Organize field trips related to language learning

TCLP teacher Zhu Xiaohong collaborated with the Philadelphia World Affairs Council to take 45 students to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and then to Philadelphia’s Chinatown to experience authentic Chinese food and Lunar New Year festival activities. Prior to the field trip, students learned new vocabulary and content relating to Chinese art, food, and festivals, highlighting the connection between Chinese language and culture.During the field trip, students participated in an hour long Chinese art lesson at the museum, led by one of the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s student educators.

The project will help students get introduced to Ancient Egyptian history. Students will visit the planetarium to see how astronomers in Ancient Egypt made the solar calendar and how they told time by stars. They will also explore temples and tombs of the ancient world through the hall of ancient Egypt exhibit. They will learn about mummification and the advanced scientific methods to study mummies through the mummies of the world exhibit. They will delve into cultural practices and clothing of the ancient Egyptians.

Ms. Hamed will organize activities at Highland Middle School around the story of Aladdin using a comparison of eastern and western interpretations in order to build cultural awareness and mutual understanding. As part of the activities she will lead a field trip for students to the Broadway show of Aladdin in New York City. After watching this interpretation of the story, students will watch a movie representing the eastern version of the story. Students will write a review on the show and movie both in Arabic and in English.

Amany Kasab, current TCLP Exchange Teacher, was awarded a CLP grant to support her efforts organizing a double field trip in New York for her U.S. students and in Cairo for her Egyptian students. Students in New York will visit the Metropolitan Museum and will have a traditional Egyptian lunch in an Egyptian restaurant. Students will explore ancient Egyptian culture and practice conversational Arabic in real life situations. Students in Egypt will visit the Egyptian Museum and interact with tourists in English.

Ni Fenfen, former TCLP Exchange teacher, received a CLP Grant for a project for students to do an in-depth exploration of Chinese culture and art. The project involved two field trips to Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona. The first field trip included a visit to the Phoenix Art Museum to see Chinese art treasures, and students also participated in a Chinese Culture & Cuisine festival. Through this field trip, students were given the opportunity to cultivate appreciation for Chinese art, had access to stunning Chinese cultural activities in the festival, and enjoyed authentic Chinese food.

As part of a cross-cultural Critical Language Project, TCLP Teacher Tamer Elsharkawy and his students explored Alexandria, Virginia. His students shared what they learned about Alexandria, Virginia with students in Egypt and in turn, students in Egypt shared what they learned from a field trip to Alexandria, Egypt. Both groups of students practiced their target languages of Arabic and English through the project.

Principal Al Church at the Academy for Math, Engineering and Science in Salt Lake City, UT was given CLP funding for an Arab World and Language Awareness Week, conducted in partnership with the University of Utah’s Middle Eastern Center. TCLP Arabic teacher Samir Gibrial collaborated in organizing 65 current students and many community members who participated in multiple activities including: a field trip to the University of Utah’s Middle Eastern Center to observe a university Arabic class, view Arabic artifacts, and share an Arabic meal.