Session 36 — Project: My "Where I Went Today" Diary

مَشروع: يَومِيَّة "وَين رِحت اليَوم"

Level: 3 — Animals, weather, places, colors Time: 30 minutes Audience: Heritage learners + total beginners (ages 7–9) Letter of the day: Full Level 3 alphabet review Big idea: I can describe places I go and people I see.

👩‍🏫 For teachers

This is a project session — the goal is for each child to leave with a finished mini-diary (4–5 pages) of places they went this past week, with Arabic captions. You'll need: pre-folded blank booklets (one per student — 3 sheets of paper folded and stapled = 12 pages, plenty), colored pencils or markers, and the Level 3 vocabulary wall/cards visible somewhere in the room. Set up before class: write today's three anchor words (وَين؟ / رِحت / بُكرا) big on the board.

Differentiation:

• Heritage stretch: Push them to write full sentences — "رِحت عَ السوق مع تيتا" — not just labels. Ask what their teta actually bought.
• Beginner warm: One word per page is a win. Park. House. Souk. That's a diary.

🏠 For parents at home

This is a project day — slower, cozier, more art than drilling. You'll need: 3 sheets of paper folded into a little booklet (or a real notebook if you have one), markers or colored pencils, and about 30 minutes. If your child has been somewhere interesting this week — even a grocery run — that's your material. No prep beyond reading this plan.

If your child is heritage: ask them in Arabic where they went. Let them answer however they answer — half English is fine. Write the Arabic word for them; they copy.

If your child is new to Arabic: keep it to 3–4 places total. Park, home, store, grandma's. Repetition is the lesson.

Materials checklist

• 1 small blank booklet per child (3 sheets folded + stapled, or a thin notebook)
• Colored pencils, markers, or crayons
• Level 3 vocabulary cards visible (places, people, weather, colors)
• Optional: family photos from the past week on a phone
• Optional audio: session-36-audio.mp3 (the three anchor phrases)

Block 1: Warm-up — Where did you go? (3 min)

Goal: Activate the week. Get them remembering real places.

Script:

Sit down with energy. Ask: "وَين رِحت هَالأُسبوع؟" (Wayn riht hal-usbū'?) — "Where did you go this week?"

Let them answer in English first. That's fine. As they say each place, you echo it back in Arabic:

• "The park?" → "آه، رِحت عَ الحَديقة!" (Ah, riht 'al-hadīqa!) — "Yes, you went to the park!"
• "Grandma's?" → "رِحت عِند تيتا!" (Riht 'ind teta!)
• "The store?" → "رِحت عَ السوق!" (Riht 'as-sūq!)

Classroom variant: Go around the circle. Each child names one place. You echo in Arabic. By the end you should have 8–10 places on the board.

Write 4–5 of their real places on the board in Arabic. These are the diary pages.

Block 2: Today's three words (4 min)

Goal: Lock in the three anchor phrases for the diary.

Today's vocabulary (3 anchor words + Level 3 review):

Script:

Say each word three times. Have them echo. Then play with it:

• You ask: "وَين رِحت؟" (Wayn riht?) — "Where did you go?"
• They answer with any place: "رِحت عَ الحَديقة." (Riht 'al-hadīqa.) — "I went to the park."

Then flip it: "وَين بِتروح بُكرا؟" (Wayn bitrūh bukra?) — "Where are you going tomorrow?"

Quick review round — point to the vocabulary wall and let them call out any Level 3 places, weather words, or people they remember. No pressure. Just warm up the memory.

Block 3: Letter review — Level 3 alphabet check (4 min)

Goal: A fast, low-stakes sweep through letters from this level.

Script:

Say: "خَلِّينا نِتذَكَّر الحُروف." (Khallīna nitdhakkar al-hurūf.) — "Let's remember the letters."

Write 6–8 letters from Level 3 on the board (your choice — pick the ones the class has worked on most recently). For each:

1. Point. Ask: "What letter?"
2. Then ask: "Can you name one word that starts with it?"

Examples:

• ح — حَديقة (hadīqa, park), حِصان (hisān, horse)
• س — سوق (sūq, market), سَما (sama, sky)
• ب — بَيت (bayt, house), بُكرا (bukra, tomorrow)

Stretch (heritage): Ask them to write the first letter of their grandmother's name.

Beginner warm: Just point and say the letter sound. That's enough.

Block 4: Make the diary (12 min)

Goal: Each child builds a 4–5 page picture diary of real places they went this week.

This is the heart of the session. Let it breathe.

Setup: Give each child their blank booklet. On the front cover, they write:

**يَومِيَّتي** — *yawmiyyati* — "My diary"

And their name in Arabic (or English — whatever they can do).

How it works:

For each page, the child:

1. Draws a place they actually went this week.
2. Writes the Arabic word for that place at the top (you help spell it — they copy from the board).
3. Writes one detail underneath: who was there, what color something was, what the weather was.

Example pages a child might make:

Teacher / parent role:

• Walk around (or sit alongside). Spell words on demand.
• Ask questions in Arabic as they draw: "شو لون البَيت؟" (Shū lawn al-bayt? — "What color is the house?") — they'll answer with a color word from Level 3.
• Don't fix their drawings. Don't fix their letters. Just keep them moving.

Classroom note: If a child finishes early, they can add a "بُكرا" page — a drawing of where they want to go tomorrow.

Block 5: Share one page (4 min)

Goal: Read your own writing out loud.

Each child picks one page from their diary and shares it.

Script:

Say: "إقرا لي صَفحة وَحدة." (Iqra-li safha wahde.) — "Read me one page."

They hold up the drawing and read (or attempt) the Arabic caption.

Classroom variant: Pair up. Child A reads to Child B. Then switch. Then 2–3 volunteers share with the whole class.

If they get stuck reading: read it with them, then have them read it solo right after. Don't let a stuck moment become a shame moment.

This is the first time many of them have read their own Arabic writing out loud. Mark it. Clap. Say bravo.

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

Goal: Send the diary home alive — not stuffed in a backpack.

Script:

Say: "يَلّا، يَومِيَّتك صارَت جاهزة!" (Yalla, yawmiyyatak sārat jāhza!) — "Okay, your diary is ready!"

Tonight at home (tell the child):

Show your diary to one person at home. Read them one page in Arabic. Then ask them: "وَين رِحت اليَوم؟" (Wayn riht al-yawm? — "Where did you go today?")

Tomorrow, add one more page: where you went بُكرا (which is now today). Keep the diary going for one more week if you can.

For parents: When they show you the diary, slow down. Look at every page. Ask in Arabic. This little booklet is a months-of-Arabic artifact — treat it like one.

After this session

• Diary goes home (not in the folder) — it's a family object now.
• Send home the Family Guide for Session 36.
• Next session: Session 37 — Asking for directions (كيف بِروح عَ...؟), full alphabet continues.

Teacher / Parent observation notes (formative — not graded)

Watch for, this session:

No grading. No tests. Just notice and remember.

Yalla Arabic · Level 3 · Session 36 of 48