Ahlan ya colleagues, Welcome to the Arabic K-12 Bulletin, a biweekly resource for elementary, middle, and high school Arabic teachers, administrators, and researchers. In the Focus on Learning section this issue you will find an article about an Alabama high school coming under fire for offering Arabic as an elective. You will also find some more job opportunities, including an interesting position with QFI. Don't forget, ACTFL is just around the corner; note the October 30 registration deadline! As always, if you would like to reach us please send a message to arabick12@gmail.com. Lucy Thiboutot, Editor |
The Arabic K-12 Teachers Network consists of more than 1,000 educators, administrators, and researchers interested in the Arabic K-12 field in the U.S. It is a free membership provided by the National Capital Language Resource Center's Arabic K-12 Project. Recent issues of the Bulletin are archived here: http://bit.ly/10KRZi3 . All members are welcome to submit posts in English or Arabic and may do so by e-mailing their content to arabick12@gmail.com specifying their content for the listserv. This listserv is focused on elementary, middle, and high school Arabic teaching. Job openings at the university level can be found on the AATA's website . |
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES NEW RESOURCES FOR YOUR STUDENTS AND CLASSROOM GRANT OPPORTUNITIES AND JOB ANNOUNCEMENTS NADA'S WEBSITES: "TubeChop" BELAL'S ACTIVITIES: "Timing Race" MEOC BOOK RECOMMENDATION: "The Genius of Islam: How Muslims Made the Modern World" CURRENT RESEARCH: "Using Mobile Devices As Tools in French and German Courses" FOCUS ON LEARNING: "Alabama High School Comes Under Fire From Parents Opposed to Arabic Language Elective Course" |
Workshops and Webinars The ACTFL Arabic SIG is currently conducting a survey to collect more information about Arabic teachers' experiences and their role as representatives of Arabic language and culture. It takes no more than 10-15 minutes, it is totally anonymous, and there is no identifying information required. To take the survey, follow the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FNB3WS5 For any further questions, please send an email to: arabicsig@gmail.com . Primary Source announces a new online course "Windows to the Islamic World: Art, Architecture, and Music" that will run this fall. This is a 4-week course open to all K-12 educators running from November 6, 2013 – December 10, 2013. Participants in this course will learn about the key features of Islamic art, Arabic calligraphy, "Arts of the Book," Islamic architecture, and the music or "soundscapes" of Islam. More details and registration information can be found at http://bit.ly/1fS7MBg . The Center for Advanced Study of Language (College Park, MD) is interested in seeking participants for a study on how learners of Arabic understand and decipher cultural allusions in Arabic. Participants who are native speakers of English, at least 18 years old, not native or heritage speakers of Arabic, and have completed at least 3 years of university-level Arabic courses are welcome to apply. Each participant receives $25 cash after right taking the test. Testing will be conducted at a convenient location near the participant. Contact kburk@casl.umd.edu for more information. Professional Conferences The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) conference will be held November 22-24, 2013 in Orlando, FL. ACTFL is dedicated to the improvement and expansion of the teaching and learning of all languages at all levels of instruction. Register online by Oct. 30. For more information: http://bit.ly/12dLiY5 . Teachers in New England: the Massachusetts Foreign Language Association (MaFLA) conference program is now online. Check out the workshops and sessions for the upcoming conference in Sturbridge, MA, October 17–19, 2013. There will be several sessions especially for Arabic teachers, too! For more information: http://bit.ly/17pr4N1 . Call For Proposals and Papers Stay tuned for more calls for proposals and papers in future issues of the Bulletin! |
Marhaba! Level 2 curriculum guide, by Steven Berbeco Ed D (Cheng & Tsui publishers) will be released on Nov. 1. Marhaba! Level 2 is designed for second-year Arabic language students in high school or middle school. Marhaba! is not a traditional textbook, but a toolkit of teacher's materials. The curriculum is centered around the daftar, or notebook, that students fill with content and use to track their own progress in the language. For more information: http://bit.ly/18K3yKL Al-Jazeera news is currently developing a special news site for Arabic language learners. Although some of the features are still in progress, it may be worth keeping an eye on as a resources for your classes: http://learning.aljazeera.net/arabic The Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Abroad Program offers scholarships to American high school students to spend the 2014-15 academic year in countries that may include Bosnia & Herzegovina, Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mali (semester), Morocco, Oman, South Africa, Thailand, Tunisia, and Turkey. This post 9/11 program focuses on increasing understanding between people in the U.S. and countries with significant Muslim populations. For more information: www.yes-abroad.org The National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) offers merit-based scholarships to U. S. high-school aged students for overseas study of seven critical foreign languages: Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Hindi, Korean, Persian (Tajiki), Russian and Turkish. The NSLI-Y program is designed to immerse participants in the cultural life of the host country, giving them invaluable formal and informal language practice and sparking a lifetime interest in foreign languages and cultures. Applications for summer 2014 and academic year 2014-2015 programs are due November 5, 2013. For more information: www.nsliforyouth.org The National Middle East Language Resource Center (NMELRC), in cooperation with Qatar Foundation International and Brigham Young University Independent Study, is offering a hybrid online