Teaching through Ramadan: Supporting our Muslim Students
Ramadan Mubarak! رمضان كريم
We’re in the season of Ramadan, which this year lasts from April 12 to May 12. (Updated 2024 dates: Sun, Mar 10 – Tue, Apr 9). This is the time of the year when many Muslims fast (or abstain from food and drink) from sunrise to sunset. It’s a time of both daily sacrifice and celebration. The holiday culminates in Eid, a several-day festival of food, gifts, and togetherness.
What is the Purpose of Ramadan?
Ramadan is a Muslim holiday. Islam, directly translated, means “peace”. Ramadan, which occurs during the ninth month of the lunar calendar, is a reflection of this. It is a period of introspection, prayer, self-improvement, and community.
Muslims believe that activities like fasting and zakat (charity and generosity) encourage self-discipline, gratitude, and empathy. Practicing these are qualities during Ramadan (and throughout the year) is said to strengthen one’s spiritual connection to God, or Allah (SWT). It is believed that the Qur’an was first revealed to the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) during the last ten days of Ramadan.
Who takes part in Ramadan?
Most Muslims celebrate the month of Ramadan, but not all participate in fasting. Those who are very young, elderly, pregnant, breastfeeding, menstruating, or have health conditions, might not fast. Some who do not fast during Ramadan may choose to recover missed days later in the year.
What does a day of Ramadan look like?
Suhoor begins a typical day during the month of Ramadan. This meal takes place before dawn, usually between 2-4 am, and is followed by morning prayers, or Fajr. If a person is fasting, they will probably return to sleep. Fasting has now begun, so the person will try to refrain from food or water until the Maghrib prayer at sunset.
Then, family and friends gather for Iftar. This is a celebratory meal that usually begins with the eating of dates to break the fast, followed by traditional dishes (and often in abundance!). Some families stay up late into the evenings celebrating, socializing, praying, or reading from the Qur’an.
Eid-al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan. Morning prayer is followed by two or three days of communal celebration. During the time of Eid, families may decorate their homes with lanterns or lights, host elaborate meals, give and receive gifts, or attend street festivals dedicated to the occasion. It is an occasion of joy, gratitude, togetherness, eating, and giving.
How can I acknowledge and support my Ramadan-observing students?
Self-educate. Muslim students should not be expected to teach others about their faith, practices, or traditions. Do not assume that a Muslim student wishes to share about these experiences or explain a decision to (or not to) fast. By taking the time to learn more about the month of Ramadan and the folks who take part in it, we can identify points of connection and better anticipate students’ needs.
Avoid assumptions. Keep in mind that Islam, like any religion, is widely interpreted and experienced. Muslim families and individuals may enjoy varied traditions- including the degree to which they practice aspects of their deen, or faith. Talking to students or families privately about how to best support them can increase feelings of comfort and belonging.
Consider scheduling. Fasting from food and water can be tough on students. It can impact energy levels, concentration, and mood. Many students will wake in the hour before sunrise to eat and pray, so sleeping may be interrupted, too.
When planning for participation-heavy content, cooperative engagement, and deep-level thinking, try aiming for the morning, when energy and concentration are likely to be higher. Nagla Badir, writing for Teaching While Muslim, recommends having online assignments due late at night, so that students can complete them after they’ve had a chance to have dinner. This is also an opportunity to think carefully about the timing of calendar events like a band performance or prom, which can share time spaces with Iftar or Eid.
Badir also shares this calendar, where you can look up prayer times for students in your area!
Create safe spaces. For many observers, the period of Ramadan is a time of increased prayer, which occurs during specific windows of the day. Students who may have originated from countries or communities with high Muslim populations would have this time built into their school day. Of course, this is not often the case in U.S. schools, where many of the staff may not even be aware of this need. Having a space set aside (or two spaces, one for males and one for females) can help ensure that these students are seen and valued at school.
Muslim students who, for health or personal reasons, are not fasting during Ramadan may also benefit from a separate space during eating times. These individuals may face uncomfortable pressure or questioning as to why they are not fasting; having a safe location to go to can ease this stress.
Boost Socio-Emotional Learning. Ramadan is a time of family, friends, and community. Often, our observing students are physically distant from family members and/or feel that their holiday isn’t shared with others in the school or locality. This may be especially true for our Recent Arriver newcomers.
At school (whether in person or remote) we can be intentional about incorporating opportunities to learn and practice SEL skills- especially those that include elements of self-awareness, grounding, and collaboration. This important step can help diminish feelings of isolation and support students’ mental and emotional well-being during the period of Ramadan and beyond.
Engage through children’s books. Muslim and Muslim-American literature can be incredibly powerful in facilitating “door and window” experiences for Muslim students in the classroom. There’s an added benefit, too- books can engage non-Muslim students in ways that invite connection, empathy, and tolerance. We’ll visit some of these titles in an upcoming post. In the meantime, start here, at I’m Your Neighbor Books (I’d recommend sticking around to check out this super valuable sight!).
Where can I learn more?
Great question! Here are some of my favorite sites. Have more to add? Please do share them below!
