Communication

Illustration of the night sky and astronomical instruments

Al-Jawza’ Folktale

Learners are introduced to the Al-Jawza’ folktale. Learners complete a gallery walk of the thinking routine “What do you already know? What do you wonder about? What have you learned today?”

Includes

AlJawza constellation images (slides 1-3), AlJawza folktale, Astronomy unit vocabulary

ScienceSocial Studies5th Grade

Constellation Tour

Learners will investigate the seasonal appearance of stars in the night sky using movement and storytelling.

Includes

Well bucket constellation, Pictures of Seasonal Stars, Constellation tour student roles, Constellation tour script

ScienceSocial Studies5th Grade

The House of Wisdom

Learners will watch a short video on astronomy in the medieval Islamic empire and investigate the special contributions of Islamic astronomers.

Includes

Informational text on medieval Islamic science, هارون الرشيد وابنه المأمون.. زمن بغداد الذهبي, بيت الحكمة تأليف بدور القاسمي, مريم وتنين الشمس

Learners choose a phenomenon created by the movement of the Earth and a way to represent it through a graphical display of data. Learners create a folktale that explains the phenomenon including an understanding of why this mattered to our ancestors.

Includes

Final project planning sheet and rubric

Connecting to Special Places

Learners brainstorm special places and think about what makes it special. Learners use inspiration from various artists to bring their chosen places alive.

Includes

Special places handout, Mentor texts and artists

Home in Place

Learners collaboratively build a story map of their school or surrounding area.

Includes

Mapping activity sheets, Home in place slides

A panel of tatreez — traditional Palestinian embroidery

We Went Looking for Home

Learners begin to understand the idea of home is hard to contain. Learners brainstorm all the feelings, sensations, images, and memories that come up when they think of home.

Includes

We Went Looking for Home but We Found… (Al-Bustan camp multimedia book)

Home is a Foreign Place

Learners take inspiration from Zarina Hashimi’s Home is a Foreign Place and create block print symbols of home.

Includes

Zarina Hashimi slides, MoMA audio: Zarina Hashimi’s Home is a Foreign Place (English)

Community Maps

Learners understand that people make home and create their own community maps of the people they hold near.

Includes

Winti Hon (وانتِ هون), Ruba Shamshoum and Amy Chiniara — animation, Community map example

Final Project

Learners work to memorialize some of their favorite places through collaborative art.

Includes

Examples of murals and collaborative design, Special places handout (from lesson 2), Mentor texts and artists (from lesson 2), Final project example

Illustration of food shared around a table and the stories it carries

Can a Picture Tell a Thousand Words?

Learners begin to understand that storytelling is multimodal. Learners experiment in creating a wordless story inspired by a mentor text.

Includes

Storytelling scaffold: people and places

Life Around a Table

Learners create a visual representation of a tablescape or sofra, drawing the foods they might eat, the objects that might be strewn on their table, and adding dialogue that is commonly heard.

Includes

Sample tablescape / sofra

How Can I Bring My Stories to Life?

Learners will brainstorm different special moments with a loved one and create a comic strip/storyboard to represent it. Learners experiment with figurative language to bring their writing to life.

Includes

Comic book template, Ten Ways to Hear Snow (Arabic excerpt)

Preparing for Interviews

Learners reflect about their relationship with favorite family recipes and brainstorm questions they would like to ask a family member about food or recipes. This is preparation for a family interview.

Includes

Mentor texts: ways I can tell my family’s story, أكلنا من

Family Interview Connections

Learners will make meaning of interviews. Learners share their interview with a partner, looking for similarities.

Includes

Same, different, connect, question, Family interview connections

Creating Recipe Stories

Learners will use their family interviews to create multimodal recipe stories.

Includes

Family interview connections

Oral Storytelling

Learners will explore different examples of oral storytelling practices like Zajal, hekaye, and harvesting songs.

Includes

Food and Stories unit vocabulary, Examples of oral storytelling, Oral storytelling observation tool

Passing Down Stories

Learners explore hakawatias like Fida’a Ataya as they learn how kharareef are passed down from generation to generation.

Includes

Slides on Fida’a Ataya, Folktales from Hakaya Stories on SoundCloud (Arabic), Timeless Tales (English)

Preparing for Final Presentations Day 1

Learners will complete and revise two chosen pieces from their portfolios and reflect on their growth.

Includes

Checklist for final presentations, Portfolio reflection, Family letters

Preparing for Final Presentations Day 2

Learners will self-assess using a rubric and prepare for their presentations.

Includes

Checklist for final presentations, Family letters, Rubric for final presentations

Arabic Language ArtsScienceKindergarten

What do seeds need?

Learners read the mentor text, بذور by نور الهدى محمد and understand the things that seeds need to grow into healthy plants through a hands-on planting activity.

Collection:Arabic Language Arts Mentor Text Lessons

Includes

"What does a seed need?" anchor chart

Arabic Language ArtsSocial-Emotional Learning (SEL)3rd Grade

Comparing and Contrasting Character Traits

Learners read ماما بنت صفي and discuss character traits that Abeer possesses. Learners then compare and contrast character traits, behaviors, and identities between Abeer and themselves.

Collection:Arabic Language Arts Mentor Text Lessons

Includes

Abeer character traits, Abeer and me

Arabic Language ArtsCreative writing3rd Grade

Creating List Stories

Learners read رف الأباريق by عائشة الهاشمي that turns a simple teapot into ten imaginative tools that inspire our young narrator to paint, make music, decorate windowsills, and finally, write. Students are guided to create their own list stories in the same style.

Collection:Arabic Language Arts Mentor Text Lessons

Includes

List story template