Samar Alchawki, a graduate student with the Division of Education, spent part of her summer teaching at the We Are the WorldSummer Language Camp with Frederick County Public Schools, which introduced elementary-aged children to six different languages: Arabic, French, Spanish, Russian, German, and Latin. Samar taught the Arabic portion of the camp to the second grade students, focusing on Egyptian culture. Through this experience, Samar was able to integrate authentic cultural information into language instruction. According to Samar, “At the Mount, I learned how to vary my instructional material to engage the students in the learning process. That is why I used the Arabic alphabet puzzles, coloring books, flashcards, and magnetic numbers.” By differentiating instructional materials, Samar was able to teach her students about famous Egyptian monuments, food, and their flag. She was impressed by her students and how they showcased their prior knowledge about Egypt, and Samar was thrilled to see how interested the students were in acquiring new languages.