course for high school students. The high school implementation of Arabic Without Walls, winner of the 2010 Distance Education Course Award, covers the basics of both spoken and written Arabic and enables students to acquire real-world communication skills. This process starts with students attending a one-day course in their region and continues as they work online with a tutor and a cohort of students who form a tight-knit learning community. Students who have done so have gone on to win NSLI-Youth Scholarships to study in the Arab world. For more information on registration, cost and credit please visit: http://bit.ly/1bfmfcG . The Institute for Middle East Studies (IMES) Title VI Outreach Program at The George Washington University (Washington, DC) maintains a film and book library and Skype-a-Scholar program that is free and available to area educators. You can view a list of all of the library resources and find out more about the films using our new Film Guide which contains synopses of the films and classroom usage ideas for educators. The Skype-A-Scholar program brings university experts to your classroom through Skype, to converse with students for an in-depth, innovative learning experience. Contact imesnrc@gwu.edu for more information on these programs. Wikispaces (http://bit.ly/1fbMfTM) offers free wikis for K-12 teachers. Wikis are simple group websites that are easy for anyone to edit. They are great for classrooms, work groups, clubs, and more. Wikis can be public or private, have no advertising on them, provide unlimited usage, and are completely free. Created by Bill Zimmerman, Make Beliefs Comix (http://bit.ly/1dfZYgu) is a free site that allows users of all ages to create educational comic strips. Visitors can choose their characters, their characters' emotions, and add talk or thought balloons. The site is great for language learners and creative types. American Councils for International Education coordinates the U.S. Department of State's FLEX, YES, and A-SMYLE programs, where students from the Middle East and other areas of the world have competed against their peers and earned a scholarship to come to the U.S. for a full academic year. The students live with an American host family, attend school and become a part of the family. Anyone interested in hosting an exchange student for a period of two months to a full academic year, and the ability to provide a safe, supportive, English-speaking environment is welcome to contact the programs for more information. For more information: http://inbound.americancouncils.org . The Peace Corps offers the World Wise Schools website, with cross-cultural learning resources including lesson plans, videos, publications, an online game, and more. Take advantage of these free resources to develop your students' global competencies and prepare them to be engaged, 21st century global citizens. Connecting With Teachers Connect with hundreds of Arabic teachers in America and from around the world on the Teachers of Arabic Language K-12 (TALK12) page on Facebook. Teachers can chat, swap ideas, and give each other advice: http://www.talk12.org . |
Grant Opportunities Hope Street Group now has the application for its 2014 National Teacher Fellowship. The Teacher Fellowship provides a platform to discuss ideas around and solutions for elevating the teaching profession, and provides opportunities to meet leading policymakers to present those solutions. In addition to their full-time teaching positions, Hope Street Group Teacher Fellows serve as paid, part-time Hope Street Group staff. They will receive a $5,000 stipend for a twelve-month fellowship period and will work approximately 20 hours a month. Fellows will also be given several opportunities to travel throughout the year. Applications are due by October 31, 2013. To apply: http://bit.ly/1hCBydY For more information, contact Wendy Uptain at Fellowship@hopestreetgroup.org The National Foreign Language Center solicits proposals from schools, post-secondary institutions, school districts, state and regional educational agencies, language associations, and community-based organizations to participate in the STARTALK project. STARTALK's mission is to promote the learning and teaching of critical languages in the United States through summer programs that follow best practices in language instruction. To learn more and create a new proposal, visit STARTALK's proposal page: http://bit.ly/15rzc1u Job Openings Qatar Foundation International is looking to hire two mentors to lead a cohort and provide support for QFI Teacher Fellows. The goal of QFI's Teacher Fellows program is to develop a strong cohort of highly trained teachers who will be future leaders in the field of K-12 Arabic education. The role of the cohort mentor is to support the Teacher Fellows in their academic programs, ensure that Fellows are meeting their grant requirements, and facilitate ongoing virtual and in-person professional development. Applications are due by October 25, 2013 by 5 pm EST. To learn more and apply, contact Kelly Doffing at kdoffing@qfi.org Orange Crescent School, a private, non-profit, Islamic School in Garden Grove, CA, is seeking a highly qualified K-8 Arabic Language teacher to teach for 2013-14 school year. Teaching credential and successful teaching experience preferred. Respond to hr@orangecrescent.com The Tucson Unified School District is seeking a K-8 Arabic teacher for Safford School in Tucson, Arizona. Arizona Elementary Teaching Certificate required. To learn more information and apply, follow the link: http://bit.ly/1941IHl . Amana Academy Charter School (Alpharetta, GA) is searching for a curriculum designer to map the Arabic curriculum from K to 5th grade. For more information, contact Eman Maamoun <emaamoun@amanaacademy.org>. Military and Global Leadership Academy at MG Davis (Charlotte, NC) is seeking a full-time elementary school Arabic teacher for the 2013-2014 school year. To apply, contact the school's principal, Ann Laszewski <Ann.laszewski@cms.k12.nc.us>. |
