.

Today's vocabulary:

Script:

Play the audio once through. Don't talk over it. Then hold up each photo, one at a time, and say the word slowly. Have the child echo.

Add a gesture for each:

• Mama → hand to your own cheek, soft
• Baba → both hands like a big hug
• Teta → mime sprinkling salt or stirring a pot (everyone's teta is in the kitchen)
• Jiddu → stroke an imaginary beard or mustache
• Akh → tap your shoulder (a brother nudging you)
• Ukht → tap the other shoulder
• 'Ayleh → arms wide, gathering everyone in

Play the audio a second time. They'll be mouthing along.

Heritage note: Some kids might say māmā with a long, sung-out aa — that's the Levantine way of calling out across the apartment. Honor it: "Yes! That's exactly how we call her."

Block 3: Letter of the day — ت (ta) (5 min)

Goal: Meet the letter ت.

Script:

Say: "هذا حَرف 'ت'. اسمُه 'تا'." (Hādhā ḥarf 'ta'. Ismuhu 'tā'.) — "This is the letter 'ta'. Its name is 'ta'."

Write a big ت on paper or board. Notice the shape together: a small smile (like a little bowl) with two dots on top. Two dots — like two eyes peeking up.

Trace it together: draw the bowl shape, then dot, dot — on top.

Find it in our words:

• **تيتا**
  — starts with ت! And there's another ت in the middle!
• **أُخت**
  — ends with ت!

Stretch (heritage kids): Can you think of foods that start with ت? Tuffaḥ (apple), tamr (dates), tabbouleh! Yes, tabbouleh starts with ت.

Practice writing: Trace one ت in the workbook. Then write one yourself. Don't forget the two dots.

Block 4: Play with it — Who's Who? (8 min)

Goal: Match the Arabic word to the real person.

Setup: Write each of the six words on a separate small paper:

Lay them out in front of the child. Place the six photos (or open them on your phone) next to the papers.

How to play:

1. Hold up one photo. Ask: "مين هاي؟" (Meen hayy?) — "Who is this?"
2. Child says the Arabic word and picks up the matching paper.
3. If they're stuck, give them the first sound: "Mmm…" and let them finish.
4. Go through all six.

Round 2 — make it real: Now use YOUR family. Pull up real photos on your phone of the child's own teta, jiddu, brother, sister.

• Point to the photo. Ask: "مين هاي؟" / "مين هادا؟" (Meen hayy / meen hāda?) — "Who is this?"
• Child answers in Arabic.

This is the moment it clicks: teta isn't a vocabulary word, it's my teta.

Classroom variant: Each child holds up the photo they brought from home. The class guesses together: "Akh? Ukht? Jiddu?" The child confirms in Arabic: "هادا أَخي." (Hāda akhi.) — "This is my brother."

Block 5: Tiny reading (3 min)

Goal: Read three family words.

Show the child these three words, side by side, with pictures:

Point to one. Have them say it. Then the next. Then the next.

Now mix it up — point to them out of order.

Three words. Real reading. (And notice — teta has our letter of the day, ت, twice!)

Block 6: Goodbye & try at home (2 min)

Goal: End warmly and send the words home.

Script:

Say: "يَلّا، مع السَّلامة!" (Yalla, ma'a as-salaama!) — "Okay, goodbye!" Wave.

Tonight at home (tell the child):

Tonight, call one person in your family by their Arabic name. Say "ماما!" instead of "mom." Say "تيتا!" when you call grandma. See what happens.

For parents: When your child calls you mama or baba — even just once — answer in Arabic. "نَعَم، حَبيبي." (Na'am, ḥabībi.) — "Yes, my love." That small loop is the whole lesson.

For teachers: Encourage kids to FaceTime or call a grandparent this week and try out teta or jiddu. The grandparent will cry. (In a good way.)

After this session

• Send home the Family Guide (one page) — with a "draw your family tree in Arabic" prompt.
• Send home the Vocabulary Cards (cut on dotted lines).
• Workbook stays in folder/binder.
• Next session: Session 4 — My House (بَيتي), letter ب revisited + new letter ث (tha).

Teacher / Parent observation notes (formative — not graded)

Watch for, this session:

No grading. No tests. Just notice and remember.

Yalla Arabic · Level 1 · Session 3 of 48