Quran Centre Word Work: Suratal Fil

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Alhamdulillaah, here is the workbook for suratal fil. 

The format of this workbook is almost identical to the workbooks for surah Quraysh and surah al-Ikhlas; there are only two variations in this workbook. 

There are two pages that have interactive elements, indicated by the picture of the glue. Students will cut out the interactive elements, located on the last page of the workbook, glue them on the picture of the glue and under the flap, they will write the word found in the circle on the page. Be sure to tell students that they will not cut on the dotted line, they will fold the element along the dotted line.

The other variation is that students will not cut and paste the ayaat of the surah to put the ayaat in the correct order. In this workbook, students will cut out the ayaat and then they have the option to time themselves to see how quickly they can put the ayaat in order accurately. This page has a chart with a picture of a calendar and a timer for students to record their results. Having students time themselves is, of course, optional. This page is to help students see how proficiently they have memorized the surah and it helps them see if they need to continue working on their memorization.  

In shaa' Allaah, the remaining activities in the book are self-explanatory, but if not, please do not hesitate to leave a comment and ask for clarification. 

You can download the workbook here or above in shaa' Allaah.

Benefit & Enjoy In shaa' Allaah! 

 

Back to School: A Book for the First Day and Beyond...

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Back to school planning is still in full swing, and here is a book that you might want to consider reading on the first day of school.  

If You Plant a Seed, which has such lush, colourful illustrations (sans the facial features, of course), will capture students' attention because the prose are sparse but full of meaning. And alhamdulillaah, the point of this story is one which young children can easily grasp, relate to, and apply in shaa' Allaah. 

As you spend the first week of school establishing your learning community's rules and expectations, and you begin setting the tone for how learning will occur in your classroom, this book can help. Here are a few suggestions:

Before Reading the Book:

- Read the title of the book and show the cover of the book to students. Ask students what they think the book will be about. After students have given their responses, tell students that you (all) will read to see if the ideas proposed are correct.

During reading: 

• On the page where Bunny, Mouse, and the Birds are all staring at one another, pause and ask students what they think is happening on this page (there is no text on this page). 
• Ask students what they think will happen next.
• Keep reading. 
• Pause again on the page where Bunny, Mouse, and the Birds are screaming at one another. Ask the students why they think the animals are arguing. 
• Keep reading.  
• Pause again on the page where Bunny, Mouse, and the Birds are fighting. Ask students what is wrong with this scene? Guide students (if no one gives this answer) to understand that wasting food is not permissible in Islaam. Also, point out the behavior of Bunny and Mouse. Each is sticking out their tongue at the birds. Briefly discuss with children why this behaviour is unacceptable. Remind students of what Allaah says in the Quran: "Indeed in the Messenger of Allaah (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) you have a good example to follow" {Al-Ahzab:21}, and mention the excellent manners of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). 
• Keep reading until the end of the story.

After Reading:

• Ask children why Bunny and Mouse's final choice was good. Read the following hadith: On the authority of Anas bin Malik, the servant of the messenger of Allaah, that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said : "None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself" {Bukhari and Muslim}. Remind students that they are all brothers and sisters in Islaam and they must share the resources in the classroom.
• Invite two children to model Islaamically appropriate examples how we share and assist one another and then invite two different children to model behaviour that is not appropriate. Discuss why these two students' behaviour was not Islaamically appropriate, then have those same two students (who modeled incorrect behaviour) model Islaamically correct behaviour. 
• During the week (and as often as is necessary during the year), re-read If You Plant a Seed and invite children to model how we share with one another.  

 

Benefit & Enjoy In shaa' Allaah!

Quran Centre Word Work: Surah Quraysh

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Alhamdulillaah, here is the workbook for surah Quraysh.

Like the workbook for surah al-Ikhlas, the format of this workbook is slightly different from the others. Like the other workbooks, there is no language/text in the book aside from the ayaat. This is intentional because it allows for flexibility in shaa' Allaah. There are, however, visual instructions to help the students complete the workbook with little assistance (or, as originally intended, in a Quran centre in the classroom/home-school classroom). 

Like before, in this workbook, on each page, students will find a picture of a highlighter which tells them that they have to find the word they see in the circle, in the ayah at the top of the page. When students see the picture of the pencil, they know they have to write the word presented or circle the correct answer. For instance, on one page, the students see two words from the surah and they must circle the beginning sound/letter for each word. The picture of the magnifying glass alerts students to the fact that they have to search for the word in the circle, in addition to highlighting it in the ayah. 

However, in this book, students will encounter two new icons: a picture of the diacritical marks and a picture of a crayon. The picture of the diacritical marks tells students that they have to put the tashkeel on the word in the box. The picture of the crayon tells students that they have to colour all of the letters found in the word that they highlighted in the ayah (i.e. the word that was in the circle). The picture of the book tells students that they have to re-assemble the surah in the correct order (the ayaat strips are located on the last page of the workbook). 

