Weekly News & Learning

Dear NISL Families,

As we begin the second half of the school year, I want to remind everyone about the critical importance of driving safely in our school parking lot and carline. With over 320 children attending both our school and daycare, our campus experiences heavy traffic during drop-off and pick-up times. Additionally, on Fridays, our masjid welcomes hundreds of community members for two Jumu'ah prayers, increasing congestion.

Unfortunately, we have received multiple reports of unsafe behaviors this school year, including:

• Speeding in the parking lot
• Not stopping for pedestrians (especially young children walking)
• Cutting in the carline
• Getting impatient, arguing with staff, or disregarding instructions
• Double parking and blocking driving lanes, making it unsafe and sometimes impossible for other cars to enter or exit the property

Please remember:

• Drive slowly and carefully at all times.
• Be extra vigilant for children walking near the school.
• Follow the carline procedures and remain patient—cutting in line endangers children and creates unnecessary tension.
• Do NOT double park or block traffic lanes. Keep the flow of traffic moving to ensure smooth and safe drop-offs and pick-ups.
• Show kindness and respect to staff, teachers, and parent volunteers who are working hard to ensure safety.

A Heartfelt Thank You to Our Dedicated Staff & Volunteers!

I want to take a moment to sincerely thank our teachers, administrators, and parent volunteers who selflessly stand outside every single day—rain or shine, in the heat, cold, or snow—to manage traffic flow and keep our students safe. Their dedication deserves our appreciation, patience, and cooperation.

Next time you see them, please take a moment to say ‘Jazakum Allahu Khair’ and show your gratitude. A kind word goes a long way!

As a community, we must embody the teachings of our faith. The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said: “The Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hand the people are safe.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 6484, Sahih Muslim 42). Let’s make sure that our actions—whether driving or interacting with others—promote safety, patience, and care for one another.

The Prophet (ﷺ) also said: “Allah is kind and loves kindness, and He rewards for kindness in a way that He does not reward for harshness.” (Sahih Muslim 2593) Our children learn from us. Let’s model kindness and patience, especially in moments of stress and frustration.

Thank you for your cooperation in making our school a safe, respectful, and caring environment for everyone.

Sincerely,

Aisha Blagaia

Principal

Alhamdulillah! NISL PTO Board executed a dazzling evening of fun and community for students in grades 2 through 5 tonight! This marks their first of many exciting events- bi idhnillah.

May Allah bless their efforts, multiply their rewards, and grant them energy and patience in their mission to enhance our children's school experience!

Students in grades 6 through 12 can join in on the fun next Friday (1/31) -boys will be watching Sonic 3 and girls will be watching Mulan, inshaAllah.

Abu Huraira reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said,

“Whoever does not thank people has not thanked Allah.”

Source: Sunan Abī Dāwūd 4811

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ‏ لاَ يَشْكُرُ اللَّهَ مَنْ لاَ يَشْكُرُ النَّاسَ

4811 سنن أبي داود كتاب الأدب باب في شكر المعروف

• Br. Fabala Kinteh for volunteering his time to purchase and spread the salt for our parking lot and entrance ramp and then assisting in carline duty! (Sr. Aisha Blagaia)

• PTO members for organizing the first PTO sponsored event for our students! (Sr. Aisha Blagaia)

• Br. Omar Mahran for ensuring our parking lot and all walkways and ramps were cleared of snow and ice in preparation for our students returning after inclement weather closings and also taking care of numerous emergency maintenance issues in the last couple of weeks! (Sr. Aisha Blagaia)

• Sr. Rubeena for her hard work and excellence in art education. Her consistency and dedication to providing our students with meaningful and useful instruction is amazing! (Sr. Zainab)

• Sr. Bothaina, Sr. Mebarka, and the 2nd Grade class for perfecting their congregational prayer. We cannot wait for them to join us in the masjid next year, bi idhnillah! (Sr. Zainab)

• NEHS, NJHS, and NHS Faculty Councils for quick and efficient team work. We really appreciate your service to our students! (Sr. Zainab)

• Nour A. for taking Nouna's place in morning carline. MashaAllah, Nour exemplifies the spirit of sisterhood in our NISL family! (Sr. Zainab).

