Session 35 — Numbers 11 to 20

الأَرقام مِن إِحدَعَش لِعِشرين

Level: 3 — Animals, weather, places, colors Time: 30 minutes Audience: Heritage learners + total beginners (ages 7–9) Letter of the day: (numerals continued — 11 through 20) Big idea: I can count to 20 in Arabic.

👩‍🏫 For teachers

This session works in a 25–30 minute slot with 5–25 students. You'll need: 20 small objects per pair (dried beans, beads, paper clips — anything countable), a board, and the number cards from the materials pack. Set up before class: write the numerals 11–20 in Arabic-Indic numerals across the board (١١ ١٢ ١٣ ١٤ ١٥ ١٦ ١٧ ١٨ ١٩ ٢٠). Have audio queued.

This is Session 35 — they already know 1–10 cold from Session 18. Today is just extending that confidence. Don't reteach 1–10; just use it as the launchpad.

Differentiation:

• Heritage stretch: Many heritage kids will already say ihda'sh, ithna'sh at home. Ask them to count higher — to 30, to 50 — and let the class hear it.
• Beginner warm: Focus on getting just 11, 12, 15, 20 solid today. The rest will follow next time we count.

🏠 For parents at home

This session works one-on-one in 20–25 minutes at the kitchen table. You'll need: 20 small items your child can touch and count (grapes, raisins, Legos, coins, almonds), a piece of paper, and your phone for audio. No prep beyond reading through this plan once.

If your child is heritage: they've probably heard you count change or count kids getting in the car. Today is naming what they already half-know. Lean into that — "you've heard teta say this!"

If your child is new to Arabic: the Levantine numbers 11–19 all end in the same sound — ...ta'sh. Once they catch that rhythm, the whole set falls into place. Don't drill in order. Mix them up.

Materials checklist

• 20 small countable objects (beans, raisins, Legos, coins)
• Paper and a pen/marker
• Audio file: session-35-audio.mp3 (numbers 11–20, spoken slowly then at speed)
• Optional: print the number cards (11–20) from the materials pack

Block 1: Warm-up — count what we know (3 min)

Goal: Reactivate 1–10, then point at the cliff we're about to jump.

Script:

Hold up one finger. Say: "يَلّا نِعِدّ!" (Yalla ni'idd!) — "Let's count!" Count together to 10 on fingers, briskly: waahad, tnein, tlaate, arba'a, khamse, sitte, sab'a, tmaane, tis'a, 'ashara.

Now hold up both hands, all 10 fingers spread. Say:

"وَبَعدين؟" (W ba'dayn?) — "And then?"

Wait. Let them guess or shrug. Then say:

"اليَوم مِنوصَل لِعِشرين!" (Al-yawm minwsal la-'ishrin!) — "Today we get to twenty!"

Write ٢٠ big on the paper or board. That's the goal.

Block 2: Listen & repeat — the new numbers (7 min)

Goal: Meet 11–15 and 20 by ear, with the "...ta'sh" rhythm.

Today's vocabulary:

Script:

Play the audio once through. Don't speak. Just listen.

Then point out the pattern: "كِلّا بِتنتِهي بِـ... عَش!" (Killa btintihi bi... 'ash!) — "They all end in ...'ash!"

Say it again as a chant: ...'ash, ...'ash, ...'ash. Have the child echo just that ending three times.

Now go through each number slowly. The child echoes. Use fingers if it helps — 11 is "10 + 1," show ten fingers then one more.

Then point out the odd one out: عِشرين ('ishrin) — twenty. No ...'ash. It's its own word, like how English jumps from "nineteen" to "twenty."

Play the audio one more time, at normal speed. They should echo along.

Note for parents: in books, numbers 16, 17, 18, 19 also follow the ...ta'sh pattern (sitta'sh, sab'ata'sh, tmanta'sh, tis'ata'sh). We're focusing on five today and counting them all together in Block 4. Don't worry about drilling every single one.

Block 3: The numerals on the page — ١١ to ٢٠ (4 min)

Goal: Recognize the written Arabic-Indic numerals 11–20.

Script:

Say: "بِالعَرَبي، الأَرقام بِتِنكِتِب هَيك." (Bil-'arabi, al-arqaam btinkitib hayk.) — "In Arabic, the numerals are written like this."

Write the numerals 11–20 in a row on paper:

Point to each and say the name. The child echoes.

Notice together:

• ١١ is just two ones side by side — easy!
• ٢٠ is a 2 (٢) and a 0 (٠) — just like in English, except the shapes are different.

Quick game: Call out a number in Arabic. Child points to the numeral on the page. Do this 5–6 times, mixing them up.

Stretch (heritage kids): "Where in real life have you seen Arabic numbers? On teta's phone? On a license plate in a video? In a recipe book?"

Block 4: Play with it — Count the Pile (10 min)

Goal: Use 11–20 to count real things.

Setup: Pour out 20 small objects (beans, raisins, Legos) in a pile on the table.

How to play — Round 1: Count up together. Take turns picking up one object at a time and stacking them. With each one, say the number out loud, in Arabic, all the way to 20.

waahad, tnein, tlaate... 'ashara... ihda'sh... ithna'sh...

When you get to 20 — celebrate! High five. "عِشرين!"

Round 2: Grab and guess. One person grabs a handful of objects (somewhere between 11 and 20) and puts them on the table. The other person counts them out loud, in Arabic. Then swap.

Round 3: I say, you grab. You say a number — "خَمسطَعَش!" — the child has to grab exactly that many objects from the pile. Then they say a number, and you grab.

Classroom variant: In pairs, kids share a pile of 20. They take turns being "the counter" and "the grabber." Walk the room and listen for the ...'ash ending.

Block 5: Tiny reading — match the number (3 min)

Goal: Match the written Arabic word to the numeral.

Show the child this little matching set. They draw a line (or point) from the word to the right number:

(The matches: ihda'sh → ١١, 'ishrin → ٢٠, ithna'sh → ١٢, khamasta'sh → ١٥.)

Say each word out loud as they match. No silent reading today.

(In the workbook page, this is the matching exercise — "I can read these numbers.")

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

Goal: End warmly and give the child something countable to do tonight.

Script:

Say: "شاطِر! وِصِلنا لِعِشرين!" (Shaater! Wsilna la-'ishrin!) — "Great job! We made it to twenty!" Then: "يَلّا، مع السَّلامة!"

Tonight at home (tell the child):

Find something in your house that you have more than 10 of. Count them in Arabic. Maybe it's books on a shelf. Maybe it's pillows on the couch. Maybe it's grapes in a bowl. Count out loud — all the way past 'ashara.

For parents: When your child counts in Arabic at home — even just to 12, even messily — count along with them. Don't correct mid-count. Just say it back the right way after they finish, like an echo.

After this session

• Workbook page goes in the folder/binder.
• Optional: print the Number Cards 11–20 for next time.
• Next session: Session 36 — How old are you? (كَم عُمرَك؟) — putting today's numbers into a real question.

Teacher / Parent observation notes (formative — not graded)

Watch for, this session:

No grading. No tests. Just notice and remember.

Yalla Arabic · Level 3 · Session 35 of 48