Grade 06: Arabic

In this unit, 'Birds, nature and the environment', you learn to describe nature. You work with notes, a worked line and a self-mark. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Listen first: your teacher or a recording says the new words or sentences from 'Birds, nature and the environment' twice. You repeat them aloud.
• Notice the pattern: find where the new sound, word form or sentence rule appears in a short text and mark it.
• Use it: describe nature, first with help, then alone.
• Check and fix: read your work aloud once more; fix one thing you hear is wrong.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Name birds and nature. الْعُصْفُورُ [sparrow], النَّسْرُ [eagle], الْحَمَامَةُ [dove], الْبُومَةُ [owl], الْغَابَةُ [forest], النَّهْرُ [river], الْجَبَلُ [mountain], الْهَوَاءُ النَّقِيُّ [clean air]. Group them into birds and places.
2. Step 2, Describe a bird. يَعِيشُ النَّسْرُ فِي الْجِبَالِ الْعَالِيَةِ وَيَطِيرُ عَالِيًا. [The eagle lives in high mountains and flies high.] الْبُومَةُ تَسْهَرُ فِي اللَّيْلِ. [The owl stays awake at night.] الطُّيُورُ جَمِيلَةٌ. [Birds are beautiful.]
3. Step 3, Talk about caring for the environment. نَزْرَعُ الْأَشْجَارَ. [We plant trees.] نُحَافِظُ عَلَى نَظَافَةِ النَّهْرِ. [We keep the river clean.] الْبِيئَةُ بَيْتُنَا الْكَبِيرُ. [The environment is our big home.] Give one reason with لِأَنَّ.
4. Step 4, Give advice with لَا for a ban. لَا تَرْمِ الْقُمَامَةَ فِي النَّهْرِ. [Do not throw rubbish in the river, to a boy.] لَا تَقْطَعِ الشَّجَرَةَ. [Do not cut the tree.] To a girl: لَا تَرْمِي الْقُمَامَةَ. Read both forms aloud.
5. Step 5, Fix an error. A child says لَا تَرْمِي to a boy. Correction: for a boy say لَا تَرْمِ; the ending ـي is only for a girl. Another says الطُّيُورُ جَمِيلُونَ; birds are not people, so say الطُّيُورُ جَمِيلَةٌ.
6. Step 6, Your turn: write a short description of a forest and one piece of advice. Model answer: فِي الْغَابَةِ أَشْجَارٌ عَالِيَةٌ وَعَصَافِيرُ كَثِيرَةٌ. لَا تَقْطَعِ الْأَشْجَارَ، لِأَنَّهَا تُنَقِّي الْهَوَاءَ. [In the forest are tall trees and many birds. Do not cut the trees, because they clean the air.]

Activity. About 30 to 40 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: a worked task and a corrected copy.

Standard to meet. Describe nature: at least 8 of 10 marks on a short task, with one line of reasoning for each answer.

In this unit, 'Letters and invitations', you learn to write a short letter. You work with notes, a worked line and a self-mark. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Listen first: your teacher or a recording says the new words or sentences from 'Letters and invitations' twice. You repeat them aloud.
• Notice the pattern: find where the new sound, word form or sentence rule appears in a short text and mark it.
• Use it: write a short letter, first with help, then alone.
• Check and fix: read your work aloud once more; fix one thing you hear is wrong.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, A short letter has a greeting, a body and a closing. Begin: عَزِيزِي (الِاسْمُ)، السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكَ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ. [Dear (name), peace and God's mercy upon you.] Put the date at the top and the sender's name at the end.
2. Step 2, Write an invitation body. يَسُرُّنِي أَنْ أَدْعُوَكَ إِلَى حَفْلِ عِيدِ مِيلَادِي يَوْمَ السَّبْتِ فِي السَّاعَةِ الرَّابِعَةِ مَسَاءً فِي بَيْتِنَا. [I am pleased to invite you to my birthday party on Saturday at four o'clock in the afternoon at our house.] It gives the event, the day, the time and the place.
3. Step 3, Close the letter. أَنْتَظِرُكَ بِشَوْقٍ. [I await you eagerly.] صَدِيقُكَ، (الِاسْمُ). [Your friend, (name).] A reply begins: شُكْرًا عَلَى دَعْوَتِكَ. سَأَحْضُرُ بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ. [Thank you for your invitation. I will attend, God willing.]
4. Step 4, Check the grammar. After يَسُرُّنِي أَنْ the verb takes fatha: أَدْعُوَ. صَدِيقُكَ with ـكَ is used for a male reader, and صَدِيقَتُكِ is used when the writer is a girl writing to a girl: صَدِيقَتُكِ، (الِاسْمُ).
5. Step 5, Fix an error. A student writes the name first and the greeting last, and forgets the day. Correction: use the order greeting, invitation with day and time, closing, then name. Missing the day or place makes the invitation unclear.
6. Step 6, Your turn: write a short invitation to a school picnic. Model answer: عَزِيزَتِي (الِاسْمُ)، السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكِ. أَدْعُوكِ إِلَى رِحْلَةِ الْمَدْرَسَةِ يَوْمَ الْخَمِيسِ فِي الْحَدِيقَةِ. أَنْتَظِرُكِ. صَدِيقَتُكِ، (الِاسْمُ). [Dear (name), peace be upon you. I invite you to the school trip on Thursday in the park. I await you. Your friend, (name).]

