Once Upon a Time!كان يا مكان في قديم الزّمان

Introduction

Stories are forms of creative and interactive expressions in which an author can reflect personal, social, and cultural experiences which, in a way or another, are considered a dynamic approach for the mental, emotional, and physical thoughts. A key in creating a story or writing a knowledgeable one is creativity. Moreover, while writing, students have to be aware of the chosen diction, patterns of organization in certain structures, and the idiomatic expressions used which reflect much of a hidden and intended meaning to be delivered to the reader.

The students are intended to inquire and answer knowledgeable questions in further understanding and discussion of the topic included. Such questions or inquiries will be responded to through the completion of a given exercises or task to apply and assess students’ understanding and learning at an individual or self-pace. Finally, students will create their own original story.

Task

During this unit, you have inquired and discussed the following questions:

Factual

What are the elements of a short story or a folktale?
Which idioms and word choices can you use in writing an Arabic story?
What are the steps of writing a coherent story or folktale?

Conceptual

How can you address a deep and a compelling theme in a creative story for kids?
In which ways can you effectively collaborate and be creative in writing short stories in Arabic?
How do folktales reflect the culture of the people over time?

Debatable

Which themes do you think are favored in writing?
How can a reader deconstruct meanings in a text?
Which key concepts can be elaborated to benefit the reader in improving writing skills?

Key Concepts: culture / creativity

Related Concepts: word choice, target audience, patterns, and idioms

Global Concepts: Personal and cultural expression

Task's Description of the Final Product

Based on the flipped classroom instruction about reading, analyzing, and summarizing, you have chosen a story of your interest with a knowledgeable level of reading. In this Web Quest, you’ll be able to assess a fruitful outcome by being able to communicate with native speakers in several languages in order to write a story in relation to cultural experiences and expression. You will be able to provide a given theme with its related effects and specialized pieces of information. As a result, by the end of the assignment, there will be a free pace to reflect personal thoughts and perspectives with respect to culture after previously reinforcing your background with cognitive and tentative skills.

In approach, you’ll be able to write a short folktale with a compelling theme. Your story will be read by kids in Arabic. You’ll be able to apply story elements in creating the story. Moreover, you’ll be skilled in showing conceptual understanding of the statement of inquiry in the target unit, “Once Upon a Time!” Consequently, by the end of the week, you will publish the story using the website storybird.com

Process

Objectives:

For this WebQuest, you will have to be able to:

Determine a knowledgeable story of a compelling theme
Demonstrate story elements in relation to a special cultural experience
Comprehend how to link idioms, word choice, and patterns of organization
Create a creative and unified folktale with the effective application of a mind map
Present the story in a creative and interactive way in front of Grade 3 students
Illustrate with a brief explanation of the main theme and reinforcement of knowledge for such a task

RAFT/Process

As an effective methodology, the task will be based on (RAFTS) strategy.

- As an author, you have to write and present a children’s folktale. Through this, you address a deep and universal theme in such a creative way.

-Role: -You have to work in pairs, where you play the role of the author who is interested in writing such kinds of stories for kids.

-Audience: According to your audience, it will be roaming around Grade 3 peers of native and non-native Arabic Speakers.

-Format: Regarding the format, your creative story will be written in narrative form reflecting personal, social, and cultural experiences with suitable illustrations and examples.

-Publishing and Presenting: Your story will be published on the following website "storybird.com". Also, you’ll have to present this story as "service learning action" in front of Grade 3 students in the library, during the book week at school.

Resources:

For choosing and better assistance in story work, you can refer to the following Web sources.

http://mindmapfree.com/

- Story bird website:

https://storybird.com/classes/arabic-language-acquisition-ph2/

Evaluation

Rubric:

Your product will be assessed according to the criteria C & D of MYP Arabic Language Acquisition "Phase 2". Check the following rubric for evaluation.

Criteria	7-8	5-6	3-4	2-1
Using Language in Written and Spoken Form	The student writes/speaks effectively using a basic range of vocabulary, grammatical structures and conventions accurately, occasional errors do not interfere with communication. When speaking, uses clear pronunciation and excellent intonation, making communication easy, organizes basic information and ideas clearly, and uses a range of basic cohesive devices accurately; there is a logical structure and cohesive devices add clarity to the message, uses language effectively to suit the context.	The student writes/speaks making good use of a basic range of vocabulary, grammatical structures and conventions, generally accurately; when speaking, uses pronunciation and intonation with some errors, though these do not interfere with comprehensibility, organizes basic information and ideas well, and uses a limited range of basic cohesive devices accurately, usually uses language to suit the context.	The student writes/speaks using a basic range of vocabulary, grammatical structures and conventions, with some inappropriate choices; when speaking, uses pronunciation and intonation with some errors, some of which make understanding difficult, organizes some basic information and ideas, and uses a limited range of basic cohesive devices, not always appropriately, uses language to suit the context to some degree.	The student has difficulty to write/speak using a basic range of vocabulary, grammatical structures and conventions; when speaking, uses pronunciation and intonation with many errors, making understanding difficult, organizes limited basic information and ideas, and basic cohesive devices are not used, makes minimal use of language to suit the context.
Communicating in Response to Spoken, Visual and Written Text	The student responds in detail and appropriately to simple short phrases and basic information in spoken, written and visual text, interacts confidently in basic structured exchanges, uses phrases effectively to communicate ideas, feelings and information in a variety of familiar situations; ideas are relevant, detailed and include examples, communicates with an excellent sense of audience.	The student responds appropriately to simple short phrases and basic information in spoken, written and visual text, interacts considerably in basic structured exchanges, uses phrases to communicate ideas, feelings and information in some familiar situations; ideas are relevant and detailed, communicates with a considerable sense of audience.	The student responds to simple short phrases and some basic information in spoken , written and visual text, though some responses may be inappropriate, interacts to some degree in basic structured exchanges, uses some phrases to communicate ideas, feelings and information in a limited range of familiar situations; ideas are not always relevant or detailed, communicates with some sense of audience.	The student makes limited attempt to respond to simple short phrases or basic information in spoken, written and visual text; responses are often inappropriate, interacts minimally in basic structured exchanges, uses minimal phrases to communicate ideas, feelings and information in a limited range of familiar situations, communicates with a limited sense of audience.
Source/Citation	Available Accurate use of APA Format	Often available Good use of APA Format	Rarely available	Not available

Conclusion

As a closure, you have to reflect on how the web Quest has helped you add to your prior knowledge and complete the activity excellently. As learners, you have been able to write a folktale with reference to given resources. Also, you have shown ability to use technological sites in a creative way. Moreover, you have developed cultural awareness and reflected on personal themes and perspectives.