How to use
technology to meet the
National Standards (5 Cs)
Standard 1: Communication
- Communicate in Arabic
Standard 1.1: Students engage in conversations and correspondence
in Arabic to provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and
exchange opinions.
Example: Use of e-mail, Wimba voice boards, YouTube, Google Wave, Skype to
communicate in Arabic
Standard 1.2: Students understand and interpret written and spoken
Arabic on a variety of topics.
Example: On-line Newspapers,
On-line TV News and TV shows, Arabic Podcasts and Videocasts
Standard 1.3: Students present information, concepts, and ideas to
an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics.
Example: Create your own
Podcast or Videocast, Blog, Wiki or your own video/
music video
Standard 2: Culture
- Gain Knowledge and
Understanding of Cultures of the Arab World
Standard 2.1: Students demonstrate an understanding of the
relationship between the practices and perspectives of the various culture of
the Arab World (Focus on practices such as traditions, norms, beliefs and
societal structure).
Examples:
-
Create and send greeting cards for Ramadan or Eid using on-line websites
- Research Muslim and Christian holidays celebrated in
the Arab World
- Observe a Friday prayer or a mass in Arabic either
live in a mosque or church or on-line (listen to one or find a video on YouTube
or streaming video from Makkah or another city and
describe what you see and what you understand
Standard 2.2: Students demonstrate an understanding of the
relationship between the products and perspectives of the various culture of
the Arab World. (focus on products such as poetry,
literary texts, the arts, music, film, architecture, Islamic calligraphy, etc.)
Examples:
-
Find a poem or short story on-line as text, audio or
video
- Find Arabic music (audio) or a music video on YouTube
and work with it.
- Describe, draw or create a typical mosque with all
its parts and talk about it.
Standard 3: Connections
-
Use Arabic to Connect with
Other Disciplines and Acquire Information
Standard
3.1: Students
reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through Arabic.
Standard
3.2: Students
acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are only
available through the Arabic language and cultures.
Examples:
-
Using on-line maps or Google Earth of one of the Arab countries to
connect to geography
- Research the contributions of famous scientists (ibn Sina; Ibn Haitham, al Khawarizmi, Averoes, É) and prepare a
PowerPoint about this scientist with images and a list of contributions in a
specific area (physics, anatomy, optic, philosophy)
- Find an apartment in Cairo or Beirut that you want to rent (or to buy),
and using an on-line currency converter calculate how much it will cost you to
rent (per month)or to buy. (using math and economics)
-
Find information on the political system in Jordan or Lebanon and create
a chart that summarizes the system
- Choose one single Arab country and find out a few popular bands. Create a
profile of one of these bands (either in a PowerPoint, a Blog or a website with
a short biography, images and adding some of their songs (audio, video and text).
This is a group work.
Standard 4: Comparisons
- Develop Insight into the Nature
of Language and Culture
Standard
4.1: Students
demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of
Arabic and their own.
Standard
4.2: Students
demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the
cultures of the Arab world and their own.
Examples:
-
Compare current events using headlines of on-line newspapers from the Arab
world (at least 3 newspapers from 3 different countries) and the USA.
- Compare the top 10 music bands or the top 10 in the music charts/ books
in the Arab world with that of the USA
Standard 5: Communities
- Participate in Multilingual
Communities at Home & Around the World
Standard
5.1: Students
use Arabic both within and beyond the school setting.
Standard
5.2: Students
show evidence of becoming life-long learners by using Arabic for personal
enjoyment and enrichment.
Examples:
-
Visit Arab community (mosque or church or school or cultural
organization) in your area and interview their members about anything of
interest to you
- Become a member of an Arabic chat room
- Using Skype or ooVoo to communicate with people
from the Arab world
Possible Technology Driven Projects:
- Create your
own video project with at least 3-4 sub-standards ,
e.g. a biography of a famous person, a mock interview with a famous personality
about a current event, a
commercial for a product, a country profile, a scene in a restaurant, etc.
- Create a
short film (using Windows Movie Maker or Photo Story 3) introducing a specific
unit on Arabic foods, colors, verbs, activities, famous scientists and their
contributions, a city (with a map, images, history, music, É)
- Create
your own music video in Arabic.
- Create your
own Blog or Wiki with text in Arabic, maps and images from the Arab world,
video from YouTube, your own audio recording (a greeting or introduce your self
using audio (mp3) or video that you can post on YouTube and then embed it into
your Blog.