Session 18 — My Body, Part 1

جِسمي، الجُزء الأَوَّل

Level: 2 — Food, body, daily routine Time: 25 minutes Audience: Heritage learners + total beginners (ages 6–8) Letter of the day: ش (shin) Big idea: I can name the parts of my face.

👩‍🏫 For teachers

This session works in a 25–30 minute slot with 5–25 students. You'll need: a small mirror (any handheld one) — if you have one per pair, even better. Set up before class: print the face diagram (blank face outline) and the vocabulary cards (1 set per student). Have the audio cued. If you can, bring one funny prop — sunglasses, a fake mustache, a wig — for Block 4. Trust me.

Differentiation:

• Heritage stretch: Ask heritage kids if they say 'ayn or 'ayne at home (Levantine ending). Both are right. Let them be the experts.
• Beginner warm: Stick to pointing and naming for the first half. Don't push them to say udhun (ear) — it's the hardest one. Hum it together first.

🏠 For parents at home

This session works one-on-one in 20 minutes, ideally in front of a mirror — bathroom counter, hallway mirror, or even your phone's selfie camera. You'll need: a mirror, a piece of paper, a marker. That's it.

If your child is heritage: They probably already know 'ayn and fam — let them say the words for you. Flip the roles. You point, they teach.

If your child is new to Arabic: Go slowly. Touch the body part as you say the word, every single time. The body memory locks the word in faster than the brain does.

Materials checklist

• A mirror (any size)
• A blank piece of paper + marker (for drawing a face in Block 3)
• Audio file: session-18-audio.mp3 (vocabulary + the head-and-shoulders song)
• Vocabulary cards (printed, cut)
• Optional: a silly prop (sunglasses, hat, mustache) for Block 4

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

Goal: Reconnect, set today's theme on the body.

Script:

Greet with warmth: "مَرحَبا! كيفَك اليَوم؟" (Marhaba! Kīfak al-yawm?) — "Hello! How are you today?" Then point to your own face and say:

**اليَوم نَتَعَلَّم أَجزاء الوِجه.**

(*Al-yawm nata'allam ajzā' al-wijh.*) — "Today we learn the parts of the face."

Touch your own nose. Touch your own eye. Touch your hair. Don't name them yet — just touch, and make a curious face. Let them wonder what's coming.

Hook question: "How many parts of your face do you think we can name in Arabic?" Take a guess. Write the guess on the paper.

Block 2: Listen & repeat (6 min)

Goal: Learn the 7 parts of the face and head.

Today's vocabulary (7 words):

Script:

Play the audio file once. Let it land. Don't talk over it. Then play it again — and this time, touch the body part as the word is said. Head, face, eye, ear, mouth, nose, hair.

Now do it together, without the audio. Point to a part of your face and say the word. Have the child echo and point to theirs. Use the mirror — kids will say words to their own reflection faster than to you.

Tricky sounds to slow down on:

• 'ayn — that little catch in the throat at the start. Make a soft "ah" with a tiny pause before it.
• udhun — that dh is like the th in "this," not "thin."
• sha'r — leads us right into today's letter.

Block 3: Letter of the day — ش (shin) (5 min)

Goal: Meet the letter ش.

Script:

Say: "هذا حَرف 'ش'. اسمُه 'شين'." (Hādhā harf 'Sh'. Ismuhu 'shīn'.) — "This is the letter 'sh'. Its name is 'shin'."

Write a big ش on paper. Point out the three little dots on top — like three little hairs! (This is the trick that locks it in: ش has three dots, and sha'r means hair. The letter looks like what it sounds like.)

Find it in the words we just learned:

• **شَعر**
  — starts with ش! (hair)

More ش words kids already know:

• **شُكراً**
  (*shukran*) — thank you
• **شَمس**
  (*shams*) — sun
• **شاي**
  (*shāy*) — tea

Stretch (heritage kids): Do you know any food that starts with ش? (Hint: shawarma! shakshūka!)

Practice writing: Trace ش in the workbook. Notice the dish-shape on the bottom and three dots on top.

Block 4: Play with it — Silly Face / وِجه مَضحِك (8 min)

Goal: Use the face words in a real, funny moment.

Setup: Draw a big blank face outline on a piece of paper — just an oval. No features yet. Have the vocabulary cards nearby.

How to play — Round 1: Build the face

1. Pick a card. Read the word together.
2. Draw that part on the blank face. 'Ayn? Draw an eye. Anf? Draw a nose.
3. Keep going until the whole face is built. Make it silly — three eyes, giant nose, hair sticking up.

Round 2: Touch it! Call out a word in Arabic — the child has to touch that part of their own face as fast as they can. Then they call out a word for you.

"عَين!" → touch your eye "شَعر!" → grab your hair "أُذُن!" → grab your ear

Speed it up. Make mistakes on purpose (touch your nose when you say 'ayn) and let the child correct you. Kids love catching the grown-up.

Classroom variant: Pairs face each other. One calls, the other touches. Switch every 30 seconds. End with everyone touching their sha'r at the same time — instant photo moment.

Bonus prop: If you brought sunglasses or a fake mustache, put it on and ask:

Block 5: Tiny reading (3 min)

Goal: Read three face words today.

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

Point to one. Say it. Point to another. Say it. Mix up the order. Let the child point and say — they're reading.

Notice: fam is only two letters. 'Ayn is three. Sha'r starts with our letter of the day. Three short words. All readable.

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

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

Goal: End warmly. Seed home practice with the body.

Script:

Say: "يَلّا، مع السَّلامة!" (Yalla, ma'a as-salaama!) — "Okay, goodbye!" Wave — and then point to your own face. "See you next time, wijh!"

Tonight at home (tell the child):

At dinner tonight, point to one part of your face and say the word in Arabic. Can a family member guess what part it is? Then point to their face and ask:

شو هَيدا؟

(Shū hēda?) — "What's this?"

For parents: Use the words at bath time, brushing teeth, brushing hair. Wēn al-'ayn? Wēn al-anf? It feels silly the first night. By night three, it's just how you talk.

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 19 — My Body, Part 2 (جِسمي، الجُزء الثّاني), letter ج (jīm). Hands, feet, tummy, back.

Teacher / Parent observation notes (formative — not graded)

Watch for, this session:

No grading. No tests. Just notice and remember.

Yalla Arabic · Level 2 · Session 18 of 48