• Tuesday, January 28: Islamic Quick Recall competition (elementary & middle school boys)
• Wednesday, January 29: Islamic Quick Recall competition (elementary & middle school girls)
• Friday, January 31: NISL PTO Grades 6-12 Movie Night @ Six Mile Campus [4:00PM - 7:00PM]
• Friday, January 31: 2025-2026 Registration Deadline (Act now to save your child's spot!)
• Feb. 3-13: WaterStep shoe drive
• Feb. 8-9: CISNA Arabic Spelling Bee (Grades 1-2)
• Feb. 12: School-wide Science Fair (Grades 3-8)
• Feb. 15-16: CISNA Arabic Spelling Bee (Grades 3-5)
• Feb. 22-23: CISNA Arabic Spelling Bee (Grades 6-8)

...inshaAllah

Details

• The Tahfeedh Quran program runs Mon-Fri.
• Offering flexible time slots.
• Open to both NISL students and Non-NISL students.
• Helping students of all ages learn how to read with tajweed, memorize and deepen their connection to the Quran.

School year of 2023/2024 Highlights:

• 95% of students completed learning how to read
• 60% of students memorized 10 pages of Quran
• 29% memorized 1 Juz
• 11% memorized more than 1 Juz.

We look forward to welcoming students of all ages and accommodating their learning needs! Sign up here or use the button below to register your children.

Reminders/Notes

Reading daily is key to your child’s growth in vocabulary, comprehension, and creativity. Raz-Kids is now available for your child at home—an excellent resource to support their reading practice! Please encourage them to read a little each day. Your support makes a big difference!

Kids will learn that English has over forty sounds but only twenty-six letters, so multi-letter combinations are used to represent some sounds. This unit introduces six consonant sounds written with two letters: /ch/ as in chin, /sh/ as in shop, /th/ (unvoiced) as in thin, /th/ (voiced) as in them, /qu/ as in quit, and /ng/ as in sing.

Small Groups:

Group 1: Learning R-Controlled Vowels

• Recognizing and spelling words with ar (like "car").

• Recognizing and spelling words with or and ore (like "fork" and "store").

• Learning words with er (like "her").

Group 2: Learning Suffixes (-es and -ed)

• Understanding and spelling words that end with -es (like "boxes").

• Understanding and spelling words that end with -ed (like "jumped").

Group 3: Mastering the “th” Sound

• Learning the voiced th sound (like in "this").

• Learning the unvoiced th sound (like in "think").

Reading Comprehension: Knowledge 7 - Kings and Queens

This week, students will explore kings, queens, and royal families, integrating social studies topics like leadership and traditions with ELA skills in listening comprehension, vocabulary, and sequencing events.

Social Studies Connection:

Students will learn about royal responsibilities and customs through stories like King Midas and the Golden Touch and Old King Cole, highlighting the cultural significance of royalty.

Science Connection:
Students will learn materials used in castles, clothing, and royal items, exploring natural resources needed for these objects.

ELA Skills:
Students will listen to fictional and nonfictional read-alouds, focusing on key vocabulary words like kingdom, royal, reign, and treasures. They will sequence events from stories, identify characters, settings, and plots, and compare their own families to royal families through drawing and discussion.

• Learning about the Sahaba (the companions of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ).

• Discussing their kindness, love for Allah, and good character.

• Talking about how we can follow their example in daily life.

Math

Unit 5 - Lesson 10: Google Drawing Assignment 2

• Assignment video
• Create My House (roof, windows, doors, chimney, bushes, & trees)
• Multiple choice questions

REMINDERS & NOTES

Ramadan Lanterns

English Language Arts

Amplify Skills: Lesson 11-15:

• Review /t/ › ‘t,’ ‘tt,’ and ‘ed,’ /d/ › ‘d,’ ‘dd,’ and ‘ed,’ /f/ › ‘f’ and ‘ff.’

• Spelling Alternatives and Tricky Word: Introduce /v/ › ‘v’ and ‘ve;’ Introduce "picture."

• Writing: Introduce Opinion Writing.

Amplify Knowledge : Unit 6 ( lesson 1-3:Introduction to the Sun and Space , The Earth and the Sun, and Stars)

Daily Phonics and Language Practice

• Phonics Practice (UFLI): Focus on affixes.

• Phonological Awareness Practice: Deletion and substitution of the last sound.

• High-Frequency Words Practice: Reinforce recognition and usage.

• Reading Comprehension Practice: Enhance understanding of text.

• Grammar Lessons: Focus on adjectives

Main, Paw, Way, Ear, Rain, Row, Raw, Cream, Air, Saw, Stay, Pair, Jaw, Clay, Play, Beam, Hair, Claw, Stair, Heal

Islamic Studies

Math

Social Studies

Unit: Continue learning about Map Skills

• Map skills practice

• Review parts of a map (title, compass rose, legend, scale).

