Celebrating Our Culture While Having Fun and Practicing English:

Ideas to Inspire Your Students

Ideas and More………

1. Use Folktales and Stories that Highlight One’s Culture

Heritage

Big Ideas: Students read the story. Practice retelling it in English and
Arabic. Summarize the story in written from, and add illustrations. Read and
Share the book with others. Keep the book in the school library.

Materials Needed: Folktales of the Arab World, kalila wa Dimna, fables,

crayons, and paper

2. Use Free Materials in English

Big Ideas: Use free publications to highlight culture, famous people, world
events, etc. students read summarize, and share. Select a key word from an
article. Write questions about it. Read the article and write answers to the
questions.

Materials Needed: Magazines, Airline publications, Newspapers, Ministry of

Tourism, Paper, Pencil, scissors, paste

3. ABC of Jordan Book , and ABC Books Focusing on Other

Topics

Big Ideas: Students will research items of interest, write about them, and
place key words in ABC order, or find one thing in the culture for each
letter of the alphabet and write a short description about it. They will add
drawings, newspaper or magazines pictures or students artwork. This may be
done as an individual project, or as a cooperative group project. Students
will share their pages and display them. Staple the pages together and put it
 into book form. It is suggested that you keep a copy in the library for
others to read.

Materials Needed: Paper, Pencil, crayons, Ministry of Tourism materials,

Airline magazines, newspaper, magazines, ABC worksheet (or ideas may be
written on a board or on chart paper)

4. Regalia Poetry about One’s Heritage

Big Ideas: Select a handicraft or an item of special value to you. Write a

poem following the outline. Students will practice using adjectives, and exact
verbs. Illustrate the poem and back on black paper for display. Class poems
may also be stapled into a book.

Materials Needed: a copy of the format of the poem, paper, crayons, and
pencils

5. Puppets highlighting the Arab World

Big Ideas: Color and cut out the puppets, or design your own. Write a
puppet show about an aspect of the country you are studying, or write a
Question and Answer Quiz, Show. Students will practice their reading,
writing, speaking, and expand their general knowledge. Puppet shows can be
shared with classmates, and with students of other grade levels.

Materials Needed: Paper, Pencil, crayons, scissors, wooden sticks, popcicle

sticks or chopsticks may be taped to the back of the puppets to-be-used-as
handles

6. Songs – Piggy Back New Songs Onto Familiar Tunes , Rhymes ,

Raps

Big Ideas: Identify vocabulary and concepts that you want students to
learn. Fined a rhyme or song that fits. Adjust the words to fit the rhyme.
Students will read, practice specific vocabulary, and have fun while
 practicing specific vocabulary words. Great for assemblies and
presentations!

Needed Materials: “I spy Nouns “(Old McDonald Tune) I’m A Little

Bookwork” by Songwriter Susanne El-Hadeed (This Old Man tune)

7. Shape Books( suitcase shape book)

Big Ideas: Students will write real or imaginary stories about a trip they
have taken or would like to take (it can be within the country or out), or a
diary entry in a shape book form. They will identify themselves as authors
and illustrators. Students may also make lists of items they would take with
them on this trip and arrange them in order of importance. They will read
their stories to others. They will practice completing a baggage tag which
reinforces the lifelong skill of filling out forms with specific information.

Needed Materials: paper, crayons, pencils and baggage tags from RJ (Royal
Jordanian) or any airline

8. Dioramas – Celebration of a Person, Place, Thing, Book, or

Event.

Big Ideas: Using old folders or thin cardboard, make a 3-D scene of a
setting, characters, plot, etc. students may work individually or as members
of a team to prepare the diorama as part of a book report project, or to
highlight an event or a special moment in a person’s life. This can be
displayed with a book report or short description of the scene written by
the student.

Materials Needed: sample of diorama, old thin cardboard, pencils, scissors,

paste, crayons, stapler, and tape
9. World Web and Focus Work/Question and Answer
Worksheets

Big Ideas: these worksheets can be used across the curriculum at the
beginning, middle, and end of a unit of study. Students practice spelling,
using capitalization, punctuation, and understand the difference between a
telling and asking sentence. It is also used to enrich and expand vocabulary.

10. Focus on Resources : Olive Production and Camels

Big Ideas: Students will learn about important resources in the Arab
World. They will read about the history of olives in the region, and the role
of the historic role of the camel for transportation, and recreation.
Students will read, write, and share. Students may write reports, draw an
olive tree at different seasons of the year and label parts of the tree.
Students may write math story problem that use high frequency words that
they learned in the study of olives.

Materials Needed: paper, pencils, crayons , books and magazines about

camels, observation of olive trees, maps of areas of the world that produce
olives, world web and focus work worksheets, or chart paper or chalkboard
to link the focus words with wonderings, questions, and answers .

11. Games to Promote Interest and Retention of the

Material Taught

Big Ideas: Games provide a fun format for drill and practice of math and
vocabulary. Catching a ball or box helps students to focus and repeat quickly.
Materials needed: ball or small box, empty juice carton, old rolled up sock,
etc. anything that can be safely tossed back and forth.