Lessons and Activities - الدروس والأنشطة

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

The lessons and Activities are drawn from in class reading, speaking and writing assignments. Along with each hands-on activity the children learned a few basic important Arabic grammar rules including: verbal and nominal how to construct proper sentences. We covered concepts such as adverbs, prepositions, adjectives as well as memorized duaa's from the Holy Qu'ran.

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Lesson and Activity 4 -May 2014

هل أَنْت حشرة؟

         سألت سحر العنكبوت أيُّها النكبوت .......هلْ أنْت حشرة ؟

 .قال العنكبوت كلا أنا لَستْ حشرة, بل أنا من العناكب, مثل العقرب و  القرادة

 و نَحْنُ العَناكب لنا ثماني أَرْجل

..... وينْقَسم جسمنا إلى رأْس و بطْن فَقَط 

  و ليْس لنا قرونُ اسْتشْعار

Are you an insect?

Sahar asked the spider, oh spider..... are you an insect?

The spider said, No I am not a insect. No, I am from the black widow spider. Like the scorpion and tick. We have 8 legs. Our bodies are divided into head and stomach only. And we do not have antlers. 

                           Now I am going to eat you ......oh, dear عَنكبوت !

Insect Unit Study

 Great addition to our insect unit study was this having bugnocluars. We were able to capture some of the different insects we were studying and view them up close through this built in 3x  magnifier.

                                                           Made creative colorful insect books

Vocabulary:

الحشرات - Insects 
الحشرة - Insect
النَّمْل - the Ant
العنكبؤت- the Spider
البعوضة- Mosquito
النحلة- Bee
الفراشة- Butterfly
ذباب) الذبابة) - Fly
الجندب- Grasshopper


                              
                          Insects as Allah mentions them in the Qu'ran: 

Ants:  النَّمْلُ
حَتَّىٰ إِذَا أَتَوْا عَلَىٰ وَادِ النَّمْلِ قَالَتْ نَمْلَةٌ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّمْلُ ادْخُلُوا مَسَاكِنَكُمْ لَا يَحْطِمَنَّكُمْ سُلَيْمَانُ وَجُنُودُهُ وَهُمْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ

 Till, when they came to the valley of the ants, one of the ants said: "O ants! Enter your dwellings, lest Sulaiman (Solomon) and his hosts should crush you, while they perceive not." 

Spider: الْعَنكَبُوتِ
مَثَلُ الَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ أَوْلِيَاءَ كَمَثَلِ الْعَنكَبُوتِ اتَّخَذَتْ بَيْتًا ۖ وَإِنَّ أَوْهَنَ الْبُيُوتِ لَبَيْتُ الْعَنكَبُوتِ ۖ لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ

The likeness of those who take (false deities as) Auliya' (protectors, helpers) other than Allah is the likeness of a spider who builds (for itself) a house; but verily, the frailest (weakest) of houses is the spider's house - if they but knew.

Fly: ذُبَابًا

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ ضُرِبَ مَثَلٌ فَاسْتَمِعُوا لَهُ ۚ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ لَن يَخْلُقُوا ذُبَابًا وَلَوِ اجْتَمَعُوا لَهُ ۖ وَإِن يَسْلُبْهُمُ الذُّبَابُ شَيْئًا لا يَسْتَنقِذُوهُ مِنْهُ ۚ ضَعُفَ الطَّالِبُ وَالْمَطْلُوبُ

O mankind! A similitude has been coined, so listen to it (carefully): Verily those on whom you call besides Allah, cannot create (even) a fly, even though they combine together for the purpose. And if the fly snatches away a thing from them, they will have no power to release it from the fly. So weak are (both) the seeker and the sought. سورة الحج  , Al-Hajj, Chapter #22, Verse #73)

Mosquito: بَعُوضَةً

إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَسْتَحْيِي أَن يَضْرِبَ مَثَلًا مَّا بَعُوضَةً فَمَا فَوْقَهَا ۚ فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا فَيَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّهُ الْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّهِمْ ۖ وَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فَيَقُولُونَ مَاذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ بِهَـٰذَا مَثَلًا ۘ يُضِلُّ بِهِ كَثِيرًا وَيَهْدِي بِهِ كَثِيرًا ۚ وَمَا