Activity. About 30 to 40 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: a worked task and a corrected copy.

Standard to meet. Write a short letter: at least 8 of 10 marks on a short task, with one line of reasoning for each answer.

In this unit, 'Poems and sayings', you learn to recite and explain a short poem. You work with notes, a worked line and a self-mark. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Listen first: your teacher or a recording says the new words or sentences from 'Poems and sayings' twice. You repeat them aloud.
• Notice the pattern: find where the new sound, word form or sentence rule appears in a short text and mark it.
• Use it: recite and explain a short poem, first with help, then alone.
• Check and fix: read your work aloud once more; fix one thing you hear is wrong.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Read two lines I wrote. الْمَاءُ حَيَاةٌ فَلَا نُضَيِّعُهُ، وَالشَّجَرُ صَدِيقٌ فَلَا نَقْطَعُهُ. [Water is life, so we do not waste it; trees are friends, so we do not cut them.] Read slowly, once with a pause at the comma.
2. Step 2, Understand the words. الْمَاءُ [water], حَيَاةٌ [life], نُضَيِّعُ [we waste], الشَّجَرُ [trees], صَدِيقٌ [friend], نَقْطَعُ [we cut]. Before a present verb, لَا means we do not: لَا نُضَيِّعُهُ، لَا نَقْطَعُهُ.
3. Step 3, Notice the rhyme. Both lines end in ـعُهُ: نُضَيِّعُهُ and نَقْطَعُهُ. This rhyme (قَافِيَةٌ) makes the lines easy to remember. Recite aloud, making the last sound the same each time.
4. Step 4, Explain the meaning. The poet says water and trees give life, so we should protect them. Write: يُرِيدُ الشَّاعِرُ أَنْ نُحَافِظَ عَلَى الْمَاءِ وَالشَّجَرِ. [The poet wants us to protect water and trees.] Add a saying: الْقِرَاءَةُ بَابٌ إِلَى الْعَالَمِ. [Reading is a door to the world.]
5. Step 5, Fix an error. A student explains by repeating the poem word by word. Correction: explain the idea in your own words: the poem teaches us to care for nature. Another error is pausing in the middle of فَلَا نُضَيِّعُهُ; keep that phrase together.
6. Step 6, Your turn: explain in one sentence what الْقِرَاءَةُ بَابٌ إِلَى الْعَالَمِ means. Model answer: مَعْنَاهُ أَنَّنَا نَتَعَلَّمُ أَشْيَاءَ جَدِيدَةً وَنَعْرِفُ أَمَاكِنَ بَعِيدَةً عِنْدَمَا نَقْرَأُ. [It means we learn new things and know faraway places when we read.]

Activity. About 30 to 40 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: a worked task and a corrected copy.

Standard to meet. Recite and explain a short poem: at least 8 of 10 marks on a short task, with one line of reasoning for each answer.

In this unit, 'Conversation and presentation', you learn to present a short talk. You work with notes, a worked line and a self-mark. You see it, say it, then do it alone.

• Listen first: your teacher or a recording says the new words or sentences from 'Conversation and presentation' twice. You repeat them aloud.
• Notice the pattern: find where the new sound, word form or sentence rule appears in a short text and mark it.
• Use it: present a short talk, first with help, then alone.
• Check and fix: read your work aloud once more; fix one thing you hear is wrong.

Step by step.

