WEEK 4

Its our last week here at the summer camp and we are ending it with a BANG!

On Monday we had a hot lunch of pasta made by a couple of the camper's parents.

We spent a good chunk of Monday rehearsing for Friday's end of camp presentation and completing our Islamic studies skit. Our Islamic studies skit, written by one of our youth counselors Ibrahim Balde, was about the time period of the first Khalifa Abu Bakr.

We are working to get a video of the skit on the blog so hang tight!

FIELD TRIPS
We had TWO field trips this week:
On Wednesday we went to Pump it Up in Oakland.



While everyone was at Pump It Up some students had the opportunity to go to Google's 2011 science fair. To check out the web site and see what creative projects students from around the world are working on click here!

For our second field trip we went to the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland.

PROJECTS

This week our topic was on water. We made a collage of the water systems, focusing on evaporation and transpiration. We all cut out trees, water, aquatic animals, land animals, clouds to contribute to the collage. From there we added the different stages of the water cycle. Here is our finished project:

THE LAST DAY

We concluded our 4 weeks of camp with presentations,  awards and a potluck with the campers families.

Presentations:
The campers recited the surahs they were memorizing for their parents. The younger class demonstrated how to do wuduh and the begining of salat. We also had a display table of all the projects we had done throughout camp.

Awards:
Every one received a participation award and a report card. The students above 5th grade also recieved a community service award.

Lastly, we finished of our day with a Potluck with families. The campers got to show off their projects to their parents and we all had a chance to enjoy each others company for one last meal until summer camp starts again next summer.

WEEK 3

Qur'an and Arabic and Islamic Studies

For the past couple of weeks, we have been spending our mornings on reading in Arabic and memorizing suras from the Qur'an.

There are 3 classes and they are divided by skill level into 3 groups A,B, and C. Group A consists of campers from kinder garden to 2nd grade. Group B has campers from 3rd grade to 6th grade. Group C is 5th graders and older.

Qur'an:

Group A: This class is working on short surah memorization.

Group B: This class is working on memorizing either Ayatul Kursi or Surah Ar'Rahman.

Group C: This class is memorizing Surah Ar' Rahman.

 Arabic:
Group A: Works on alphabet recognition. They are working out of 2 elementary arabic books. 

Group B: beginging arabic/ interemediate

Group C: Arabic lessons from Iqra Reader 2: "Ana Muslim"






Islamic studies:

Group A: They are learning stories from the Qur'an from an elementary Islam book called "Learning about Islam." They are also learning how to do wudhu and memorizing salat in Arabic.

Groups B and C combined: They are studying the history of Islam after the death of Muhammad and the rise of the khalifates.






Women's Shelter

 


This week for our community service we went to the Woman's shelter.  Each child brought a food item that they donated to the woman's shelter. At the Masjid we  prepared box lunches and then delivered the food. At the shelter we got a tour and explaination of the shelter's services. After the tour we got a chance to meet the facilities residents and staff. 

Park Game Day

On Thursday we spent the whole day at Crab Cove. We did relay races like the 3 legged race and balloon relay. We also played capture the flag, played in sand, and rode bikes. 



Projects 

This week our Science top was the Earth.  In studying the earth we learned how to make paper and made a volcano. 

To make paper we put shredded newspaper, egg cartons, boxes or card, computer paper, napkins, tissue paper, and colored paper into a bucket full of water. We added some food coloring to give the paper its desired color. Then we put the paper "mush" on a wire frame.

Once on the frame we allow the paper "mush" to dry until it became firm. This firmed final product is our paper.

To make our volcanos we put vinegar into a water bottle and added food coloring to the vinegar. We decorated the outside of our water bottle by taping different colored paper to the bottle and decorating the paper.

When we were ready to make our volvanos erupt.

Its amazing what a little baking soda can do!

WEEK 2: Day 4 and 5

FIELDTRIP TIME! 

On Thursday we made a trip to Laurence Hall of Science.  The big whale outside of the building is always a big hit.

In the first half of the day we explored the Dinosaur exhibit. There were many different classifications of dinosaurs ranging from the flying Pterodactyl to the carnivorous Deinonychus. 

At the other exhibits some students made electronic cars, explored roller coaster mechanics, built with wood blocks, and explored the human anatomy. 

At lunch we went out-side and enjoyed the sunshine and the outdoor exploration stations.

After lunch we went down stairs to the classrooms to see the reptiles and amphibians. Lucky for us they had one of their snakes out and lots of brave students got to pet it.

 

Projects 

This week our Sciece in Islam focus was on the Sky:

Have you not seen how God makes the clouds move gently, then joins them together, then makes them into a stack, and then you see the rain come out of it...(Quran, 24:43).

