I feel that in order to really understand history, it helps to get the students involved in ways beyond just reading and looking at pictures in the textbook. So, after every chapter test, I try to get my students engaged in some sort of cultural activity. (If you are interested in seeing some of these, click here.) My history classes completed their four-page tests which included a map and an essay question on ancient Africa on Friday, so Monday was activity day.
The first activity (sometimes I have more than one depending on how long it will take and how difficult the project may be) was to write their name in the written and trade language of northern ancient Africa, Arabic.
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First, I printed out this American to Arabic alphabet translation and gave each student a copy. Next, using a ruler, we drew light pencil lines so that we would know where the tops and bottoms of these strange-looking letters should go. I showed them how to make some of the lines thicker in places, and how to make the little teardrop thingys.
I gave them about ten minutes to work on them, and then they handed them in if they were done, or I gave them the opportunity to finish them later and hand them in the next day. I always give students a participation grade on these projects for accountability and to keep them focused. I thought that some of the results were quite lovely.
After I "graded" them, I passed them back to the students and gave them a piece of tape to tape them into the backs of their journals. I plan on doing this again, having them write their names in Mongolian, Chinese, Russian, etc. as we learn about the different cultures. If we tape them all in the backs of their journals, each student will have quite a nice little collection of their name written in different languages.