1. Step 1, Plan a one-minute talk with three parts. Opening: السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ، اسْمِي (الِاسْمُ)، وَمَوْضُوعِي الْيَوْمَ عَنِ الْقِرَاءَةِ. [Peace be upon you, my name is (name), and my topic today is reading.] Say it clearly and look at your audience.
2. Step 2, Give two points. أَوَّلًا، أُحِبُّ الْقِرَاءَةَ لِأَنَّهَا تُعَلِّمُنِي أَشْيَاءَ جَدِيدَةً. [First, I love reading because it teaches me new things.] ثَانِيًا، أَقْرَأُ كُلَّ مَسَاءٍ قَبْلَ النَّوْمِ. [Second, I read every evening before sleep.]
3. Step 3, Close the talk. وَفِي الْخِتَامِ، أَنْصَحُكُمْ بِقِرَاءَةِ كِتَابٍ كُلَّ أُسْبُوعٍ. شُكْرًا لِحُسْنِ اسْتِمَاعِكُمْ. [In conclusion, I advise you to read a book every week. Thank you for listening well.] Then ask: هَلْ مِنْ أَسْئِلَةٍ؟ [Are there any questions?]
4. Step 4, Practise a question and answer. زَمِيلٌ: مَا كِتَابُكِ الْمُفَضَّلُ؟ [What is your favourite book?] الْمُتَحَدِّثَةُ: كِتَابٌ عَنِ الْحَيَوَانَاتِ. [A book about animals.] زَمِيلٌ: لِمَاذَا تُحِبِّينَهُ؟ [Why do you like it?] الْمُتَحَدِّثَةُ: لِأَنَّ صُوَرَهُ جَمِيلَةٌ. [Because its pictures are beautiful.]
5. Step 5, Fix an error. A speaker reads a paper without looking up, speaks too fast and finishes without a closing. Correction: pause after each point, look at the audience, and end with وَفِي الْخِتَامِ and شُكْرًا. Say أَوَّلًا and ثَانِيًا clearly.
6. Step 6, Your turn: write and say a four-sentence talk about my favourite sport. Model answer: السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ، مَوْضُوعِي كُرَةُ الْقَدَمِ. أُحِبُّهَا لِأَنَّهَا تُقَوِّي الْجِسْمَ. أَلْعَبُ مَعَ أَصْدِقَائِي كُلَّ سَبْتٍ. شُكْرًا لِحُسْنِ اسْتِمَاعِكُمْ. [Peace be upon you, my topic is football. I love it because it strengthens the body. I play with my friends every Saturday. Thank you for listening.]

Activity. About 30 to 40 minutes of class work, then one short practice task for home. Keep evidence: a worked task and a corrected copy.

Standard to meet. Present a short talk: at least 8 of 10 marks on a short task, with one line of reasoning for each answer.

On the slide: L1 Basic · First sounds and greetings

Notes: Say hello, give your name and name three everyday objects in Arabic. Notes: teach مرحبا (marhaba, hello) and كتاب (kitab, book) aloud before any writing; learners greet a partner and point to a book, a pen and a door while saying each word.

On the slide: L2 Awareness · Letters and the right-to-left page

Notes: Recognise that Arabic is written right to left and copy the shapes of the first eight letters. Notes: show that letters change form at the start, middle and end of a word; learners trace the letter for b, then find it in three printed words.

On the slide: L3 Foundation · Simple sentences and a first reading

Notes: Read and write short present-tense sentences about yourself, family and daily life with short vowels marked. Notes: use هذا كتاب (hadha kitab, this is a book) as the model; learners build five new sentences, swapping the noun each time, and read them aloud.

This course: Grade 06 Arabic is at this level. Its units include Birds, nature and the environment; Letters and invitations; Poems and sayings; Conversation and presentation.

On the slide: L4 Practitioner · Everyday conversation and roots

Notes: Hold a two-minute conversation on school, food and travel and use the three-letter root idea to guess new words. Notes: show k-t-b giving kitab (book) and katib (writer); learners find the root in four given words, then order a meal in a role-play.

On the slide: L5 Specialist · Formal Arabic and dialect awareness

Notes: Compare Modern Standard Arabic with one spoken dialect and write a formal letter of about 150 words. Notes: take one phrase, such as how to say 'how are you', in both registers; learners list three differences and choose the right register for a news item and a chat.

On the slide: L6 Advanced · Literary analysis and linguistics

Notes: Analyse a classical or modern text for grammar, rhetoric and register, and write a reasoned essay in Arabic. Notes: choose a short poem of eight lines; learners mark case endings, name one image used, and explain in a 400-word essay how the form supports the meaning.

On the slide: L7 Super expert · Translation, research and teaching

Notes: Design and defend a translation or research project that handles dialect variation, with a documented method. Notes: pick a 500-word article and translate it for two audiences; justify every choice about register, note untranslatable terms, and have a native reader check the result.