Session 9 — Today I Feel...

اليَوم أنا...

Level: 1 — Hello, Arabic! Time: 25 minutes Audience: Heritage learners + total beginners (ages 5–7) Letter of the day: review (no new letter today) Big idea: I can name how I feel.

👩‍🏫 For teachers

This session works in a 25–30 minute slot with 5–25 students. You'll need: four large feeling-face cards (happy, sad, scared, tired) posted around the room or on the board, plus a small mirror or your phone camera for Block 1. Set up before class: print the feelings cards (1 set per student) and have a clear floor space for the "Feelings Corners" game in Block 4.

Differentiation:

• Heritage stretch: Ask heritage kids if they hear mabsut or za'lan at home. Whose voice says it — teta, mama, baba? Have them share one sentence they've heard.
• Beginner warm: Stick with just two feelings today — mabsut and za'lan. Add the others only if they're ready. No pressure.

🏠 For parents at home

This session works one-on-one in 20 minutes. You'll need: 4 small pieces of paper, a marker, and a mirror (the bathroom mirror is fine — you can even do part of this session standing in front of it).

If your child is heritage: they've almost certainly heard mabsut and za'lan before — maybe directed at them ("شو، إنتَ زَعلان؟"). Today is the day they get to use those words back. That's powerful. Make a big deal of it.

If your child is new to Arabic: lean into the faces. Kids learn feelings words through faces faster than through translation. Make exaggerated expressions. Be silly. Let them laugh.

Heads up on gender: In Arabic, the word for happy changes depending on who's speaking. A boy says mabsut. A girl says mabsuteh. Same for sad, scared, tired. Today we teach both forms side by side — don't skip the one that doesn't apply to your child. They'll need both to talk about siblings and friends.

Materials checklist

• 4 small pieces of paper (for the Feelings Corners game in Block 4)
• A marker
• A mirror, or your phone in selfie mode
• Audio file: session-09-audio.mp3 (vocabulary + dialogue)
• Optional: print the workbook page on regular paper

Block 1: How are you today? (2 min)

Goal: Open with a real check-in. Set today's theme through a face.

Script:

Sit facing the child. Make a big happy face. Then a big sad face. Then back to happy. Smile. Say: "اليَوم رَح نَحكي كيف حاسِّين." (Al-yawm rah neḥki keef ḥassīn.) — "Today we're going to talk about how we feel."

Point to yourself and say: "أنا مَبسوطة اليَوم." (or mabsut if you're a dad/male teacher.) — "I'm happy today."

Then ask: "وإنتَ؟ كيفَك اليَوم؟" (W-inta? Keefak al-yawm?) — "And you? How are you today?"

Don't worry if they answer in English. Just nod, and say back in Arabic what they told you: Ah, inta mabsut! or Ah, inti za'laneh.

Block 2: Listen & repeat (6 min)

Goal: Learn 4 feelings — in both boy and girl forms.

Today's vocabulary:

Script:

Play the audio once. Let it land. Now do each word with a face and a body movement:

• Mabsut/mabsuteh → huge smile, hands up like cheering
• Za'lan/za'laneh → frown, hands rub eyes like crying
• Khayif/khayfeh → wide eyes, hands up by the face
• Ta'ban/ta'baneh → yawn, slump shoulders, lean head on hands

Say the word. Make the face. Have the child copy. Do all 4 feelings, twice.

Mirror moment: Hold up the mirror (or selfie camera). Say a feeling word. The child makes that face into the mirror. Switch — they say the word, you make the face.

Play the audio one more time. By now they're saying it along with the recording.

Block 3: Boy word, girl word (4 min)

Goal: Notice the pattern — feelings change shape depending on who.

Script:

Say: "Did you notice — when I say I'm happy, I say mabsuteh. When baba says he's happy, he says mabsut. The word changes a tiny bit."

Write on paper:

**مَبسوط** (boy) → **مَبسوطة** (girl)

Point to the little ة at the end. Say: "This little curly letter at the end — that's the 'girl ending.' We call it ta marbuta. It's like a tail that means 'she.'"

Quick game — boy or girl? Call out names. Child says the right form of mabsut.

• Baba is happy → mabsut
• Mama is happy → mabsuteh
• My brother is happy → mabsut
• My sister is happy → mabsuteh
• Teta is happy → mabsuteh
• Jiddo is happy → mabsut

Note: This is review of the ta marbuta idea from earlier sessions. Don't over-explain. The pattern lands through use, not through grammar.

Block 4: Play with it — Feelings Corners (8 min)

Goal: Use the feelings in motion.

Setup: Write each of the 4 feelings on a separate piece of paper. Tape one in each corner of the room (or on each side of the table if you're at home). Make sure the child knows which corner is which.

How to play:

1. You call out a feeling: "مَبسوط!" (Mabsut!)
2. The child runs (or walks, or points) to that corner.
3. When they get there, they make the face for that feeling, and say the word back to you — in the form that matches them. (A girl says mabsuteh. A boy says mabsut.)
4. Repeat with the next feeling. Speed up as they get it.

Sneaky round: Don't say the word — just make the face. Can they name the feeling and run to the corner?

Classroom variant: All students play together. Call a feeling — everyone runs to that corner and makes the face. Last one to the corner is the "caller" for the next round.

Real-talk moment: After the game, sit down. Ask softly: "كيفَك هَلَّأ؟" (Keefak halla'?) — "How are you right now?" Let them answer in Arabic if they can. Ana mabsut. Ana ta'baneh. That's the whole goal of today.

Block 5: Tiny reading (2 min)

Goal: Read two feeling words with faces.

Show the child these two words side by side:

Point to one. They say it. Point to the other. They say it.

Cover the pictures. Can they still read the words? Try it.

(In the workbook, this is the reading row for today.)

Block 6: Goodbye & try at home (3 min)

Goal: Send the feelings out into real life.

Script:

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

Tonight at home (tell the child):

Tonight at dinner, ask one person in your family: "كيفَك؟" (Keefak / keefik?) — "How are you?" See what they say.

Before bed, tell someone how YOU feel. Ana mabsut. Ana ta'ban. Even just one word counts.

For parents: When your child uses a feeling word tonight — even badly, even mixed with English — respond in Arabic. Leh ta'ban, habibi? (Why tired, love?) Don't correct. Just keep the conversation going in Arabic for one more line.

After this session

• Send home the Family Guide (one page).
• Send home the Vocabulary Cards (cut on dotted lines).
• Workbook stays in folder/binder.
• Next session: Session 10 — I'm Hungry, I'm Thirsty (جوعان وعَطشان), continuing the "how I feel in my body" thread.

Teacher / Parent observation notes (formative — not graded)

Watch for, this session:

No grading. No tests. Just notice and remember.

Yalla Arabic · Level 1 · Session 9 of 48