We, at Noorart, believe that teaching language is a critical tool in communication and ultimately in the development of knowledge. In our quest to provide our customers with quality materials, we are pleased to offer the Learn Arabic series. It employs modern methods of teaching foreign language to successfully teach the Arabic language to students in K-12th grade. This series was founded upon the following three fundamentals of teaching languages presented in an Islamic context:
1. Elements: Sounds, letters, phrases, and pronunciation
2. Skills: Reading, writing, speaking, and listening
3. Linguistic Functions: Introduction, greetings, description , requests, and apologies.
Series Contents:
The Learn Arabic series consists of textbooks, workbooks, and teacher’s manuals for levels K-12th grade. The textbooks aim to present basic elements of the Arabic language and their functions, while the activity books focus on enrichment material with special emphasis on writing. The teacher’s manuals offer tips on teaching Arabic efficiently with positive results.
Support Material:
Teachers will be pleased with the full array of support materials available, such as a collection of audio records, posters, and cards. These books also include ideas for additional activities, such as chants, competitions, and linguistic plays. All of these materials will help to make each lesson exciting and active for students.
Student Textbook:
The Student Textbooks are comprised of 24 units: 18 basic units of new material, plus an additional 6 units for revision which appear after every third unit. Each basic unit contains 4 lessons of new material, including dialog text, expressions, and vocabulary, and communication exercises. each lessons applied through Dialogue and speech skills, vocabulary, listening, grammatical structure, Qur'an and Haddith or Nasheeds. The teacher books also include a midterm and final test, where they can print and dispense the test for student. Answer keys can be found in the teacher's manuals.
Activity Book:
These 46 pages’ activity Book simply enhance the material found within the student textbooks, whereas Student's Textbook aims to present the basic factors for the Language and its function. They mainly concentrate on writing skills with some review of verbal skills. Each contains many different activities which can be done at school or at home, such as coloring and painting pages; word matches; reading letters and sentences; writing words, letters, and numbers; and answering questions. Some of the activities should be completed at home with a parent to strengthen the relationship between home and school.

The teacher's guide is designed to help the teacher to perform his job properly and effectively. This guide with activity book and student’s textbook considers as one unit. It provides the teacher with a set of techniques and procedures to follow while teaching the lesson. The book contains the techniques and procedures for: conversation activity, expression and terms activity- that there are 220 expression and terms-, communication activity, grammatical activity-that there are 60 grammatical synthesis, objectives activity, audio-visual activity, exercises and additional activities.

Features:

1. Conversation exercises
2. Pronunciation and expressions exercises (this book includes 220 phrases and expressions)
3. Communication exercises
4. Grammatical structures exercises (this book includes 60 grammatical structures).
5. Phonetic exercises
6. Listening exercises
7. Reading exercises
8. Thinking exercises
9. Writing exercises
10. Fun exercises

Goals:
At the beginning of each lesson there is an overview of basic behavioral procedure goals to be maintained by the teacher in the classroom including linguistic, functional, and cultural goals.

1. Student book
2. Audio Tapes
3. Flash cards “The flashcards are included on the CD-ROM.”
4. Real objects
5. Papers and pencils.

The Teacher’s book includes key answers for all of the exercises in the student book, excluding communication exercises. In such cases, teachers can find a template for reference.

1. Holy Qur'an
2. Prophethood Hadeeth
3. Nasheed (chanting).

Workbook
At the end of each unit, students are encouraged to practice exercises found in the workbook. The aim of these exercises is to reinforce materials learned in the textbook.

The enclosed CD:
The enclosed CD can run on Windows XP using either RealPlayer or Windows Media Player. On Windows Vista, the CD can only run using RealPlayer.

System Requirements for CD-ROM:

• Windows 2000, XP, or Vista
  

This is the most comprehensive curriculum for teaching non-Arabic in Islamic schools in North America. Where The author who lived and taught in the West; add a great advantage toward this recommendation and aim to focus on similar letters, reading and comprehension, creative writing exercises, ordering, pronunciation, fill in missing letter, matching, time, gender. Strongly recommend for children who have had previous exposure to the Arabic language. It is used by a number of full-time Islamic schools throughout the U.S. and comes highly recommended.

• Preparing and carrying out programs and curricula for teaching Arabic Language and Culture.
• Evaluating programs designed for teaching Arabic to non-native speakers.
• Preparing and developing measurement and evaluation tools in the field of teaching Arabic as a second or foreign language.
• Enhancing cooperation with other institutions interested in promoting the Arabic language, by carrying out Arabic courses abroad.

