Teach a four years old how to write the first three Arabic letters
Teach a Four-Year-Old Kid How to Write the First Three Arabic Letters
Name: Dema Alaskar and Mada Alghamdi
Instructor: Dr. Matthew Berland.
Date: 12/2/2012
Teach a four years old how to write the first three Arabic letters
Yara is a four-year-old girl who has lived in the United States since she was two. In the
last two years her English language skills have become quite proficient, but she has lost
some of her native Arabic language ability. When she goes back to live in her native
country of Saudi Arabia, she may face difficulties writing and reading in her elementary
education because of her diminished Arabic language knowledge.
The goal is for Yara to maintain her native Arabic skills so she can transition back into
her studies without experiencing remediation when she returns.
Yara’s instruction will be done using the smart phone app called “Abjed.” The goal is to
teach her three Arabic letters using different methods of instruction. The student will be
given six exercises incorporating different methodologies. These exercises are:
•Writing Arabic alphabet: This exercise focuses on learning Arabic letters, and a song as
well as pictures of objects that begin with the letter accompanies each letter.
•Arabic letter songs: The songs repeat Arabic letters, emphasizing how the learner should
pronounce each letter.
•Matching game: Pictures are displayed in one column and the letters are displayed in
another column. The learner matches the picture with the correct letter.
•Find the letter: This exercise provides a picture and underneath the picture are three
letters; the learner must choose the correct letter for the word that identifies the object in
the picture; for example, choosing the letter “C” for the picture of a cat.
•Arabic names for shapes and colors: This exercise teaches the learner the names of the
shapes by requiring the learner to choose the shape then to color the shape. Each time the
app displays the name of the shape and the name of the color like “red circle”. In
addition, this exercise requires the learner to match shapes. For example, the learner
looks at a square then finds another square. Lastly, the learner is given the opportunity to
draw the shapes by using a helpful line starting with a red point that guides the learner in
eye hand coordination to duplicate various shapes.
•How to write the Arabic letters: This exercise has a red point that guides the learner to
recreate Arabic letters. The learner follows the arrows to write each letter, eventually
moving throughout the entire alphabet.
Research Questions:
•Can Yara write the three letters correctly by using the app?
•Does this app helps Yera's writing to improve?
Can Yara write the letters without using the app?
Teach a four years old how to write the first three Arabic letters
Literature Review:
There are many studies that discuss teaching children how to write the letters of the
alphabet. One study is “How to Teach Preschoolers to Write the Letters of the Alphabet”
by Kathryn Walsh. In her article, she discusses how to teach letters of the alphabet to four
and five year olds. Walsh also suggests teaching children "The Alphabet Song" because
music helps children memorize concepts in a way they'll enjoy. Once children have
entered preschool, parents might choose a "letter of the week". Introduce a letter each
week by posting a large picture of the aimed letter in a kids playing area where children
can visualize it constantly. Once children are familiar with what the alphabets are, parents
or teacher “ can begin to use worksheets and teach them tracing letters. When children
have done some practice with tracing letters, let the child uses art materials to practice
further and in a more creative ways such as using her or his finger’s print on big pieces of
paper. Once children are comfortable with tracing letters of the alphabet, they might
practice writing the letters by themselves. Parents might write each letter at the top of a
sheet of paper and have the child copy it 10 to 20 times.
Parents Magazine published another study that was written by Judith A. Schickedanz.
Schickendanz is a mother and researcher who used seven strategies to teach and
encourage students’ writings. In her study she supported Dr. Dolores Durkin, a professor
of reading at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign who believes that preschool
kids actually enjoy writing as much as reading. Durkin created the term "paper-andpencil kids.” to describe her theory. The study shows that between the ages of two and six
years early literacy awareness is highly developed in children and overall verbal and
composition abilities can be strengthen using several methods of instruction. The last
article that I discussed is “How to teach how-to writing” that written by Swartz Elizabeth.
She shows some of her experience with teaching kids how to do some school’s activities,
and how she could help students to feel more happy and successful with writing by many
different steps started by made a list for what they need and ending by teach kids how to
work as a group to do their best in their project.
Methods:
Participants:
The participant for this study is Yara. She is a pre-kindergarten child who has many
problems with writing especially when she writes letters. She cannot write the letters
correctly. The task is to improve her writing by using a program on the smart phone App.
She is exposed to a second language environment (English), and is at risk of losing her
native language (Arabic) skills. She can benefit from this research by preserving her
ability to transition back into her native language when she returns to Saudi Arabia.
Teach a four years old how to write the first three Arabic letters
Materials:
The necessary material required for the study is the Apple Smart phone and the
application ‘Abjed.” The program contains auditory, visual and tactile lessons that enable
the learner to draw letters by using a touch screen, and pronounce the letter, as well as
sing a beautiful song which relates to each letter. Moreover, the program has several
activities to confirm the understanding of the letter.
Procedures:
Once program was downloaded then Yara began to practice. The Abjed program has
several practices and games to support her and to teach her in an interesting way. The
program was very easy so Yara did not experience problems or frustrations in using it. It
is age appropriate for her because she could open it by herself, and use it easily. At the
beginning, I asked her to just practice by drawing the same shape. After that, she drew
the program made up a song about the target letter. I then reinforced her by giving her
several more activities to do. The experience was very interesting and enjoyable for her,
and she wanted to perform the activities several times. She became self directed in her
ability to use the phones, and find the App work through the exercises.
Results:
The results were amazing. She asked to open it and practice several times. The training
was very interesting and was what most educators are looking for, to have an educational
target that is functional but interesting at the same time. After she practiced drawing on
the screen, she was able to draw letters on paper. Also she can draw the letter above the
letter on the program by using her finger that enables her to remember the letter shape in
her mind and then duplicate it on paper.
Discussion:
Her Arabic language ability has improved. She can almost write all the letters on
paper. In the experiment, two learning theories are supported: it is clear that we depend
on teaching her through trial and error and learning- for -use theory. A child can be
motivated to learn by using creative software that is written to allow a learner to proceed
independently with stimulus that induces learning. Technologically creative programs
allow hands on practice. By using her finger she facilitates the task of education. She
trains and makes mistakes then she fixes her mistake the second time. Her improvement
has been gradual. The learning method has been like a game for her, but with the added
benefit of attaining an educational goal. Through this experiment, we can deduce that we
can teach a child in an interesting way and with convenience due to the size and ease of
Teach a four years old how to write the first three Arabic letters
being able to carry the phone anywhere. The girl learned and asked to work with the
exercises again and again without forcing her to learn. On the other hand, the program
did not teach her to hold the pen. The program requires the child to use her finger instead
of using an electronic pen. If she used an electronic pen, she would learn how to actually
hold the pen and strength her motor skills, as well.
Teach a four years old how to write the first three Arabic letters
References:
o Walsh K, “How to Teach Preschoolers to Write the Letters of the Alphabet.”
From http://www.ehow.com/how_7344233_teach-preschoolers-write-lettersalphabet.html.
o Judith A. Schickedanz, Parents Magazine, 1992. “How kids learn to write.” From
http://search.proquest.com
o Schulz P, Sep-5-2011. Teach Kids to Write, from http://teachkidstowrite.com.
o Swartz, E. (2003). How to teach how-to writing. Teaching Pre K, from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/231930400?accountid=7122.