Off to the Sahara Desert we go! Students once again pretended to be African traders traveling across the treacherous Sahara Desert writing journals using their newly learned written language--Arabic! In this project, students wrote at least three journal entries (beginning, middle, and end of their journey), translated their journals into Arabic, created a visual map of their journey illustrating events, recorded at least one journal entry as an audio file, and uploaded all of the pieces as well as pictures with captions to Edmodo (our online classroom). Enjoy some of their finished products below!
Entry 1
I am leaving
Awlil today to cross the Sahara Desert. I am going with my friend to Cairo to
meet relatives and learn new customs. My best friends name is Thimba, it means lion
hunter. My name is Nuru it means light. I was named that because my parents
think that I was a leader from the start. We are now packing lots of water,
food, salt, and gold. We hope to trade items along the way so we can survive on
different needs. It is just my friend and I going on this trip. We are
experienced travelers and know how to survive.
Entry 2
Entry 2
We are just off;
our route is to go along the outside of the Sahara Desert. I brought a few
weapons in case we run into robbers. We have traveled about 70 miles when we
stop under a big shrub to set up camp. We gather rocks to make a fire pit when
I lift up this rock and there was a fat tailed scorpion, with its stinger
raised ready to strike, I pulled out my knife and cut its head off. Then the
stinger, then I found more and did the same thing. After that, we had a nice
stew, and went to sleep. I woke up around two o’clock in the morning, and the
sun was just rising. I woke up my friend and we packed everything. We traveled
about fifty miles when I noticed that Thimba wasn’t with me! Then my camel
started going crazy! He was bucking around and shaking his leg. I calmed it
down and looked at its leg. Right there, was a camel spider about the size of
my palm, biting away.
Entry 3
Entry 3
Sorry, I stopped
at a suspending moment. The camel spider saw me and jumped at my face. My
instant reflexes kicked in and all you could see was two halves of a camel
spider. I didn’t feel like eating it, because after I saw those fangs, I was
freaked out! I found a fruit the size of a watermelon. I can’t remember the
name, but I know very well that it heals bites. I cut up a piece and put it on
the camel’s leg. The camel felt much better, and soon we were ready to go on.
Entry 4
Entry 4
Then I saw
smoke and I knew that it was a fire. I traveled another fifty miles before we
had to take shelter from a sand storm. It was very harsh and we had to stay
behind a shrub. The camels were in front of us because they could shelter us
too. They don’t mind the sand storm because they can keep their eyes open the
whole time. They can do that because they have a clear eyelid that keeps sand
out. After a few hours it stopped.
The sand was cooler now so I could walk easier. The problem is that all the other
animals think so too.
Entry 5
I started walking
but then I noticed that my camel fell! I saw what it was. There were bites all
over it! I think that some bugs were hungry. Then I cut it open and a bunch of
slimy gooey maggots fell out! I was so grossed out that I vomited several
times. I stopped and realized that every time I vomited, I was losing more
water, so now I was dehydrated and grossed out! I started seeing the smoke
again and loaded up my gear and headed out. I traveled another twenty miles
until I stopped under a shrub and took some cover for the night.
Entry 6
I woke up and
packed everything. Then I saw it, a pit viper, three feet long. I grabbed it
behind the head so it couldn’t bite me, and then buried it in the sand so it
will have to dig its way out. After that, I started heading for the smoke
again. I was much closer now so it took me about two hours before I reached it.
Then I saw everything. The camp was deserted; the smoke was from a dowsed fire.
I then saw some footsteps. They headed north. I knew that because it was nine o’clock
in the morning and the sun is rising from the west. I started chasing after the
footprints.