Features:

• Teaches Arabic as a primary language
• Arabic only
• Uses vowelled letters (diactrical marks, or tashkeel)
• Textbooks focus: listening, writing, reading, and speaking
• Workbooks focus: exercises and games that support the textbook
• Evaluations follow every 5 lessons
• Exposes students to common terminology
• Illustrated dictionary plus vocabulary list
• Ideal for Western students; themes are heavily cultural, not necessarily Islamic.
• A comprehensive curriculum for teaching Arabic to non-native speakers in full-time Islamic and public schools

* This is 2002 Edition, same contents as textbook, but there are differences in number of pages and design. The publisher will release new edition next year.

Objectives of the book:

• Deepening the love of one’s country (Home) and belonging to it.
• Knowing the importance of science in the rise of nations.
• Introducing Islamic manners which every Muslim should commit to.

Grammatical structures:

• Knowing Nunation - (duplicate vowel of the last consonant).
• Using the stress.
• Al-Madd using wow.
• Knowing the word and its opposite.
• Answering questions with (Yes) or (No).

The linguistic resources:

• Sourat Al Alaq.
• Lesson (My country).
• Lesson (My city 1).
• Lesson (My city 2).
• Lesson (I’m the son of a lion).
• Lesson (Read).
• Lesson (knowledge is light).
• Lesson (The school).
• Lesson (To school).
• Lesson (Muslim’s manners).
• Lesson (My garden 1).
• Lesson (My garden 2).
• Lesson (Sami in the garden).

This series seeks to teach children and enhance the linguistic skills for non-Arabic speakers
Here are some of the highlighted objectives:

1. Endearing Arabic language to students and enable them to understand its meanings when listening.
2. Allow students to read Arabic language a correct loud reading while getting through what they are reading.
3. Enrich students with great linguistic resources so they would be able to format correct Arabic sentences.
4. Educate students with the features of Arabic and Islamic culture.
5. Allow students to learn other subjects in Arabic.
6. And all this would help students to recite The Holy Quran, understand its meanings and perform Islamic rituals in Arabic.

This series relays on five main fundamentals are:

1. Psychological bases.
2. Linguistic bases.
3. Cultural bases.
4. Educational bases.
5. Social bases.

From here students will learn the linguistic skills in the following order:

1. Listening skill
2. Speaking skill.
3. Reading skill.
4. Writing skill.

We would like to point out the recommended teaching methods for teaching these different linguistic skills:

• Listening and speaking skills: teaching listening and speaking skills aims to:
  1. Accustom students to Arabic sounds.
  2. To aware students to the changing meanings by changing tones in one sentence.
  3. Allow students to mimic the teacher in speech.
  4. Allow students to understand what is heard.
  5. The ability to continue listening to Arabic conversations.
  6. The ability to speak Arabic language a regular speech similar to our children.
• Reading skill: the method of teaching the reading skill will progress according to what education scientists call (the Synthesis method) which is based on benefiting the following methods:
  1. The total method.
  2. The partial method.
  3. The combination method.
  4. The analysis method.
  5. The vocal method.
• The writing skill: the method which is used for this skill in this series books is the direct dictation which benefit from the different dictation methods and they are:
  1. Imparted dictation.
  2. Visual dictation.
  3. Audible dictation.
  4. Experimental dictation.

Time plan:
The books of this series are school books so the time that is acted for is measured by the time of a class which is 45 minutes and we call each class an hour study that means the days specified to study this book may increase or decrease according to the hours specified for a day of studying.

Language used in teaching:
The teacher is obligated to speak, explain, analyze and discuss in formal fluent Arabic language, and he is not allowed to use an intermediary language whatever that language was.

Objectives of the Book:

• To teach students the importance of fulfilling their responsibilities.
• To teach students the dua before sleeping.
• To teach students the manners of Friday prayers.
• To teach students the benefits of good deeds.
• To teach students to keep in touch with family.
• To teach students the benefits of Ramadan and Laylat al-Qadr (The Night of Revelation).

Grammatical Structures:

• Using exclamation (ta'ajjub).
• Distinguishing nouns, verbs, and prepositions.
• Identifying prepositional phrases.
• Using the dual and the plural.

