Session 15 — I Drink...

أنا أَشرَب...

Level: 2 — Food, body, daily routine Time: 25 minutes Audience: Heritage learners + total beginners (ages 6–8) Letter of the day: ر (ra) Big idea: I can say what I drink.

👩‍🏫 For teachers

This session works in a 25–30 minute slot with 5–25 students. You'll need: the vocabulary picture cards (1 set per pair of students), and 6 real cups or paper cups labeled with each drink (water, milk, juice, coffee, tea, yogurt drink). If you can, bring one actual drink to show — a small bottle of water works perfectly. Set up before class: line the cups along a table at the front, with the Arabic word card next to each.

Differentiation:

• Heritage stretch: Ask heritage kids what drink their family makes at home that isn't on our list (maybe jallab, tamarhindi, qamar el-deen). Add it to the board.
• Beginner warm: Stick to just three drinks the first time through — maa', halib, 'asir. Add the others in Block 4 after they're comfortable.

🏠 For parents at home

This session works one-on-one in 20 minutes at the kitchen table — ideally with the fridge nearby. You'll need: 5–6 cups (real ones), water, milk, and juice if you have them. That's it. No prep beyond reading through this plan once.

If your child is heritage (Arabic spoken at home): they probably already say maay or halib without thinking. Today is about noticing that — and adding the verb ashrab in front of it. Frame it like, "You already know these! Let's put them together."

If your child is new to Arabic: pour a tiny sip of water in a cup and say maa' every time they sip. Repeat that ten times before you move to milk. Slow is good.

Materials checklist

• 5–6 cups (real or paper)
• A little water, milk, and juice if possible
• Vocabulary picture cards (printed)
• Audio file: session-15-audio.mp3 (vocabulary + dialogue)
• Optional: print the workbook page on regular paper

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

Goal: Anchor today's theme in something real — a cup.

Script:

Pour a little water into a cup. Take a sip. Then say with a happy aah: "أنا أَشرَب ماء." (Ana ashrab maa'.) — "I drink water." Then point to the child and say: "اليَوم نَتَعَلَّم نَقول شو نَشرَب." (Al-yawm nata'allam naqūl shū nashrab.) — "Today we learn to say what we drink."

Hand the child a cup. Let them take a sip of anything (water is fine). Say it together: Ana ashrab maa'.

Don't worry about perfect pronunciation yet. The cup is doing the teaching.

Block 2: Listen & repeat (6 min)

Goal: Learn the 6 drinks + the verb ashrab.

Today's vocabulary:

Script:

Play the audio file once through. Let the native voice land first. Then go cup by cup. Point to the water cup, say maa', and have the child echo. Point to the milk cup — halib. Echo. And so on.

Now string it together with ashrab:

• **أنا أَشرَب ماء.**
  — *Ana ashrab maa'.*
• **أنا أَشرَب حَليب.**
  — *Ana ashrab halib.*
• **أنا أَشرَب عَصير.**
  — *Ana ashrab 'asir.*

Heritage note: qahweh and shaay are the grown-up drinks — point that out and giggle about it. "Mama drinks qahweh in the morning, right?"

About رَيب: This is the salty yogurt drink (ayran/laban). If your child has never tried it, that's a perfect after-class snack. If they have — they already know it.

Play the audio one more time. They should be echoing along.

Block 3: Letter of the day — ر (ra) (5 min)

Goal: Meet the letter ra.

Script:

Say: "هذا حَرف 'ر'. اسمُه 'را'." (Hādhā harf 'R'. Ismuhu 'ra'.) — "This is the letter 'R'. Its name is 'ra'."

Write a big ر on paper or board. It looks like a little hook hanging down — like the bottom of a candy cane. Trace it together: start at the top right, curve down and to the left, drop below the line.

Roll the sound: ra in Arabic is a rolled r — like a tiny engine. rrrr. Make a motorcycle noise. Kids love this part.

Find it in the words we just learned:

• **أَشرَب**
  — there's a ر in the middle!
• **عَصير**
  — ends with ر!
• **رَيب**
  — starts with ر!

Stretch (heritage kids): What other words at home start with ra? Hint: raja' (he came back), rumman (pomegranate), rasmeh (a drawing).

Practice writing: Trace one ر in the workbook. Then write one yourself. Then write رَيب all the way through.

Block 4: Play with it — The Drink Café (8 min)

Goal: Use ashrab in a real little conversation.

Setup: The cups are your café. You're the customer; the child is the café owner (or switch — kids love being the customer too).

How to play:

1. Customer walks up and says:

   "مَرحَبا! أنا أَشرَب ___." (Marhaba! Ana ashrab ___.) They fill in the blank with one of the drinks.

2. Café owner picks up the right cup and "serves" it:

   "تَفَضَّل!" (Tfaddal!) — "Here you go!"

3. Customer takes a pretend sip and says:

   "شُكراً!" (Shukran!) — "Thank you!"

4. Switch roles. Order a different drink.

Play through all 6 drinks. Then play again, faster.

Classroom variant: Set up the cups at the front. One student is the café owner. The line forms. Each kid orders a different drink. After 6 orders, swap the café owner.

Silly stretch: Order something ridiculous — ana ashrab... shay wa halib wa 'asir! (I drink tea and milk and juice!) Watch them laugh.

Block 5: Tiny reading (3 min)

Goal: Read three drinks today.

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

Cover the pictures. Can they read the word alone? Point to ماء. Then حَليب. Then عَصير.

If they're ready, try the longer sentence:

**أنا أَشرَب ماء.**

Three words. They just read a full sentence in Arabic. Tell them that.

(In the workbook page, 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!" (Yalla, ma'a as-salaama!) — "Okay, goodbye!" Take one last pretend sip.

Tonight at home (tell the child):

At dinner, when you take your first sip of water, say ana ashrab maa'. Out loud. Even if everyone looks at you.

For parents: At breakfast tomorrow, ask your child shū btishrab? (what are you drinking?) — and wait. Don't fill the silence. Let them answer in Arabic, even one word.

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 16 — I Eat... (آكُل), letter ز (zay).

Teacher / Parent observation notes (formative — not graded)

Watch for, this session:

No grading. No tests. Just notice and remember.

Yalla Arabic · Level 2 · Session 15 of 48