Teaching While Muslim https://www.teachingwhilemuslim.org/
Hijabi Librarians https://hijabilibrarians.com/
ING- Ramadan Information Sheet https://ing.org/ramadan-information-sheet/
Learning For Justice: https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/teaching-about-ramadan-and-eid
Muslim Students Association National https://www.msanational.org/resources
With increased awareness- and with some tools in our toolboxes, we can be better prepared to support our Muslim students throughout this beautiful month and beyond, Inshallah!
Ramadan Mubarak, friends. Wishing you all you, peace, and abundance! لويز اليعفوري
Inquiry-Based Learning with ELLs
Teachers who aim to engage English learners in inquiry-based learning often feel overwhelmed at the idea of merging two seemingly separate bands of learning. However, upon closer examination, there is a significant overlap in best-practices facilitation of English Language Development (ELD) and student-led discovery. In fact, language acquisition and inquisition do not need to be exclusive- they can (and should!) work in tandem to support one other. Moreover, this can be achieved without dramatic increases in time, resources or teacher planning.
Let’s begin by identifying the six stages of inquiry: planning, retrieving, processing, creating, sharing, and evaluating. Within each stage, we’ll explore possible implications for ELLs and outline ideas for inclusive implementation.
Planning
Planning creates the foundation for the entire process of inquiry. It begins with the students, as they learn to recognize their own interests and question their own curiosities. For English learners, effective participation in the planning process also means navigating conversational, academic, and content-specific vocabulary. It also requires an ability to navigate strategic or organizational skill sets, and these may be working concepts for students with limited or interrupted education.
Engage ELLs: Utilize graphic organizers and tech tools to assist brainstorming and planning. Provide meaningful conversation prompts. Employ vision boards, interactive word walls, or similar visual cues. Provide opportunities to talk through ideas using cooperative structures.
Retrieving
To move forward in discovery, students must actively pursue information that is relevant to their inquisition. For new-to-English learners, this process can be hyper-stimulating and may overwhelm the student’s capacity to self-direct. Often, the teacher's response is to jump in, influencing the inquiry process with his or her own thoughts and diminishing the student’s opportunities for agency. Shifting this responsibility back to the student requires that we explicitly prepare ELLs to successfully retrieve information. We facilitate this process by lowering affective filters and establishing reliable processing routines.
Engage ELLs: Clearly explain and demonstrate the process of information retrieval. Explicitly teach and model self-directing strategies. Limit the amount of information a student has access to in the early stages (for example, encourage students to select ONE print, ONE online and ONE video source). Create opportunities for small group discovery and exchange.
Processing
The processing component of the inquiry phase calls upon learners to focus ideas and information into a central topic for investigation. Alberta Education writes, “Coming to a focus can be very difficult for students, as it involves more than just narrowing the topic; it involves coming to an authentic question, a personal perspective or a compelling thesis statement.” This aim can be especially challenging for ELLs, who are already juggling conversational English and content vocabulary- and who must now navigate and employ the language of inquiry. Additionally, students may encounter cultural implications tied to sorting, organizing and condensing the information into a central theme.
Engage ELLs: Employ graphic organizers to narrow down a topic. Allow for multi-modal processing, including kinesthetic and/or experiential learning, community interviews, and small group work. Recognize culturally variant patterns in sorting/organizing and support culturally responsive means to an end.
Creating
The creating phase begins the active second half of the inquiry process. In this stage, learners begin to build momentum and confidence in their quest for discovery. The creating phase is threefold:
● Identifying and arranging relevant pieces of information
● Determining a presentation format that highlights the targeted inquiry
● Crafting written and oral expressions of ideas, questions, and concepts
English learners are likely to benefit from precise supports and scaffolds in this process, specifically in the domains of reading and writing. Laying the essential groundwork at the beginning of this process enables students to self-guide with efficacy- and also significantly reduces teacher workload.
Engage ELLs: Establish clear systems, protocols, expectations and performance rubrics. Employ kinesthetic and/or tech-based storyboard. Offer a wide range of presentation options, including culturally responsive means of expression. Explicitly support students in the areas of speaking and writing.
Sharing
School-based inquiry culminates in the sharing of findings, conclusions, and thoughts on the process of discovery. Multi-modal sharing of outcomes is encouraged; presentations may take any number of sensory-engaging forms. Regardless of the format, presenters and audience members must turn to language as the conduit for information transfer. In this context, speaking and listening domains are emphasized.
Engage ELLs: Support learners with rubrics for speaking and listening. Provide opportunities to restate/summarize/paraphrase the presented material. Refer to anchor charts, interactive word walls, and other content language resources. Clarify information as needed. Allow for a variety of ways to demonstrate comprehension, both as a presenter and audience member.
The six stages of the inquiry process are tied together by reflection.
Reflection is a metacognitive property that can be employed as a useful learning tool. In most cases, reflective thinking must be explicitly taught and modeled- at least in the initial stages of application. It is helpful to enact a standard process and predictable language bank for reflection. In this way, we can invite students to reflect at the culmination of each stage. Eventually, learners can apply these skills in sustained ways as they consider strategy and outcomes throughout the entire inquiry process.
If we look closely enough, the relationship between inquisition and language acquisition becomes evident. With a few thoughtful considerations, we can successfully plan for engaging, language supported discovery. We can champion inquiry-based efficacy and 21st-century success for all new-to-English learners.