There is one page of the workbook where students have to fill in the missing word in the ayah in two different ways. 

On this page (pictured above), students will write the missing word from the ayah (indicated by the picture of the pencil), and they will colour the box that shows the missing word (indicated by the question mark).

In shaa' Allaah, the remaining activities in the book are self-explanatory, but if not, please do not hesitate to leave a comment and ask for clarification. 

You can download the workbook here or above in shaa' Allaah.

Benefit & Enjoy In shaa' Allaah! 

Emergent Readers (13 Free Books with Worksheets)

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Alhamdulillaah, here are thirteen emergent readers to use when teaching young children to read.

Each book has the following features, all of which help students learn to read and/or help improve their reading skills alhamdulillaah:

• The text has repetitive patterns to help children work on fluency.
• The text is controlled and has repeated sight words to help children recognize these words quickly and accurately in shaa' Allaah. 
• The print is large so children can easily recognize and read the individual words.
• There is increased space betweeen the words to help children see when one word ends and another begins. 
• There is one sentence per page to help children focus on meaning and reading with accuracy.
• The pictures support reading. Children can look at the pictures to help them decode some words that may be unfamiliar.
• The worksheet for each book reinforces the concept covered in the book.

Additionally, the books are great for:

• Use in small group instruction or with one-on-one instruction.
• Helping children build a personal library.
• Silent sustained reading or D.E.A.R periods in the classroom.
• Helping children see their religion and themselves in literature; almost all of the books reinforce the concept of praising Allaah.  
• Administering informal reading assessments.  

You can download all of the books in one bundle here (the file is large; please be patient when downloading) or from A Muslim Child is Born's Teacher Notebook shop. You can also download the books, individually, below in shaa' Allaah. All books have a full colour front and back cover. The remaining pages are black and white, with the exception of two readers, which are in colour only.

Mouse Thanks Allaah

Where Do I Pray?

Up, Up, Up!

The Masjid

In the Shed (colour only)

The Ocean

The Crayons (colour only)

Rainy Day

Going to the Beach
(The pictures on the worksheet are: cake, rake, lake, and wake)

Little Lion is Lost

The Bicycle

The Moon and the Mountain

Frog Forgets

Benefit and Enjoy in shaa' Allaah! 

If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below, or if you would like to see an example of how to use an emergent reader, please download this sample lesson plan for the book Going to the Beach.

Quran Centre Word Work: Surah Al-Ikhlas

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

After receiving a comment regarding difficulty downloading files from the Quran Centre Word Work posts, I realized that the workbook for suratul Al-Ikhlas was nowhere to be found (on the blog). There are activities for this surah in this post, but there isn't a workbook.

Alhamdulillaah, here is the word work book for suratul Ikhlas. 

The format of this workbook is slightly different from the others. Like the other workbooks, there is no language/text in the book aside from the ayaat. This is intentional because it allows for flexibility in shaa' Allaah. There are, however, visual instructions to help the students complete the workbook with little assistance (or, as originally intended, in a Quran centre in the [home-shcool] classroom). 

In this workbook, on each page, students will find a picture of a highlighter which tells them that they have to find the word they see in the circle, in the ayah at the top of the page. When students see the picture of the pencil, they know they have to write the word presented or circle the correct answer. For instance, on one page, the students see two words from the surah and they must circle the beginning sound/letter for each word. The picture of the magnifying glass alerts students to the fact that they have to search for the word in the circle, in addition to highlighting it in the ayah. The building blocks tell students that they have to build the word using the letter cut outs on the last page of the workbook. The picture of the book tells students that they have to re-assemble the surah in the correct order (the ayaat strips are also located on the last page of the workbook). 

There is one page of the workbook that, aside from the highlighter icon/picture, has no instructions. This too is intentional. After finding and highlighting the word in the circle on the left hand side of the page (#1 in the picture below), students are supposed to find the letters that make up that word (# 2 in the picture below). You can have students colour the letters or you can use the circle stickers from the Dollar Store (or a store that sells stationary supplies); simply write the Arabic alphabet on them and have students place stickers on the correct answer (# 2 in the picture below). Or you can have students provide the correct answer in another way that you choose. 

In shaa' Allaah, the remaining activities in the book are self-explanatory, but if not, please do not hesitate to leave a comment and ask for clarification. 

You can download the workbook here or above in shaa' Allaah. Also, to date, the following suwar have workbooks:

1. Al-Fatihah
2. An-Nas
3. An-Nasr
4. Al-Kawthar
5. Al-Kafiroon
6. Al-Masad
7. Al-Falaq
8. Al-Ma’un
9. Al-Ikhlas

Benefit & Enjoy In shaa' Allaah!