Session 41 — Asking Questions

نَسأَل أَسئِلة

Level: 4 — Sentences, paragraphs, reading Time: 35 minutes Audience: Heritage learners + total beginners (ages 8–11) Letter of the day: ه (ha) Big idea: I can ask questions in Arabic.

👩‍🏫 For teachers

This session works in a 30–40 minute slot with 5–25 students. You'll need: index cards or sticky notes (about 6 per student), markers, and a wall or whiteboard where you can post a "Question Wall" for the session. Set up before class: write the 6 question words large on the board (both Levantine and MSA columns — shu / madha, wayn / ayn, min / man, eimtah / mata, lesh / limadha, kif). If you have audio: queue up the question-and-answer audio.

Differentiation:

• Heritage stretch: Ask heritage kids which version they hear at home — shu or madha? wayn or ayn? Make a tally on the board. Most homes use the Levantine forms in speech and MSA in books.
• Beginner warm: Stick to ONE question word at a time. If they only leave with shu? and wayn?, that's a win.

🏠 For parents at home

This session works one-on-one in 25–30 minutes at the kitchen table. You'll need: 6 sticky notes, a pen, and your phone (for audio). No prep beyond reading through this once.

If your child is heritage: they already hear these words constantly — shu badak? (what do you want?), wayn rāyih? (where are you going?). Today we're naming what they already know.

If your child is new to Arabic: focus on shu? and wayn? — the two they'll use most. The rest can come back in review.

Materials checklist

• 6 sticky notes or index cards (for the Question Wall in Block 4)
• A pen or marker
• Audio file: session-41-audio.mp3 (question words + mini-dialogues)
• Workbook page for Session 41
• Optional: a small object to hide for the Question Game (Block 4)

Block 1: Warm-up — what's a question? (3 min)

Goal: Activate the concept of "question" before naming the words.

Script:

Say: "اليَوم رَح نَسأَل أَسئِلة بِالعَرَبي." (Al-yawm rah nas'al as'ila bil-3arabi.) — "Today we're going to ask questions in Arabic."

Then ask the child (in English first): "In English, what little words do we use when we ask a question?"

Make a quick list together: what, where, who, when, why, how. Six.

Then say: "Guess what — Arabic has six too. And we're learning all of them today."

Write the number ٦ (six) on the page or board. Hold up six fingers. Big energy.

Block 2: Listen & repeat — the six question words (8 min)

Goal: Meet all six question words, in both spoken (Levantine) and written (MSA) form.

Today's vocabulary:

Script:

Play the audio once all the way through. Don't pause to explain.

Then go word by word. Say the Levantine first, child echoes. Then the MSA, child echoes. Make a face that matches the question — confused face for shu, looking-around face for wayn, pointing-at-someone face for min.

Say: "At home, you'll mostly hear the first column. In your reading book, you'll see the second column. Same meaning. Just like saying 'mom' and 'mother' in English."

Quick check: Point at each word at random. Child says the meaning. Then you say a meaning ("where?") and they say the Arabic.

Block 3: Letter of the day — ه (ha) (5 min)

Goal: Meet the letter ه and notice how its shape changes.

Script:

Say: "هذا حَرف 'ه'. اسمُه 'ها'." (Hādhā harf 'h'. Ismuhu 'ha'.) — "This is the letter ha."

Make the sound: a soft h, like the h in "hello" — gentle breath. (Not the deeper ح we met earlier in Level 4.)

Write the letter big on paper, in its four shapes:

Say: "This letter is a shape-shifter. Look how it changes depending on where it sits in the word."

Find it:

• **هُوَ**
  (*huwa*) — he
• **هِيَ**
  (*hiya*) — she
• **نَهر**
  (*nahr*) — river
• **فاكِهة**
  (*fākiha*) — fruit

Stretch (heritage kids): The word for "this" —

Practice writing: In the workbook, trace ه in all four positions. Then write one of your own at the end of a word.

Block 4: Play with it — The Question Wall (12 min)

Goal: Actually USE the question words. Not just recognize them.

Setup: Write each of the 6 Levantine question words on a separate sticky note. Stick them on a wall or spread them on the table.

Part 1: Question ping-pong (5 min)

1. Child picks a sticky note. They have to ask YOU a real question using that word.
   • shu? → "Shu ismak?" (What's your name?) or "Shu hadha?" (What's this?)
   • wayn? → "Wayn baba?" (Where's dad?)
   • min? → "Min hadha?" (Who is this?)
2. You answer in Arabic, simply. Even one word is fine.
3. Then you pick a sticky note. You ask THEM a question. They answer however they can — Arabic, English, mix. The point is they understood the question.

Play until all 6 sticky notes have been used at least once.

Part 2: The Hiding Game (5 min) — classroom or home

Hide a small object (a coin, a toy, a key) somewhere in the room. The child has to find it by asking only Arabic questions:

• Wayn? (Where?)
• Wayn bil-matbakh? (Where, in the kitchen?)
• Tahta? (Underneath?) — okay, this isn't a question word, but cheer them on.

You answer only na'am (yes) or la (no) or qarīb (close) / ba'īd (far).

Classroom variant: Pair students. One hides a small eraser on their desk under one of three cups. Partner asks wayn? and guesses. Switch.

Block 5: Tiny reading (5 min)

Goal: Read short questions, not just words.

Show these four mini-questions. Read each one with the child, pointing left-to-right under each word as they sound it out (Arabic reads right-to-left, but follow the words in order).

Point to one at random. Child reads it. Then they answer it for real, about themselves.

That last one — kayf al-hal? — is the formal version of kifak? They probably hear kifak at home all the time. Same question, dressed up.

(In the workbook, this is the "I can read these questions" section.)

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

Goal: End with a clear home challenge.

Script:

Say: "يَلّا، شو رأيك؟ هَل سَأَلت أَسئِلة اليَوم؟" (Yalla, shu ra'yak? Hal sa'alt as'ila al-yawm?) — "Okay, what do you think? Did you ask questions today?"

Then: "مع السَّلامة!" Wave.

Tonight at home (tell the child):

Ask three people in your family three questions in Arabic tonight. Use shu, wayn, and min. Even if they answer in English, you asked in Arabic. That counts.

For parents: When your child asks you a question in Arabic — even a broken one, even just "wayn... cup?" — answer in Arabic. "Al-cup 'al-tawila" (the cup is on the table). Mixing is fine. Switching fully back to English breaks the moment.

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 42 — Answering Questions (نُجيب), letter و (waw).

Teacher / Parent observation notes (formative — not graded)

Watch for, this session:

No grading. No tests. Just notice and remember.

Yalla Arabic · Level 4 · Session 41 of 48