class+welcomes

Begin each day with a student doing a class welcome in Arabic.

A Class //Welcome// is a brief but formal beginning of the class period. It is the signal for everyone to stop whatever they are doing and begin the class. For the first day or two in a beginning class you, the teacher, will give the //welcome//, but you should begin immediately to train the students to take over that task. With beginning classes it has to be very simple. The first model below is designed for a first-year class and can be given by students after just a few days of class. Teach your students the following phrases in Arabic. With your help on pronunciation, some of your brighter students can memorize it in just a few minutes.


 * CLASS WELCOME**


 * Good morning!**


 * Welcome to Arabic class**


 * Today is (Monday) the (fifth) of ___ (September) etc.__**

__**Today the weather is**__ **_**

Coordinate the giving of the welcome with the use of a sign up sheet and appoint a coordinator. They are responsible for seeing that someone is assigned for each day of class and to remind that person the preceding day to be prepared. The teacher can prepare an announcement folder and each day have the announcements ready. It’s a good practice to talk briefly with the persons giving the //welcome// just before class and prime them with the vocabulary necessary to make the announcements.

The person giving the //welcome// is also responsible to watch for visitors to the class, and if there are any, talk to them before class starts to find out who they are (name, origin, etc.) and why they are in the class, and then introduce them to the class, extending a special welcome—even if the visitor does not understand Arabic.

As the students become more able to use the language, the // Welcome // can become more complex. When they are more proficient in the language, the persons giving the // Welcome // can relate an story, tell a joke, recite a poem, make special presentations, lead the class in a song, and so on.