Session 11 — Numbers 1 to 5

الأَرقام مِن واحَد لِخَمسة

Level: 1 — Hello, Arabic! Time: 25 minutes Audience: Heritage learners + total beginners (ages 5–7) Letter of the day: numerals ١ ٢ ٣ ٤ ٥ Big idea: I can count to 5 in Arabic.

👩‍🏫 For teachers

This session works in a 25–30 minute slot with 5–25 students. You'll need: 5 sets of small objects per pair (buttons, blocks, dried chickpeas — anything countable), and the board to write the Arabic numerals big. Set up before class: write ١ ٢ ٣ ٤ ٥ across the top of the board, with their Western equivalents (1 2 3 4 5) written small underneath. Have the audio ready.

Differentiation:

• Heritage stretch: Many heritage kids already count to 5 (or 10!) in Arabic from family. Ask them to be your "counting helpers" — they lead the chant in Block 2. Then push them: can they count backwards from 5?
• Beginner warm: Just focus on 1–3 if 4 and 5 feel like too much. You can come back to 4 and 5 next session.

🏠 For parents at home

This session works one-on-one in 20 minutes. You'll need: 5 small objects (grapes, cheerios, Lego pieces, crayons — whatever's nearby), a piece of paper, and a pen. That's it.

If your child is heritage: they probably already count in Arabic when you ask "how many?" — this session names what they already know and shows them the written numerals, which look different from 1–2–3–4–5. That's the new part. Make it feel like a fun discovery, not a quiz.

If your child is new to Arabic: counting is the easiest entry point in any language. Kids love it. Use your fingers. Be loud. Count everything in the kitchen.

Materials checklist

• 5 small objects you can count (grapes, blocks, buttons, coins)
• A piece of paper and a pen/marker
• Audio file: session-11-audio.mp3 (numbers 1–5)
• Optional: print the workbook page

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

Goal: Greet, then preview today.

Script:

Start with the greeting you've been using: "مَرحَبا!" (Marhaba!) Wait for them to greet back. Then hold up your hand, fingers spread wide, and say:

**"اليَوم مِنِعِدّ لِخَمسة بِالعَرَبي!"**

(*Al-yawm min'idd la-khamseh bil-'arabi!*) — "Today we count to 5 in Arabic!"

Wiggle each finger one at a time. Don't name them yet. Just build the anticipation. Say: "Ready? Yalla."

Block 2: Listen & repeat (6 min)

Goal: Learn the numbers 1 through 5 by ear and by finger.

Today's vocabulary:

Script:

Play the audio once. Let them just listen. Then count together, slowly, holding up one finger at a time: Wahad… ithnayn… thalatheh… arba'a… khamseh.

Again, faster. Again, fastest. Make it a little race. Then count backwards — fingers folding down: khamseh, arba'a, thalatheh, ithnayn, wahad. This is harder. Laugh when it falls apart.

Mini-game: Hold up some fingers (any number 1–5). Ask

Block 3: Letter of the day — the numerals ١ ٢ ٣ ٤ ٥ (5 min)

Goal: Discover that Arabic numerals look different from the numbers they already know.

Script:

Say with a little drama: "Okay — here's something surprising. The numbers we just said? They have their own way of being written. And they don't look like 1, 2, 3."

Write each one big on the paper or board, slowly:

Point out:

• ١ is just a straight line — like our 1. Easy.
• ٢ looks kinda like a backwards 7. (Or a duck's head!)
• ٣ looks like ٢ but with an extra bump on top.
• ٤ looks like a backwards 3. Tricky one.
• ٥ is a little circle or dot. (Wait — but our 5 looks like our 0?? Yes. This trips everyone up. Laugh about it.)

Cool fact for the kids: These numerals are called Arabic-Indic numerals and they're still used all over the Arab world today — on license plates in Lebanon, on price tags in Egypt, on phone keypads. The "1, 2, 3" we use in English are also called "Arabic numerals" — because Europeans learned them from Arabic scholars a thousand years ago. So really, both sets are Arabic. We just use different ones now.

Practice writing: Trace ١ and ٢ in the workbook. (Save ٣ ٤ ٥ for next session if they're tired.)

Block 4: Play with it — Count Everything (8 min)

Goal: Use the numbers with real objects. Make counting feel like play.

Setup: Put your 5 small objects (grapes, blocks, whatever) in a pile on the table.

How to play:

Round 1 — Count with me. Push some objects forward — say, 3 grapes. Ask

Do this 5 or 6 times with different amounts. Sometimes 1. Sometimes 5. Sometimes 2.

Round 2 — Your turn. Now they push objects forward and ask you

Round 3 — Around the room. "How many windows in this room? Kam?" Count them together in Arabic. How many chairs? How many people? How many shoes you're wearing? (Ithnayn!)

Classroom variant: Partners. One partner shows fingers, the other says the number in Arabic. Swap every 30 seconds. Then walk around the room and count things together — kam windows, kam doors, kam backpacks.

Block 5: Tiny reading (3 min)

Goal: Read the numerals and match them to the words.

Show this on paper, or on the workbook page:

Point to a numeral. They say the word. Point to a different one. They say it.

Then mix it up: point in random order. ٢… ٣… ١… ٣…

That's reading numerals. Three down. Two more next time.

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

Goal: End warm, plant a counting habit.

Script:

Hold up 5 fingers, count down — khamseh, arba'a, thalatheh, ithnayn, wahad — and on wahad, wave goodbye: "يَلّا، مع السَّلامة!" (Yalla, ma'a as-salaama!)

Tonight at home (tell the child):

Count something in Arabic before bed. Count your stuffed animals. Count the stairs. Count grapes at dinner. Even just to thalatheh — that counts.

For parents: When you set the table tonight, ask

After this session

• Send home the Family Guide (one page).
• Send home the Vocabulary Cards (numerals on one side, words on the other).
• Workbook stays in folder/binder.
• Next session: Session 12 — Numbers 6 to 10 (الأَرقام مِن سِتّة لِعَشرة).

Teacher / Parent observation notes (formative — not graded)

Watch for, this session:

Also watch: do they recognize the numeral ٥ without confusing it with 0? That's the one to keep an eye on over the next few sessions.

No grading. No tests. Just notice and remember.

Yalla Arabic · Level 1 · Session 11 of 48