Embedded Files
Introduction
Introduction
This unit is comes at in the middle of high school Arabic 1. The students finished learning to read and write in the first semester and are now getting used to reading simple things, all in Arabic, and without short vowels. At this point in the school year, students are more aware of the geopolitical divides in the Arab world and have gained some knowledge of the main religious beliefs of Arabic speaking countries.
In this unit students will learn about kinship. They will do so by learning to describe family relationships in Arabic and exploring authentic Arab family trees in Arabic; giving them both practice in reading and insight into Islamic Arab family naming and marriage customs both of which can be markedly different from what is the norm in America. Through exploring the Arab family trees students will learn about how religion influences family structures both in America in the Islamic world.
Students will first watch a video about the members of the family. They will then practice the terms for members of the famly in pairs using Quizlet and an activity using the Arabic version of the Simpsons/Shamshoon family tree. They wlll then watch a music video called "We are the family" and the class will sing the song from the video together. Students will then work with a real Arabic family tree and do an activity called "Who am I?" in which a person's relationships to other members of the family is described and based on this other members of the class must determine the name of the person being described. Through the activity students will become aware of the phenomenon of cousin marriage in the Arab word. They will be asked to express verbally how they would feel about marrying their cousins and for homework will be given readings about the marriage practices in the Arab world and then disucss their feelings on this topic via a threaded discussion on Edmodo as homework over the weekend.
ACTFL: Students will be able to....
ACTFL: Students will be able to....
Learning Targets
Learning Targets
- Students should be able to understand and sing a short song about the family
- Students should be able to use the correct Arabic terminology to describe relationships between family members and intentify family members based on descriptions they hear.
- Students will be able to identify patterns in Arab family relationships which differ from those of most American families, such as poligamy and consanguious marriages and discuss how they would feel about entering into such a relationship.
- Students will understand the cultural, economic, and religious factors which shape the Arabic family structures.
Standards
Standards
ACTFL
ACTFL
Interpretive Communication
Interpretive Communication
Learners understand, interpret, and analyze what is heard, read, or viewed on a variety of topics.
- Students will achieve this by analyzing the family tree and following descriptions of family relationships.
Language Comparisons
Language Comparisons
Learners use the language to investigate,explain, and reflect on the nature of language through comparisons of the language studied and their own.
- Students will achieve this by comparing the terms used in English to describe family members with the Arabic terms.
School and Global Communities
School and Global Communities
Learners use the language both within and beyond the classroom to interact and collaborate
- Students will use Edmodo to discuss their feelings on consanguineous and polygamous marriage over the weekend, via a threaded discussion which will take place outside of the classroom.
ISTE -
ISTE -
Knowledge Constructor
Knowledge Constructor
Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and problems, developing ideas and theories and pursuing answers.
- Students will achieve this by exploring the issue of consanguineous marriage, through analysis of the family tree, and developing theories as well as discussing their feelings about it on Edmodo.
Cultural Comparisons
Cultural Comparisons
Learners use the language to investigate, explain, and reflect on the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures studied and their own.
- Students will compare the family structure of the sample family to their own via discussion
Interpretive Activity
Interpretive Activity
Part 1:
Part 1:
A. B. C.
A. B. C.
Learn the names of family members in Arabic
Learn the names of family members in Arabic
We will watch this video as a class and work on the pronunciation and reading of each term.
Practice what you learned by playing Match
Practice what you learned by playing Match
Students will work in pairs to complete this game, competing for the fastest time. The goal is to reinforce the terms learned in video on the left.
Sing the Family Song
Sing the Family Song
As a class and then, in small groups and indivdually, students will sing this song about the members of the family. Singing the song helps to reinforce pronuciation and meaning. It also creates a useful tool for the teacher to use whenever students foget family terms in the future.
Part 2: Working with an Arabic family tree
Part 2: Working with an Arabic family tree
Students will use this family tree chart to become more familiar with the Arabic terms for family members via an activity called "Who am I?". Students will take turns describing for one round orally, and one round in writing via the whiteboard (so that they may practice Arabic handwriting and reading handwriting), a person's relationship to the various family members for example: My father's name is x, I have two sisters and my grandmother's name is Y. What is my name? The rest of the class then try to identify who the person is. The student who answers the most questions first will receive a prize.
Using Plickers in survey mode, students will then be asked if they noticed anything unusual within the marriage patterns, namely the high percentages of marriages within the family. They will then be asked how they would feel about marrying their own cousins. A class vote will be taken to see how many would be open to the idea and how many opposed.
Part 3: Logic, Feelings and Discussion
Part 3: Logic, Feelings and Discussion
Students will read three articles in English about marriage customs in Saudi Arabia which will shed light on the reasons for patterns they witnessed in the family tree above.
Health fears question Arab tradition of cousin marriages
Cousin Marriages: A Fair and Balanced View
Saudi Arabia Awakes to the Perils of Inbreeding
Students will then discuss the differences in marriage customs between the US and the Muslim world via a threaded discussion on the class Edmodo page in Arabic. Students will be asked to think about why people choose to marry in this way. At the next class students will be asked verbally if their opinions about cousin marriage and polygamy have changed and to verbally explain why or why not.
Google Sites
Report abuse