Verily, Allah is not ashamed to set forth a parable even of a mosquito or so much more when it is bigger (or less when it is smaller) than it. And as for those who believe, they know that it is the Truth from their Lord, but as for those who disbelieve, they say: "What did Allah intend by this parable?" By it He misleads many, and many He guides thereby. disobedient to Allah ). (  سورة البقرة  , Al-Baqara, Chapter #2, Verse #26)

Bee: النَّحْل

وَأَوْحَىٰ رَبُّكَ إِلَى النَّحْلِ أَنِ اتَّخِذِي مِنَ الْجِبَالِ بُيُوتًا وَمِنَ الشَّجَرِ وَمِمَّا يَعْرِشُونَ  
And thy Lord taught the Bee to build its cells in hills, on trees, and in (men's) habitations; (  سورة النحل  , An-Nahl, Chapter #16, Verse #68)

Butterfly: الفَرَاش

يَوْمَ يَكُونُ النَّاسُ كَالْفَرَاشِ الْمَبْثُوثِ

(It is) a Day whereon men will be like butterflies scattered about, (  سورة القارعة  , Al-Qaria, Chapter #101, Verse #4)

(  سورة العنكبوت  , Al-Ankaboot, Chapter #29, Verse #41)

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Lesson and Activity 3 -March 2014

Lap booking Prepositions

Prepositions form a link between sentences and hence learning prepositions is important when learning Arabic. An example of ayat's in the Qu'ran and how often they are used, a few have been listed.

•   The word(s) "الى" appears in 382 verse(s) in Quran.

  ارْجِعِي إِلَىٰ رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً مَّرْضِيَّةً  

(  سورة الفجر  , Al-Fajr, Chapter #89, Verse #28)

• The word(s) "على" appears in 592 verse(s) in Quran.

Ex:

وَلَا يَحُضُّ عَلَىٰ طَعَامِ الْمِسْكِينِ  
(  سورة الماعون  , Al-Maun, Chapter #107, Verse #3)

• The word(s) "من" appears in 2023 verse(s) in Quran.

Ex:

مِن شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ  
(  سورة الفلق  , Al-Falaq, Chapter #113, Verse #2)

• The word(s) "مع" appears in 57 verse(s) in Quran.

Ex: 

وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَارْكَعُوا مَعَ الرَّاكِعِينَ  
(  سورة البقرة  , Al-Baqara, Chapter #2, Verse #43)

Below are few prepositions the kids learned and are able to make sentences using them!

في   إلى  على   من  ل   مع  ب   تحت   أمام    وراء                            

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Lesson and Activity 2 -November 2013

Cooking Class In Arabic

 Traditional Moroccan Couscous

This month the theme was on Fruits and Vegetables. The children had a blast using their Arabic vocabulary that they have been learning to cook this traditional North African Couscous meal. Everyone had an opportunity to assist in the cooking process. From cutting the onions to stream boiling the couscous. Indeed, the best way to retain a language is by putting it into practice--Arabic immersion style!

Here is a picture of the finial product that the kids cooked. The following ingredients were used (hint, time to get out the Arabic dictionary and learn new words ):

- كوسة
- جزر
- بصل
- حمص
- طماطم
- كرنب
- قرن
- كسكس
- فلفل حار
- ملح
- فلفل لأسود
- زنجبيل
       
                                                        

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Lesson and Activity 1 - June 2013

Up, Up and Away...! (listening and writing practice)

Here are some practice lessons which we did in the past, which was related to a story read about kites. This dictation writing activity included having the children write a few sentences in Arabic about kites and placing the proper tashkeel in its place by listening to the sounds. These are beginner level sentences but the key is for the student to listen to the sound of the letter being pronounced and try to write it as they hear it (which common misspelling mistakes are made by beginner Arabic readers) 

When the student hears an 'a' sound they would write Fatha on top of the letter being pronounced  When the sound 'e' was heard, Kasra was placed at the bottom of the letter. These are great practice drills that not only encourages listening and writing but helps the student build vocabulary words while reinforcing reading skills.

Our focus was: Fatha, Kasra and Shaddah.