Lessons:

• Adel is Performing His Duty
• Bedtime Story
• Bedtime Dua
• The Student’s Dua
• Friday
• Good Deeds
• My Uncle’s Address
• Allah’s Power
• Visiting My Uncle
• A Telephone Conversation
• Ramadan
• A Night of Goodness

This series seeks to teach children Arabic and enhance the linguistic skills of non-Arabic speakers. The objectives are:

1. To make the Arabic language appealing to students and enable them to understand spoken Arabic.
2. To assist students in reading Arabic correctly, speaking it properly, and understanding it.
3. To enrich students' linguistic resources so that they can form correct Arabic sentences.
4. To educate students about the Arabic language heritage and Islamic culture.
5. To allow students to broaden their horizons and learn other subjects delivered in Arabic.
6. To help students learn to recite the Holy Quran, understand its meanings, and perform Islamic rituals in Arabic.

This series is based on five fundamentals:

1. Psychology
2. Linguistics
3. Cultural Understanding
4. Education
5. Sociology

Students will learn the following linguistic skills in this order:

1. Listening
2. Speaking
3. Reading
4. Writing

Listening and speaking skills will:

1. Accustom students to Arabic sounds.
2. Give students an awareness of the changing meanings that can occur by changing the tone.
3. Allow students to mimic the teacher in speech.
4. Allow students to understand speech.
5. Give students the opportunity to listen to Arabic conversations.
6. Give students the opportunity to take part in regular conversation.

Reading skills are taught according to the Synthesis Method, which is as follows:

• The Total Method
• The Partial Method
• The Combination Method
• The Analysis Method
• The Vocal Method

Writing skills are based on direct dictation. The different dictation methods include:

• Imparted Dictation
• Visual Dictation
• Audible Dictation
• Experimental Dictation

Completion Time:
The books in this series are intended for use in schools. The time needed for each lesson is measured by the time of a standard class, which is 45 minutes. We call each class an instructional hour, meaning that the days specified to study the book may increase or decrease according to the hours specified in a day of studying.

Teaching Language:
Teachers should speak, explain, analyze, and discuss in formal fluent Arabic. They should not use an intermediary language at all.

Building upon the two testimonies of the Shahaadah, students are introduced to the elements of faith. They increase their knowledge of the Qur'an through memorization and recitation of Soorat al-Burooj through Soorat Ash-Sharh with short explanations for each soorah. They learn additional characteristics of Prophet Muhammad (s) as well as the obligatory aspects of ablution. Practical lessons in the performance of prayer, as well as the appropriate number of rak’aat for each salah, are integral components of this grade. Students are also taught to respect the rights and property of their family, teachers, and others. The material is presented, using a spiral approach, where students revisit each area and study it in greater depth each year. The Student's Textbook contains the subject text of the lessons, exercises as well as activities.

The ICO project is a distinguished one because:

1. Our curricula meet the needs of the target audience for integrated, coherent, and appropriate curricula.
2. They were prepared according to scientific bases, assimilating the most recent educational and psychological theories.
3. They were prepared by special educationists who are experienced in designing curricula and who are familiar with the needs of the target group.
4. They employed the most recent techniques and educational aids.
5. They went through many quality control processes, which were carried out by specialized committees, and they were enhanced by teachers who evaluated the curricula before releasing them.

The Features and Characteristics of the Textbooks:

These books were prepared by the International Curricula Organization (ICO) and have certain features, which distinguish them from any other textbooks:

First: The Technical Features:

1. The textbooks have been designed in accordance with the international quality standards in all aspects: colors, paper, size, illustration, and printing.
2. They have been furnished with the appropriate illustrations and pictures which match the students’ educational stage and environment.
3. The texts have been distributed and organized in a way that makes the text stand out, paying special attention to the font type and size, and the spaces; and colors were chosen carefully to appeal to the target audience.

Second: The Instructional and Linguistic Features:

1. Reinforce the proper linguistic basis of the non-Arabic speaking students.
2. They build the students’ linguistic dictionary according to their environmental needs.
3. Provide non-Arabic speaking students with a good deal of Islamic vocabulary.
4. Identify the correct articulation of the different sounds through the study of the Glorious Qur’an.
5. Enable the students to evade making mistakes when reciting the Glorious Qur’an through employing the rules of the Arabic language.
6. Provide an integrated curriculum with well-prepared scientific content and vocabulary.
7. Take into consideration the students’ individual mental differences and their diverse linguistic skills.
8. Consider the students’ different cultures.
9. Develop the students’ creativity and mental faculties.

Third: The Educational Content Features:

1. Reinforce the principle of forgiveness and the etiquette of disagreement with others.
2. Develop the spirituality, morality, and values of the students.
3. Help students have good and balanced personalities.
4. Develop the students’ pride in their Muslim identity.
5. Help the caller to Islam to develop a balanced personality that reflects the moderation of Islam.