• Learn how to read and interpret maps.

• Explore types of maps (physical, political)

PE

1. Engage students in physical activity.

2. Improve motor skills and teamwork.

3. Ensure safety and fun.

4. Endurance development

5. Straight development

6. Raise up cardio to 80 to 90% of VMA

SEL

REMINDERS & NOTES

English Language Arts

Knowledge 3: The Ancient Greek Civilization

Lesson 8: Marathon

• Record information about the ancient Greek civilization using a graphic organizer.

• Summarize the main events and explain the significance of the Battle of Marathon.

• Demonstrate an understanding of the Tier 2 word tribute.

• Use a graphic organizer to plan a short paragraph summarizing events.

Lesson 9 Thermopylae: The Persians Strike Again

• Summarize the main events and explain the significance of the Battle of Thermopylae.

• Distinguish shades of meaning in verbs describing preference.

• Demonstrate an understanding of the multiple meaning Tier 3 word channel.

Lesson 10 The Great Thinkers of Greece

• Analyze the contributions of Greek philosophers.

• Demonstrate an understanding of the Tier 2 word marvelous.

• Use a graphic organizer to plan a fictional narrative.

Lesson and exercises on sequencing Events Using "First, Then, Next, Finally"

• Identify and use sequencing words (first, then, next, finally) to describe the order of events in a story or process.

Quiz 1: Using sequencing words

Math

Technology

Unit 7 - Lesson 10: Google Drawing Assignment 2

Assignment Video, Create My House (Roof, windows, Doors, Chimney Bushes & Trees)

Multiple choice Questions.

Art

Glue and Salt Snowflake:

REMINDERS & NOTES

ELA

Unit 5: Lights and Sound

Lesson 9: What is Sound Part 2

• Compare and contrast sound and light energy.
• Write questions based on reading about sound and how it travels and then answer questions in writing.
• Participate in a group discussion following a sound experiment and share ideas and information.
• Choose adjectives, adverbs, and synonyms to expand simple sentences.

• Read and answer comprehension questions about sound and its characteristics.
• Listen to the story about sound qualities and answer listening comprehension questions.
• Write a reflection about what they’ve learned about sound in the reading and through the Read-Aloud.

• Listen to the story about the human voice and its variations and answer questions about the text.
• Read and answer comprehension questions about the human voice and how it is produced.
• Use vocabulary and concepts from the reading and read-aloud to write a descriptive paragraph about a particular sound.

• Read text about Alexander Graham Bell and answer questions about the text.
• Write to a prompt based on the word inspiration from the text.
• Categorize, define, and write sentences using new academic and domain-specific vocabulary words they learned from the text.
• Use the conjunction 'and' to create compound sentences.

• Compare and contrast Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison.
• Work collaboratively and discuss ideas while analyzing a newspaper to identify informational text features.
• Begin planning for researching and writing a newspaper article on the invention of the telephone or the incandescent light bulb.

clapped clapping danced dancing baked baking wrapped wrapping hoped hoping

dropped dropping hiked hiking started starting short sound table dark

Group B

mixed going running clapped stopped hopping batted selling pinned cutting

sitting rubbed missed grabbed wrapped swelling

Unit 3: Multiplication: Finding Area, Solving Word Problems, and Using Scaled Graphs

Lesson 15: Multiply to find area

• Find area of a rectangle by using square units.
• Find area of a rectangle by multiplying
• Solve word problems about area

Lesson 15 Quiz: Friday, 1/31

Science

SCIENCE Unit 3: Environments and Survival

• Lesson 25: Changes to the Ecosystem
• Lesson 26:Chapter Review
• Environments and Survival PREPARE FOR TEST
• Environments and Survival TEST

In this unit, students examine different factors that make organisms more likely or less likely to survive: the ability of organisms to meet their needs in a given environment, how different traits make it easier or harder for specific organisms to survive in an environment, and how this pattern of survival changes when the environment changes.

• Review Unit 02 and do an assessment.
• Introduce the positive actions for meeting the intellectual needs of curiosity, creative thinking, learning something new, problem solving, and strengthening your memory.