After completing the written and listening part of this activity, to creatively reinforce the lesson, they were given art supplies to uniquely put together and design the theme of today's lesson which was about طائرة ورقية ! 

 

And finally once the kites were beautifully made and decorated, it was now time to put the kites to the test. Up, Up and Away! As the children excitingly yelled  in Arabic -طائرة ورقية !

                  

                                       

Words used in the writing and listening practice:

                                                 *    Kite: طائرة ورقية

                                           

                                                 *    My Name: اسمي

                                                 *   This (feminine form):  هذه

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Arts and Crafts 

                                                  
                                                                          بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

The Kitab Club incorporates the making of Arts and Crafts in reiterating concepts that the children learned in Arabic in a fun and creative way إن شاء ألله. The children's diverse creations are a means to reinforce that which they are learning. Along with all the fun books we read, we also do writing, diction, practice speaking and listening to Arabic. This blog shows just some of the the creative side to what the kids in Kitab Club do and what we as a homeschooling family keep busy with. 


                                                                       October 2013

            Why paint it on, when you can throw it on!

The last day of the first 4 week session ended with the children expressively creating an Art piece by throwing the paint onto the canvas paper. The splash paint activity required the children to first try mixing different colors until they got the colors that were missing which was brown, orange and green. Once the colors where mixed and ready to be used, the kids stood 5 inches away from the canvas as they turned their wrist and arm flipping the paint to create a unique design. Colors used: بني  برتقلي  اصفر احمر اخضر ازراق

 

                                                                       
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                                                                    September 2013

A PUFFY Start

   

September 2013, the first day of our Kitab Club Arabic classes! The classes are designed based on the level of the children's knowledge in Arabic. To get the kids over the hump of "do I have to learn Arabic" mode, we had all the children create their own colurful books using puffy paint. Everyone was given 6 sheets of paper to design using the six colors that we would be learning from the book ما هو لوني؟ .

The children squeezed the paint everywhere making designs, patterns, swirls using squeeze bottles as their design instrument.

After a beautifully, artistic piece of Art work was made, the sheets of paper were microwaved for approximately 20 seconds to bring out the puffy effect. Yes, the microwaved broke during the process! But with lots of duaa, the microwave was back in action, Alhamdulilah! The pages were then taped to sturdy construction paper along with the corresponding Arabic name for its color. All the pages were holed punched and then bound with string. A sure way not to forgot the colors in Arabic.

Here are a few samples of the completed colorful puffy books:

 

                                                             
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                                                                                             November 2013

كيف حال الجو  How is the Weather?

We started our second book for the new 4 week session classes. The focus of our Kitab book is on the weather. Some of the things that will be covered this session are the four seasons and how to describe the different weather conditions in Arabic. Here are a few sample crafts from my class of a finger paint portrait. We used professional canvas board's with acrylic paints. Each leave and branch is a finger print design. The children learned how to use the word leaf in Arabic as well its mention in the Qu'ran. The kids kept saying that the cool thing about this portrait is that the lines on the leaf represents each unique finger print of the child, making each leaf uniquely shaped. And just the way Allah created and fashioned us in all uniqueness.

وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ مِن سُلَالَةٍ مِّن طِينٍ

ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَاهُ نُطْفَةً فِي قَرَارٍ مَّكِينٍ

ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا النُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْمُضْغَةَ عِظَامًا فَكَسَوْنَا الْعِظَامَ لَحْمًا ثُمَّ أَنشَأْنَاهُ خَلْقًا آخَرَ فَتَبَارَكَ اللَّهُ أَحْسَنُ الْخَالِقِينَ

“Verily We created man from a product of wet earth; then placed him as a drop (of seed) in a safe lodging; then We fashioned the drop into a clot, then We fashioned the clot into a little lump, then We fashioned the little lump into bones, then clothed the bones with flesh, and then produced it another creation. So blessed be Allah, the Best of Creators!” [23:12-14]

A beautiful display of Fall.

 الخريف

[6:59] And with Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them but He. And He knows whatsoever is in the land and in the sea. And there falls not a leaf but He knows it; nor is there a grain in the deep darkness of the earth, nor anything green or dry, but is recorded in a clear Book.