Teacher Initiative Grants
2014-2015
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The Center for Global Studies Norwalk, CT Teacher: Emad Eldigwy
This grant allowed our Arabic class to participate in an international
exchange with Palestinian students living in Jordan. The goal was for each class to learn about the other’s culture through art and dialogue. Each lesson resulted in extensive discussion on the concept of culture.
Art Exchange They then began the process of creating their own works of art. Students
used various forms of media. The final product also includes a self-reflection by each student about the piece he or she created. We received art from our partner school in mid-February. This revealed so much to us that might not have been possible through a casual encounter. Students noticed values, traditions, things that were important, symbolic and so on. The art we received from students in Jordan was filled with vibrant details and scenes of daily life. The video exchange that took place at the end of the program allowed us to practice our language skills and learn about daily life depicted through art. We are truly grateful for the QFI Teacher Initiative Grant which enabled us to expose our kids to a world well beyond their grasp.
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Student Quotes “The wedding clothing is very vibrant and colorful but also very traditional. The drawing style is anime so I think they are into Japanese anime just like us.”
“It is very colorful and I can see a big farm with many animals. There are people celebrating the first day of Eid Al-Adha. I have heard of this festival but never imagined what it could look like.”
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Durkin Park Elementary School Chicago, IL Teacher: Feryal Al Zubi
This year, Durkin Park Elementary
was a recipient of a Teacher Initiative Grant which was utilized to expand last year’s pilot program of Middle Eastern and North African music exploration.
Since the drums were purchased last year, the money was used for 8 lessons conducted over 8 weeks. In these lessons, the students learned the principles of drum music in Middle Eastern music. At the end of the program, the students composed and performed a percussion piece using their tablas. They were accompanied by some classmates who were trained in a dabke routine by a parent volunteer. The students were pleased with the outcome, and just a few days after practices had concluded, they expressed their sadness that it could not continue for a longer period of time. I greatly enjoyed giving the students an opportunity to explore a different part of Arabic music and in the future, I would love to expand this program to include a variety of instruments.
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Norwich Free Academy Norwich, CT Teacher: Robert Osko
On April 6, 25 students of Arabic went to
New York City to experience the Metropolitan Museum’s Islamic Art exhibit. This provided the students a chance to witness first hand many examples of Arab culture and Islamic art. Students had the opportunity to tour throughout the exhibit and analyze the various artifacts, drawing connections between culture, language, and faith as it has been expressed throughout Islamic history. The visit was followed up by a discussion in class about the Islamic art to which the students were exposed. Most of the students compared and contrasted Islamic art with that of medieval Christian Europe. Students also recognized that there are different writing styles utilized by Muslim calligraphers, which served as a form of art in the absence of images. After the exhibit, we had lunch at an authentic Lebanese restaurant where the kids experienced the delicious taste of meza and the typical Middle Eastern diet. Students also had the chance to utilize their Arabic skills as they interacted with the native Arabic speaking restaurant staff.
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Chagrin Falls High School Chagrin Falls, OH Teacher: Fadia Hamid
On November 21, 2014 students from my classes joined me on a trip to
Dearborn, Michigan to visit the Arab American National Museum
For the first activity, students were asked to write down words they think of when they hear the word Arab. Following this activity, students were given a copy of an immigration form that Arab immigrants would have had to complete upon arrival to the USA. After reading a few questions, students commented on how difficult and unfair many of the questions are and they even wondered if some of them could be answered at all. Another activity was the viewing of the murals, which students mentioned in their reflections. There were two murals, one depicting how Arabs have been portrayed in the media and the other how they would truly portray themselves. The contrast between the two was striking and until this day, my students will occasionally bring up the two murals in class discussions especially if we are discussing current events. After the museum we had lunch at a typical Arabic restaurant and stopped at Shatila bakery for dessert before returning to Chagrin Falls. Following our trip, several of our social studies teachers told me that my students shared with them how the visit to the museum allowed them to see the Arabs through different lenses and made them think twice about what they hear in the media. Several parents also thanked me for taking the students on that trip and mentioned that their children talked about it for days saying it was one of the best school trips they had taken.
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Student Reflections “The Arab American Museum taught me how hard it is for Arabs to adjust moving to America, and how I should never be stereotypical. The field trip was amazing, I will never forget it.”
“We watched a movie that helped me understand how people keep their culture alive in the U.S. after immigrating. I feel this museum helped me further understand the culture of the language I am attempting to learn.”
“The ‘Media Wall’ contained pictures of how the Arab people are displayed in America; many pictures illustrated woman behind bars, and men in turbans. Then, we were shown a mural that depicted the way Arabs truly live their lives; there were pictures of happy smiling people, living normal lives.”
“I was able to try many foods that I had never heard of or eaten before. Also, at the bakery we were able to eat many Arab desserts; I was able to try Baklava and Ishteh (an Arabic ice cream). Overall, I learned a lot about the Arab culture during the field trip.”
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Calder Elementary School Edmonton, Canada Teacher: Mazina Chamseddine
Edmonton Public School Board is one of the first school boards to start
an Arabic Bilingual Program in the world. As the Arab population in the northside of the city grows and the demand for the Arabic Bilingual program increases, the district agreed to start the program at the elementary level at Calder Elementary School.
Equipment
I used the whole grant to
buy books for the class. The books I bought were mainly for beginners to serve the purpose of the Guided Reading Program I wanted to start with grade one. Because of this grant, I had the chance to know each student’s reading strengths and weaknesses to help improve each student’s reading one-on-one during Guided Reading time. The parents, my students, and I are thankful to QFI and the people behind it. They are really giving the Arabic students and the Arabic Program the support they need to prosper and continue despite the difficulties we face.
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Riverside Academy East Dearborn, MI Teacher: Mona Hamwi
The Arabic puppet show was held on
April 1st, 2015. The show presented the many diverse cultures and traditions of our student population and brought the Arabic language to life in a fun and interactive way. This project allowed students to apply their Arabic language skills and to read scripts that aligned with the core ideas of our year long curriculum. My students absolutely loved coming to the puppet room for daily practice. We are highly satisfied with the purchase of these products and would recommend them to others. Both the stage and the puppets were of high quality and were easy to assemble, use, and store.
A Second Opportunity
After our successful show at our home school, we were invited to take our
show to one of our sister schools. This was a great opportunity for our Arabic department to collaborate with colleagues from that school. The students there were very excited and were highly motivated and even joined in during one of our folk dances.
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To promote enriched learning environments in and out of the Arabic classroom, QFI awards Teacher Initiative Grants to teachers of Arabic who are currently teaching in K-12 public or public charter schools in the United States or Canada. Grant funds may be used to purchase materials and other resources to enhance the teaching and learning of Arabic, as well as to support school-related cultural or community events.
1400 Eye Street NW | Washington, D.C. 20005 www.qfi.org 10