Nada Shaath (Bell High School, CA) suggests: TubeChop (http://www.tubechop.com) Allows you to edit youtube videos to only the selection you are interested in showing. Do you have a favorite website to share? Send us a link and a short description, and don't forget to include the name and location of your school! |
Belal Joundeya (Renaissance Academy, UT) suggests: Timing Race This game is about speed. Prepare 10-20 flaschards. Ask the whole class to say together what is on the flashcards and record the time they take to finish all of the cards. If it takes 30 seconds, you say, "Can we do it in 25 seconds this time?" and then 20 seconds, etc. You can divide the class into teams and see who can get the best time. |
The Middle East Outreach Council (http://www.meoc.us) recommends the youth non-fiction book The Genius of Islam: How Muslims Made the Modern World by Bryn Barnard (Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers). The Genius of Islam is an excellent introduction to the inventions and innovations of the medieval Muslim world. Rather than attempting a general overview of the subject, author Bryn Barnard highlights a few representative topics – for example, optical science, the development of paper, and calligraphy. Reviewers noted that late elementary, middle school, and even older readers will love the book's wonderful illustrations and organization into short, manageable topics. |
Using Mobile Devices As Tools in French and German Courses
By Kim Marshall | Marshall Memo #503, September 30, 2013, http://www.marshallmemo.com In this article in Foreign Language Annals, Lara Ducate and Lara Lomicka (University of South Carolina/Columbia) report on their study of college students in intermediate French and German classes who used iPod Touches and cell phones as an integral part of their courses. Here are some of the in-class tasks that were assigned: searches about cities, people, political parties, and historical events; information-map tasks on political parties, paintings, and history; exploring newspaper headlines; searching travel apps; comparing TV commercials; navigating Google Maps viewing YouTube videos in the target language; referencing dictionary and grammar apps; researching and comparing weather; and searching and listening to French and German music. For homework, students were required to compose three Twitter messages for classmates, at least two in the target language. Students also did four out-of-class projects: a short video about themselves; a photo collage about their dorm or apartment; a short video in collaboration with classmates about their city; and interviewing three people about a stereotype they might have about France or Germany or French or German people. Ducate and Lomicka found that students took full advantage of the portability and power of their devices and got much deeper exposure to the target language. "When iPod Touches were put into the hands of learners," they conclude, "the range of activities and live-time access to authentic materials, resources, and support transformed learning, offering students unlimited access to resources, opportunities to communicate using the language in important and meaningful ways, mobility, convenience, and opportunities for learning anywhere and at any time." "Going Mobile: Language Learning With an iPod Touch in Intermediate French and German Classes" by Lara Ducate and Lara Lomicka in Foreign Language Annals, Fall 2013 (Vol. 46, #3, p. 445-468), http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/flan.12043/abstract |
Alabama High School Comes Under Fire From Parents Opposed to Arabic Language Elective Course
By George Chidi | rawstory.com, October 6, 2013
Source: http://bit.ly/1goPjPz "When you teach Arabic, you have to teach the culture along with it," Chuck Pyritz told Sally Ericson at AL.com, when asked about a new Arabic language course offered by Daphne High School in a suburb of Mobile. This is some of the reaction Sanaa El-Khattabi, a former University of South Alabama professor, has faced since stepping forward to teach the elective course. A group of parents has the Baldwin County school system in a full press to drop the class, describing it as a first step in indoctrination into Islam and Sharia law. Daphne is about 11 miles east of Mobile and the school has about 1,400 enrolled students, including pupils from about 30 different countries, AL.com reported. The concerns of parents do not come completely from a vacuum. Daphne appears to have produced an actual jihadist — Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki, "The American" — who was Daphne High School student Omar Shafik Hammami before dropping out 10 years ago, ultimately joining al-Shabaab in Somalia. Hammami appears to have been killed by other jihadists a few weeks ago, but his death has been declared more than once. Pyritz and others sharing his view cite Hammami's case as a reason to keep Arabic out of their school, with some calling it "a language of a religion of hate." School leaders say they're trying to offer a curriculum that holds value in a highly-interconnected world, particularly with regard to international business. "I'm sure many parents will want their children to learn Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese or Arabic," said Alan Lee, superintendent of the Baldwin County school system. The fight has drawn out parents favoring an international curriculum, who fear what the debate may say about the school and the area. "Narrow-mindedness is bred by ignorance," Daphne parent and author Elizabeth Denham wrote of the controversy in The Huffington Post. "To listen to those who have said that by teaching Arabic at school, you are teaching "a culture of hate," would be to encourage ignorance in students that limits their abilities to form their own opinions." Americans United for the Separation of Church and State also weighed in, noting "this supposed concern that teaching Arabic is the same as forcing Islam on students. It's not, and it's not even close. The school should not be forcing Islam or any other religion on anyone, but we have no evidence that any sort of proselytizing has occurred. We don't even know if El-Khattabi is a practicing Muslim." |
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