Session 6 — I Am Big, I Am Small

أنا كبير، أنا صَغير

Level: 1 — Hello, Arabic! Time: 25 minutes Audience: Heritage learners + total beginners (ages 5–7) Letter of the day: ح (ḥa) Big idea: I can describe myself and others with simple adjectives.

👩‍🏫 For teachers

This session works in a 25–30 minute slot with 5–25 students. You'll need: open floor space for kids to stand up and stretch tall / crouch small, plus the picture cards for Block 4 (one set per pair). Set up before class: print and cut the adjective picture cards (elephant/mouse, giraffe/turtle, etc.). If you have audio: cue the dialogue audio.

Today is the first session where kids meet adjective agreement — boy form vs girl form. Don't over-explain the grammar. Just consistently say kbir for boys and kbireh for girls and let their ears do the work.

Differentiation:

• Heritage stretch: Ask heritage kids which form they'd use for their mom, their brother, their baby sister. Let them be the "grammar helper."
• Beginner warm: Stick to just kbir/kbireh and saghir/saghireh for the first half. Add the others only when they're ready.

🏠 For parents at home

This session works one-on-one in 20 minutes. You'll need: a stuffed animal or two, and something big and something small from around the house (a big spoon and a baby spoon, a dad shoe and a kid shoe — anything). No printing required if you don't want to.

If your child is heritage: they probably already hear kbir and saghir at home — "shu kbirit!" (look how big you've gotten!). Point that out. "Teta says this to you every time she sees you."

If your child is new to Arabic: the boy/girl form thing (kbir vs kbireh) is the one new idea today. Don't drill it. Just say the right form every time and let it sink in over weeks, not minutes.

Materials checklist

• 1 stuffed animal (or any toy that has a "personality")
• 2 objects of contrasting size from around the house (big spoon / small spoon)
• Picture cards: elephant 🐘, mouse 🐭, giraffe 🦒, turtle 🐢 (draw or print)
• Audio file: session-06-audio.mp3
• Optional: print the workbook page

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

Goal: Reconnect with Arabic, set today's theme.

Script:

Greet warmly: "مَرحَبا! كيفك اليَوم؟" (Marhaba! Kifak/kifik al-yawm?) — "Hello! How are you today?" Then stand up tall, stretch your arms way up, and say: "أنا كبير!" (Ana kbir!) — "I am big!" Then crouch down small, and say: "أنا صَغير!" (Ana saghir!) — "I am small!"

Have the child do both with you. Big — small. Big — small. Three times. Already half the lesson is in their body.

Then say: "اليَوم نَتَعَلَّم نَوصِف." (Al-yawm nata'allam nawsif.) — "Today we learn to describe."

Block 2: Listen & repeat (6 min)

Goal: Learn 5 adjectives, in both boy and girl forms.

Today's vocabulary:

Script:

Play the audio once through. Let them just listen. Then go word by word, with a movement for each:

• Kbir / kbireh → stretch arms wide
• Saghir / saghireh → pinch fingers tiny
• Tawil / tawileh → reach up to the ceiling
• Qasir / qasireh → squat down low
• Hilu / hilweh → touch your own cheek and smile

Now the boy/girl form trick:

Pick up the stuffed animal. Decide it's a girl (give her a name — Layla). Say: "لَيلى صَغيرة وحُلوة." (Layla saghireh w hilweh.) — "Layla is small and cute." Now point to a boy in the room (or to dad, or to a brother). Say: "بابا طَويل." (Baba tawil.) — "Daddy is tall."

Don't explain the -eh ending. Just keep using it correctly. Their ears are smart.

Block 3: Letter of the day — ح (ḥa) (5 min)

Goal: Meet the letter ح, and feel where it comes from in the throat.

Script:

Say: "هذا حَرف 'ح'. اسمُه 'حا'." (Hādhā harf ḥa. Ismuhu ḥa.) — "This is the letter ḥa."

Write a big ح on paper. It looks like a little smile with a curl on the right. Trace it together — start at the top, curve down, around, and finish with the tail.

Feel the sound:

The ح sound comes from deep in your throat, like you're fogging up a window. Hold your hand in front of your mouth and breathe out hot: haaaaa. That's ح. It's not "h" like in English "house" — it's deeper, warmer, from inside.

Try it together three times. Make it dramatic. Kids love this one.

Find it in the words we just learned:

• **حُلو**
  — starts with ح!
• **حُلوة**
  — also starts with ح!

Stretch (heritage kids): Do you know anyone whose name starts with ح? (Hassan, Hadi, Hala, Hanan, Huda…) Listen for the hot-breath sound.

Practice writing: Trace one ح in the workbook. Then one on your own.

Block 4: Play with it — Big Animal, Small Animal (8 min)

Goal: Use adjectives to describe real things.

Setup: Lay out the four animal cards: 🐘 elephant, 🐭 mouse, 🦒 giraffe, 🐢 turtle.

How to play:

Point to the elephant. Ask: "الفيل كبير ولا صَغير؟" (Al-fil kbir wa-la saghir?) — "Is the elephant big or small?"

The child says: "كبير!"

Point to the mouse. Same question. They say: "صَغير!"

Now the giraffe — "طَويل ولا قَصير؟" They say: "طَويل!"

And the turtle — "قَصير!"

Round 2 — flip it. Now YOU say a word, and the child points to the right animal. "Tawil!" — they point to the giraffe. "Saghir!" — mouse.

Round 3 — about us. Point to yourself. "Ana tawil/tawileh?" (Am I tall?) Let them answer. Point to a baby photo, or a younger sibling. "Saghir? Saghireh?" Point to the stuffed animal. "Hilu? Hilweh?"

Classroom variant: Kids pair up. One says an adjective, partner has to find something in the room that fits — something kbir, something saghir, something tawil. Two minutes, then switch.

Block 5: Tiny reading (3 min)

Goal: Read two opposite words. Notice how they look different.

Show the child these two words, side by side:

Point to one. Say it together. Then the other.

Now mix it up — point to the elephant picture without the word. What do we say? Kbir. Point to the mouse. Saghir.

Bonus (if they're ready): Show

(In the workbook, this is the "I can read these words" row.)

Block 6: Goodbye & try at home (1 min)

Goal: End warmly and seed home practice.

Script:

Say: "يَلّا، مع السَّلامة! إنت حُلو/حُلوة!" (Yalla, ma'a as-salaama! Inta hilu / inti hilweh!) — "Okay, goodbye! You're sweet!"

Tonight at home (tell the child):

Find one thing in your house that is kbir and one thing that is saghir. Show someone in your family. Tell them in Arabic.

For parents: When your child describes something today — "my shoe is small!" — echo it back in Arabic. "Aywa, sabbatak saghir." (Yes, your shoe is small.) Even if they said it in English. You're building the bridge.

After this session

• Send home the Family Guide (one page).
• Send home the Vocabulary Cards (boy form / girl form on opposite sides).
• Workbook stays in folder/binder.
• Next session: Session 7 — My Family (عيلتي), letter خ (kha).

Teacher / Parent observation notes (formative — not graded)

Watch for, this session:

The ح sound is hard. If they can't make it from the throat yet, that's normal — it can take weeks. Don't push. Keep modeling.

No grading. No tests. Just notice and remember.

Yalla Arabic · Level 1 · Session 6 of 48