In a classroom environment characterized by vitality and a warm educational atmosphere, teacher Dalia Hanani delivered a lesson based on story-based learning, where knowledge was intertwined with values, and the sound transformed from a mere linguistic symbol into a comprehensive learning experience lived by students inside the classroom.
The lesson began with a purposeful movement activity that helped prepare students both psychologically and physically for learning. This was followed by reinforcing the classroom charter and code of conduct, laying the foundation for a safe and supportive learning environment.
The lesson then smoothly transitioned into a collaborative review of previously learned material through well-planned individual questions that boosted self-confidence and encouraged participation. Learning was further connected to students’ daily context by discussing the day and date, contributing to the development of their time awareness.
The story unfolded in the classroom through a role-play of the character Dawood, a child who wakes up to the sound of a rooster and goes with his mother to the yard, where he sees a rooster and a hen and watches the hen pick up a worm from the ground. From this simple, familiar daily scene, learning expanded to include words drawn from the child’s environment, all beginning with the sound “د” / d (deek, dajajah, dodeh).
At this point, storytelling evolved into an effective educational practice. The story was not presented as a text to be narrated, but rather as an interactive learning framework in which skills and meaning moved together. As Dawood pronounced the words, students repeated them aloud with clarity: deek – dajajah – dodeh. A spontaneous question, inspired by the story, was posed: What do these words have in common? This guided students to notice the shared sound and conclude that all the words begin with the sound “د” / d, reflecting learning through discovery and participation.
This learning was reinforced through interactive visual activities. Images of eggs containing words that begin with the sound “د” / d were displayed on the board, and students participated in revealing and reading them, accompanied by positive encouragement. The concept was further connected to the surrounding environment by explaining the relationship between the hen and the egg, deepening understanding and making learning meaningful.
Continuing the storyline, Dawood’s desire to write the sound “د” / d—and his uncertainty about how to do so correctly—was presented as a learning opportunity. The steps for writing the sound were explained clearly and progressively, and students were given the chance to apply them practically on the board by connecting dots, which helped build confidence and courage to try.
The lesson moved between diverse activities, including identifying the sound “د” / da within words, writing it in the air to strengthen the connection between sound and movement, and then engaging in a group activity within small groups to draw and color a worm. This enhanced cooperation, role-sharing, and respect for others’ efforts.
Students then participated in organizing the classroom, after which their work was displayed on the board with their names attached. This step was accompanied by words of appreciation that fostered feelings of pride and belonging. The lesson concluded with an oral activity in which students were asked to mention words that begin with the sound “د” / d, applying what they had learned and confirming the achievement of the learning objective.
In this lesson, teacher Dalia Hanani was not a teacher who merely delivered information while students received it passively. Rather, she embodied a model of a collaborative learning environment in which she was part of the learning experience—sharing discovery with students, moving with them between story and activity, and creating space for their voices, questions, attempts, and efforts. Learning appeared as a living dialogue, where knowledge was built step by step, and children were given space to experiment, make mistakes, try again, and succeed.