We did two projects: 

The first was a project that helped us to understand fog creation. There are 2 kinds of fog, advection and radiation or ground fog.  We recreated radiation fog by placing an ice cube on top of an open water bottle filled with about an inch of warm water. Fog is created because the warm air created buy the warm water is cooled by the ice cub which causes the moisture in the air to condense. This same process occurs in many places. 

For the second project we recreated tornados to help the campers visually understand how tornados 

work.  With two 2 liter bottles, we added food coloring to some water inside one of the water bottles

and then taped the two water bottles together. From there we spun the water bottles to the water to spin which creates the vortex you would see in a tornado. 

WEEK 2: Days 1-3

No week is the same here at the Muslim summer camp. This week we had some activities and trips that were new for a lot of the students. That in its self is one of our main goals. We are providing a curriculum that expose students to different environments and situations that they might not otherwise find them selves in.  By doing so, we encourage them to explore their own ideas and help them think critically and from an inslamic perspective while gaining a better understanding of their surroundings.

Assembly

We start off each morning with an assembly.  During our assembly we read our camp pledge followed by 

our Muslim pledge. We have the students read the Muslim pledge in Arabic, but its English translation is:
                       
            "      I'm a Muslim, Allah is my Lord,  Islam is my religion, and Mohammed is my prophet. The Qur'an is my book, the Muslims are my brothers and the Muslimahs are my sisters.

           

                   The Muslim says: There is no God but Allah, Mohammed it the messenger of Allah, and he prays five times everyday and he fasts the month of Ramadan and he gives zakat, his wealth to the poor and needy once a year; he goes to hajj to the sacred house of Allah in Mecca once in a lifetime.    "                        

As part of our assembly we do a group activity. This week we did mad-libs and everyone got a chance to fill in the story with a verb, noun, adjective or adverb. After our activity we do a brief agenda review for the day and then jump right into the days activities!

Projects 

On Monday we finished the solar system project that we started last Friday. Everyone was given
a foam board and 9 different sized foam balls to represent the planets. First they painted the balls according to the planet color key they were given. Then they put the balls on toothpicks and lined them up on the foam boards according to their planetary alignment. 





Nursing Home

This week for our community service our students in fifth grade and higher visited the Bay View Nursing Home in Alameda.  We had an ice cream and bingo social with the residents.

At first many of the students were intimidated to speak with the elderly residents because they didn't know what to expect. But after introductions and some ice cream, everyone had warmed up to one another and were ready to play bingo.

Some students shared their thoughts on the experience:
"  At first it was a little uncomfortable because I didn't want to disappoint them. But in the end I had a lot of fun playing bingo. "
   - Tasneema

"   I learned that I should help the people, and that some people are less fortunate than myself. By visiting the elderly people at the nursing home, I felt that it made some of them happy. Some people there looked very depressed. "- Zubair

"   I would recommend to my other classmates to visit a nursing home, to think about the old people there and think about how they live. As Muslims we have to care for our parents." - Zubair

WEEK 1

Salam and Welcome!

The first week was a huge success at our summer camp. The curriculum was jam packed and 
the kids and teachers were equally excited and eager to get started.

Some things at camp are constants:
We start every morning with an assembly to get everyone prepared for the day. Then we break into our classes for Islamic Studies and Science in Islam.  After a 10 min break we get right into Quran and work on Quran recitation and memorization.

In addition to Science and Islamic studies, every week we do an hour of community serive, go shopping at the farmers market and go on a field trip. Some of the major events of this week were:

Library

We brought the students to the Alameda West End Library and signed everyone up for the summer reading program. The goal of the program is to have the students reading for 20 mins a day.

 They will receive prizes ranging from ice cream, free museum admission, and free pool entry depending on how much they read throughout the summer. 

We visit the library on both Monday and Wednesday to give the students a chance to read or check out library books. 

 Food Bank 

For our community service this week we went to the Alameda Food Bank. We sorted food donations and made sure products were clean and undamaged so they can be given to those who need them.



Bowling

 On Thursday we went Bowling at Alameda Southshore Lane. Everyone was excited and anxious to get started. For many of the students this was their first time bowling!

 

Everyone was a pro, especially the younger ones! (they had a little extra guidance)

Even though bowling is an individual sport, we saw a lot of teamwork and positive support. Older kids were helping the younger ones with their bowling form and everyone was cheering for their colleagues for strikes and gutter balls alike.

Projects

On Friday Sister Ameena Jandali gave a presentation on Islam and the Environment. She quoted parts of the Quran and explained that we, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, are responsible for taking care of the Earth.  She used additional hadiths to explain issues like the treatment of animals, use of natural resources, and over consumption and wasting.

Sister Ameena explained that many human actions have detrimental effects on the earth and that some of those actions have led to climate change.

To encourage us to help make positive environmental changes in our lives, she left us with some tools of what we can do at home, at the Masjid, and at school to preserve our environment :



*Special thanks to Sister Ameena for allowing us to use some of her slides