Session 43 — Days of the Week

أَيّام الأُسبوع

Level: 4 — Sentences, paragraphs, reading Time: 30 minutes Audience: Heritage learners + total beginners (ages 8–11) Letter of the day: ي (ya) Big idea: I can name the days of the week and say today, yesterday, and tomorrow.

👩‍🏫 For teachers

This session works in a 30-minute slot with 5–25 students. You'll need: a whiteboard or chart paper, sticky notes (7 per group of 2–3 kids), and a printed weekly calendar (any week works — even a blank Mon–Sun grid you draw on the board). Set up before class: write the 7 days down one side of the board in Arabic, leaving room next to each for English. If you have audio: queue the days-of-the-week chant audio.

Differentiation:

• Heritage stretch: Ask heritage kids what they did
  أَمس
  (yesterday) and what they're doing
  بُكرا
  (tomorrow) — in a full Arabic sentence if they can.
• Beginner warm: Focus first on just three days — Saturday, Sunday, Monday. Build from there. Don't drill all 7 in one sitting if it's overwhelming.

🏠 For parents at home

This session works one-on-one in 25 minutes. You'll need: 7 sticky notes, a pen, and your fridge or a wall (somewhere to stick them). No prep beyond reading through this plan once.

If your child is heritage (Arabic spoken at home): they probably already hear yawm al-jum'a or yawm al-sabt when family talks about plans. Point that out — "you've been hearing this your whole life, now you can read it."

If your child is new to Arabic: the 7 days will feel like a lot. That's normal. By the end of this session they'll know maybe 3 or 4 solidly. The rest comes with repetition over the week. Stick the notes on the fridge and let the week itself do the teaching.

Materials checklist

• 7 sticky notes (for the Days on the Fridge activity in Block 4)
• A pen or marker
• Audio file: session-43-audio.mp3 (days chant + dialogue)
• Optional: print the workbook page on regular paper
• A calendar or blank Mon–Sun grid

Block 1: Hello & today's question (3 min)

Goal: Open in Arabic and surface what kids already know.

Script:

Greet with energy: "مَرحَبا! كيفكُم اليَوم؟" (Marhaba! Kīfkum al-yawm?) — "Hello! How are you all today?" Then ask: "شو اليَوم؟" (Shū al-yawm?) — "What day is it today?"

Let kids guess in English first. That's fine. Then write today's day on the board in Arabic — for example,

Say: "اليَوم بِنِتعَلَّم كُل أَيّام الأُسبوع." (Al-yawm bnit'allam kull ayyām al-usbū'.) — "Today we'll learn all the days of the week."

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

Goal: Hear and say all 7 days in order.

Today's vocabulary:

Script:

Play the audio once through. Don't speak — let the kids just listen. Then go day by day. Say each one, clap the syllables, have the kids echo. Now do all 7 in a row, like a chant. Start slow. Speed up.

Quick cultural note (share aloud if you like):

In most Arab countries, the week starts on Saturday — not Sunday or Monday. The weekend is usually Friday + Saturday. So when we list the days, we start with السَّبت (Saturday).

Play the audio one more time. By the second pass most kids will be chanting along.

Block 3: Letter of the day — ي (ya) (5 min)

Goal: Meet the letter ي and see it in every single day of the week.

Script:

Say: "هذا حَرف 'ي'. اسمُه 'ياء'." (Hādhā harf 'Y'. Ismuhu 'yā'.) — "This is the letter 'Y'. Its name is 'ya'."

Write a big

Here's the magic: every single day of the week starts with the word

Have kids look at the 7 days on the board. Circle the ي at the start of each one. Count them: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 — seven yas.

Other words with ي you already know:

• **يَلّا**
  — *yalla* (let's go!)
• **يَد**
  — *yad* (hand)
• **اليَوم**
  — *al-yawm* (today!)

Practice writing: Trace one ي in the workbook. Then write the word

Block 4: Days on the Fridge (8 min)

Goal: Put the days in order and use today / yesterday / tomorrow.

Setup: Give each child (or pair) 7 sticky notes. Have them write one day per note in Arabic — copy from the board.

Part 1 — put them in order: Mix up the sticky notes. Now arrange them in order, starting from

Part 2 — today, yesterday, tomorrow: Teach these three time words:

Point to today's day on the chart. Say: "اليَوم يَوم الثُّلاثاء." Then point to the day before: "أَمس يَوم الإِثنَين." Then the day after: "بُكرا يَوم الأَربعاء."

Go around. Each kid says one sentence:

**اليَوم يَوم ___.**

**بُكرا يَوم ___.**

Home variant: Stick the 7 notes on the fridge in order. Every morning this week, point to today's day and say it out loud together.

Block 5: Tiny reading (4 min)

Goal: Read three short sentences.

Show the child these three sentences. Read them together, slowly, pointing at each word:

Now change the day. Erase "الجُمعة" and write today's actual day. Re-read. Erase yesterday and tomorrow too. Re-read.

That's three full sentences. With time markers. In Arabic.

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

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

Goal: End warmly and seed daily practice.

Script:

Say: "يَلّا، مع السَّلامة! شوفكُم بُكرا!" (Yalla, ma'a as-salaama! Shūfkum bukra!) — "Okay, goodbye! See you tomorrow!"

This week at home (tell the kids):

Every morning, before breakfast, say out loud: "اليَوم يَوم ___." Try it for all 7 days this week.

For parents: Stick the 7 sticky notes on the fridge in order. When your child wakes up, point to today's day before anything else. By Friday they'll have said all 7 days at least once each. That's how it sticks — not by drilling, but by living the week in Arabic.

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 44 — Months & Seasons (الشُّهور والفُصول), letter ش (shīn).

Teacher / Parent observation notes (formative — not graded)

Watch for, this session:

No grading. No tests. Just notice and remember.

Yalla Arabic · Level 4 · Session 43 of 48