I love integrating all sorts of great material into my Islamic Studies lessons. Here is a fun and entertaining way of teaching the importance and rewards of planting and taking care of the Earth. I typically teach these lesson on the three R's, planting, cleaning, and any topic related to education about green living during Earth Day week. But it is an Islamic topic in essence and can be taught at any time. After learning ahadith about planting and it's rewards, we read the story The Lorax by Dr. Susses. It was an entertaining way for the students to reflect and grasp how the environment is effected by our actions. After reading the story I gave them a writing prompt (download here). The writing prompt began with the hadith of the Prophet Muhammed (sallahu alayhi wa salam) saying, "If any Muslim plants a plant and a human or animal eats from it, he will be rewarded as if had given that much in charity." I can be like the Lorax and take care of the earth by... After completing their writing prompt the students then used construction paper and glued their writing prompt onto a piece. They cut other colors to create the head of the Lorax and his mustache at the top of their page. For the bulletin board I re-created a few of the trees for the story using contraction and tissue paper. It was a great and enjoyable lesson for the students. At the end of the school year we watched the movie :-) Download the writing prompt here! Buy the book here! |
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I mentioned this fold at the ISNA West Coast Educational Forum this past January as being my favorite vocabulary fold. Since it still is ;-) I decided to share it. I love it for three simple reasons, it's so easy for the students to fold and remember how to fold, it can be folded up and glued in their journal, and it can focus on all the details related to one vocabulary term. At the beginning of the year I taught my third graders how to make it. I demonstrated it the first three times we used it naming it 'The Vocab Fold'. Then throughout the year I would tell them to make 'The Vocab Fold' and they would know what I meant. This eliminated having to demonstrate a new fold every time.
How it's used? Every unit has those few key terms that are so important to understanding the entire unit. As you can see in the picture above I place the key term in the center diamond (which will be created with the fold). Then in each of the four squares around the diamond important information is filled in centered around ONLY that term. Maybe you are teaching the story of Prophet Yunus AS. His name could be that key term placed in the center and in the four squares important events, details, a picture, or lessons learned can be in the four squares. It can be used in Arabic or Quran too. Put a word or letter in the center and come up with details for the students to fill in around the word or letter. How to make it? It's so easy! Take a sheet of any type of paper. Fold it down the middle (hamburger or hotdog). Then with your paper still folded, fold it down the middle the opposite direction. You should end up with a square that when you open it you have four squares. Now with it still folded into the square you have four corners of that square. Find the corner where the center fold is (the side that cannot be opened or the center of the page). At this corner fold it over facing the center of the square to create a small triangle (this creates the diamond in the center). Now open it all up and you should end up with a diamond in the center and four squares all around it. (stay tuned for a video demonstration). On the board I draw the paper and place things I want the students to fill in (I use it as an assessment). To store it students fold it back up into a square add glue to one side and glue it in their journals. When they need it they just open it up and have all the information needed. It can also be used for note taking. Enjoy! |
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