1. Engage students in physical activity.

2. Improve motor skills and teamwork.

3. Ensure safety and fun.

4. endurance development

5. straight development

6. raise up cardio to 80 to 90% of VMA

REMINDERS & NOTES

English H.W: Raz Kids: Complete 2 stories

• Assigned: Monday, 1/27
• Due: Friday, 1/31

Math Assessment: Unit 3 Test Friday, 1/31

Math H.W review packet

• Assigned: Monday, 1/27
• Due: Friday, 1/31

English Language Arts

Group 2

Bidaya Book

Health:

Introduce the positive actions for meeting the intellectual needs:

• Curiosity

• Creative thinking

• Learning something new

• Problem solving

• Strengthening your memory.

PE

1. Engage students in physical activity.

2. Improve motor skills and teamwork.

3. Ensure safety and fun.

4. Endurance development

5. Straight development

6. Raise up cardio to 80 to 90% of VMA

Technology

Unit 4 - Lesson 7: Introduction to Slides

• Discuss what Slides are and their uses.
• Show examples of simple slides.
• How to create a Slide.
• Review key points about creating and formatting Slides.

Art

Painting the Seasons project!

Each season inspires unique colors and imagery:

• Spring: Pastel tones, blooming flowers, and fresh greenery symbolizing new beginnings.
• Summer: Bright, sunny colors with themes of beaches, sunshine, and vibrant life.
• Autumn: Warm shades of orange, red, and gold, celebrating falling leaves and harvests.
• Winter: Cool hues like blue and white, featuring snowy landscapes and cozy scenes.

REMINDERS & NOTES

Raz Kids- Homework-2 stories per week

Math- (math packet) Complete 3 pages of packet per week.

S.S.1-Bill of rights, Constitution, Amendments, Ratify, Preamble, Legislative Branch, Judicial Branch, Executive Branch, Ballot, Enactment, Prohibition, Parliament

English Language Arts

Unit 3

Lesson 1.2 Water Shortages, Water Solutions

Lesson 1.3: Explaining the East Ferris Water Shortage

The amount of available freshwater decreases when people use more than the amount that flows into their area.

Social Studies

Group 2

Bidaya book

1. Engage students in physical activity.

2. Improve motor skills and teamwork.

3. Ensure safety and fun.

4. Endurance development

5. Straight development

6. Raise up cardio to 80 to 90% of VMA

ELA: Amplify 6D-1 (spelling/vocab) list:

decrepit, totters, hover, indignation, clustered, wit, infinitely, groped, toppled, defy, brute, spite

Quran Studies

Continue reading Surah Al-Mulk, focusing on pronunciation and comprehension.

Tajwid Rule: Ra Sakinah

Learn the specific rules for pronouncing the letter "Ra" when it is sakin (silent), enhancing Quranic recitation skills.

Individual conferences with students on Science Fair Projects.

• Experimental design
• Exploring different types of data
• Data Presentation
• Data Analysis

Quiz: Interpreting science experiment

1. Engage students in physical activity.

2. Improve motor skills and teamwork.

3. Ensure safety and fun.

4. Endurance development

5. Straight development

6. Raise up cardio to 80 to 90% of VMA

REMINDERS & NOTES

There will be a Social Studies test on Chapter 4 (Ancient Egypt and Nubia) on Tuesday, January 7, covering three sections:

1. Egypt Under the Pharaohs

2. Art, Architecture, and Learning in Egypt

3. Egypt and Nubia

A study guide and their notebooks will be sent home for preparation.

Quran Studies

Continue reading Surah Al-Najm, focusing on pronunciation and comprehension.

Tajwid Rule: Ra Sakinah

Learn the specific rules for pronouncing the letter "Ra" when it is sakin (silent), enhancing Quranic recitation skills.

Individual conferences with students on Science Fair Projects.

• Experimental design
• Exploring different types of data
• Data Presentation
• Data Analysis

Quiz: Interpreting science experiment

Section 1: Indus Valley Civilization

• Geography of the Indian subcontinent.
• How the Indus Valley civilization was organized.
• Mysteries that remain about ancient India.

1. Engage students in physical activity.

2. Improve motor skills and teamwork.

3. Ensure safety and fun.

4. Endurance development

5. Straight development

6. Raise up cardio to 80 to 90% of VMA

Technology

Unit 5: Lesson 5: Introduction to Slides - Chart

What is a Chart ? | Different types of Charts (Bar, Column, Line, Pie) | How to Create Bar/Column Graphs in Google Slides ? | Assignment - Create Favorite Sports Column Chart | Quiz

REMINDERS & NOTES

Individual conferences with students on Science Fair Projects.

• Experimental design
• Exploring different types of data
• Data Presentation
• Data Analysis

Quiz: Interpreting science experiment