Read the following situation and see if you can figure out the reason for the student's problem:
"You are a 3rd grade teacher. Your new Syrian student speaks Arabic. He seems to hold his pencil in a very clumsy way and has a great deal of difficulty even copying work in English."
This is question number twenty on this culture quiz. My How to Teach Reading and Writing class finished off the quarter last night with a potluck and this quiz.
Think you've got an idea about the Syrian student's problem? Here's the explanation:
"This student is used to reading and writing from right to left, back to front. It will take longer to relearn this and to hold the pencil in a way that is appropriate for English writing."
I'd figured the student had never written in his first language, and therefore didn't have the motor skills to use a pencil. I'd completely forgotten about Arabic being arranged differently on the page.
The quiz is long, but there's some really interesting stuff in it. Like number thirty-one!
3 comments:
You had me nervous there for a second until I realized the answers were at the end. Where do I hand my paper in?
I didn't do as well as I thought I would have. I should never be allowed to leave this country.
Fantastic quiz, thanks for posting this!
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