Entry 7
It took me
another six hours to catch up with my friend. He was lying on the ground,
dehydrated and robbed. I saw his water bottle by his side empty. I saw the city
Tunis up ahead. The robbers might have been form there so we have to be
careful. I laid a wet cloth along Thimba’s head and had him drink in small
sips. If he drinks in huge gulps, he will vomit and lose lots of water. Anyways
he woke up later and I showed him the city. We walk up to the main gates. We
say that we are crossing the Sahara Desert and were separated, robbed, and
dehydrated. They let us in and I soon found us an Arab merchant. He was selling
zalabia. A wafer thin waffle like confection sprinkled with sugar.
Entry 8
Entry 8
I bought one.
I have never tasted something so good in my life! It was amazing. I remembered
that I also have to get new supplies for the rest of our trip. We found another
merchant that was selling camels. I was suspicious in case they weren’t
healthy. We bought the Healthiest one. I traded my yams for salt, and I bought
more water. We found a place to stay for the night and we slept in an actual
bed and new clothes were laid out for us. I was surprised and happy!
Entry 9
Entry 9
We stayed in the
city for a night and soon we were ready to embark on our journey once again. We
left after I bought some more zalabia. I am really addicted to that stuff. I
really like it. Thimba and I were eating it along the way when around seven
hours of hiking we ran into bandits they tried to ransack us but I tossed a
weapon to Thimba and we fought against them. We managed to hold them off when a
Desert Patrol came to help us. It turns out that the bandits were from Awlil
too, and overheard us that we were going into the desert. They were soon
arrested and we continued on our journey.
Entry 10
Entry 10
We traveled
around another 50 miles when we settled under a small oasis. We started making
camp. I made scorpion stew again and we had a nice feast. We went to sleep. I
then woke up to the sound of Hissing. It was around three o’clock and I saw an
Egyptian Rock Cobra on Thimba’s chest! I slowly crept around it and like I did
with the pit viper, I grabbed it behind the head and threw it over a sand dune.
That was a really close call; I woke up Thimba to tell him what happened when
he screamed! I turned around and saw what happened. The warm campfire attracted
so many animals that all we had was two bottles of water, and our camel. It
surprised me that it didn’t die. We packed up everything that wasn’t
contaminated and we broke camp.
Entry 11
Entry 11
We were
walking for quite a while when I saw a mirage. I thought that it was a pool of
water that was nice and cool. I wanted to run and jump in it. I wanted to swim
around. I was so moved that I wanted to go in there that I ran and tried to
jump in. Only it wasn’t water. It was QUICKSAND! I jumped in and then I became
unconscious. The last thing that I remember is a hand reaching out to grab me.
I then fell into the darkness of the quicksand.
Entry 12
Entry 12
I suddenly
woke up. I was all sticky and was lying down. I was under a shrub. I felt
hydrated, and healthy. Then I made my mistake. I moved my left arm and it hurt
really badly. It was dislocated. I could see the socket bulging out of my skin.
I finally had the courage to pop it back in place. I then striped off my shirt
and made a sling out of it. I then saw my friend. He was sleeping on his
blanket. I went over to him and woke him up. He said that he never had the courage
to save me before. He said that he was always scared of the hazards. I said
that I already helped him. He said how? I said you pulled me out of the
quicksand. He said that he couldn’t thank me enough.
Entry 13
Entry 13
We started
hiking again and after sixty or so miles, we saw pyramids. We got excited but
we didn’t run we wanted to save our energy so we can get there on time. We
camped out for the night and we all had a good night’s sleep. We didn’t light a
fire tonight, because lesson learned. We woke up around five o’clock and
started heading towards the Pyramids. Several hours later we have reached
Cairo. We embraced our relatives and told them about our journey. They gasped
and cried, and laughed. We had fun together and I bought everyone zalabia and
we had fun. The crossing of the desert was fun, but next time, I will take the
boat.
Here's another written in a narrative format. This student worked with a partner and each student wrote their own journal in their own point of view, but the same narratives...they were sisters.
Here's another written in a narrative format. This student worked with a partner and each student wrote their own journal in their own point of view, but the same narratives...they were sisters.
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