Learning About Charity

We are continuing to learn about Muslim stories and holidays in my room.  Last week, my students completed their Muslim Holiday Packets, which were a great success.  This week, my students will participate in what is called Zakat, or giving to charity.  On Eid al Adha, when a family sacrifices a sheep, it is expected that they will give 1/3 of their sheep to friends and family, and 1/3 of their sheep to charity.  Personally, I think this is an important tradition for my students to learn about, so we are going to do our own sharing with friends and charity, but on a smaller scale.  On Wednesday of this week, I will be making no bake cookies with my students.  We will give 1/3 of them to the other 1st grade class, and 1/3 of them to the orphanage near our school.  Because I teach at an expensive private school, many of my students are a little spoiled (or a lot spoiled), so I am looking forward to talking with them about the importance of helping others.  I know many people in the US are doing similar activities with Thanksgiving and Christmas food drives.  What do you do with your students to promote the idea of charity?

 

Here are some pictures of my kids work on their Muslim Holiday Centers: