Resources to teach background information on the Middle East
Middle Eastern Folk Tales
www.aaronshep.com/indexes/geography.html#GeneralMiddleEast
www.spiritoftrees.org/folktales/nowe/hasrudin_tree.html
Overview of the Middle East
www.ducksters.com
www.aaronshep.com/indexes/geography.html#GeneralMiddleEast
www.spiritoftrees.org/folktales/nowe/hasrudin_tree.html
Overview of the Middle East
www.ducksters.com
The Sandwich Swap
Queen Rania Al Abdullah
Two best friends enjoy their time together until one day they have a falling out over their lunch. Each think the other’s sandwich looks awful. Soon everyone in the class joins in as the disagreement spreads. The unrest culminates with a huge food fight in the lunch room. A solution is at hand when each friend agrees to try the other’s sandwhich.
Total Score: 15/15
Resources to Teach: Click here for information on the author.
Two best friends enjoy their time together until one day they have a falling out over their lunch. Each think the other’s sandwich looks awful. Soon everyone in the class joins in as the disagreement spreads. The unrest culminates with a huge food fight in the lunch room. A solution is at hand when each friend agrees to try the other’s sandwhich.
Total Score: 15/15
Resources to Teach: Click here for information on the author.
Three Cups of Tea
Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin. This is a nonfiction account of Greg Mortenson's unintentional adventure when he becomes lost in the mountains of Pakistan. His original goal, to climb the summit of K2, becomes secondary when he must descend before reaching the summit due to weather conditions. He ends up lost and in a poor village in the mountains of Pakistan, where his goal changes to return and build a school for the children of the village. He later helps to build over sixty schools, despite death threats, and a kidnapping!
Curriculum Match: Cultural themes, political oppression, Pakistan studies
Rate: 15/15
Resources for teachers:
Click here for study guides and chapter/vocabulary questions
Curriculum Match: Cultural themes, political oppression, Pakistan studies
Rate: 15/15
Resources for teachers:
Click here for study guides and chapter/vocabulary questions
Buddha
Deepak Chopra, 2007. Teacher of Eastern philosophy to the Western world, Chopra brings us a fresh tale of Siddhartha, the Indian prince who gives up a life of privilege to attain enlightenment.
Score: 14 /15
Curriculum Matches: Social Studies, Religion, Philosophy
Teaching Resources:
http://buddhism.about.com/od/lifeofthebuddha/a/buddhalife.htm
http://www.pbs.org/thebuddha/
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/nptoc.html
Score: 14 /15
Curriculum Matches: Social Studies, Religion, Philosophy
Teaching Resources:
http://buddhism.about.com/od/lifeofthebuddha/a/buddhalife.htm
http://www.pbs.org/thebuddha/
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/nptoc.html
Wanting Mor
Rukhsana Khan, 2009. Growing up in post-Taliban Afghanistan has not been easy for Jameela. She has had to deal with war for most of her life along with the death of some family members. Jameela lives with her family but after her mother dies, her father becomes disengaged with life and soon abandons his daughter. Living in an orphanage, Jameela deals with the twists and turns life has taking her on. She learns about herself and her place in the world. Based on real life events, Khan brings this story to life for young adult readers.
Total Score: 15/15
Curriculum matches: Afghanistan, gender equality, familial strife, tragedy, hardship, issues surrounding war
Resources to teach:
Click here to learn more about the war in Afghanistan.
Click here to get more information on the treatment of women in Afghanistan and the efforts currently taking place to help promote gender equality.
Click here to learn more about customs and culture in Afghanistan.
Total Score: 15/15
Curriculum matches: Afghanistan, gender equality, familial strife, tragedy, hardship, issues surrounding war
Resources to teach:
Click here to learn more about the war in Afghanistan.
Click here to get more information on the treatment of women in Afghanistan and the efforts currently taking place to help promote gender equality.
Click here to learn more about customs and culture in Afghanistan.
Breadwinner
Deborah Ellis., 2000. Under Taliban rule in Afghanistan, women are forced to clothe their entire body and restricted from leaving their home without a male escort. When her father is imprisoned, young Parvana, a pre-adolecent girl, must make sacrifices to help her family survive. Her education and bravery allow her to provide the necessities needed for survival during these treacherous times. Ellis, while portraying life in Afghanistan under Taliban rule with its executions, dismemberment, and imprisonment without a trial or a public charge, does not leave out a compassionate side. As Parvana comes face to face with one soldier and finds compassion and sorrow in his eyes and in his heart, she is reminded that he too possesses humanity. This fictional story is the result of interviews with women who have escaped from Afghanistan and who were living in camps in Pakistan. Ellis is donating the book sales to an organization dedicated to educating these girls in refugee camps.
Rate: 15/15
Curriculum Match: Afghanistan Studies, Political Oppression, Female Oppression
Resources:
www.afghan-network.net/Culture/kabul.html
Rate: 15/15
Curriculum Match: Afghanistan Studies, Political Oppression, Female Oppression
Resources:
www.afghan-network.net/Culture/kabul.html
One Green Apple
Eve Bunting
In One Green Apple, Eve Bunting portrays the feeling a young girl experiences as a Muslim immigrant among her peers in America. Beautifully illustrated and poignantly written to make the reader aware of the emotions common to all cultures.
Total Score: 14/15
In One Green Apple, Eve Bunting portrays the feeling a young girl experiences as a Muslim immigrant among her peers in America. Beautifully illustrated and poignantly written to make the reader aware of the emotions common to all cultures.
Total Score: 14/15
Does My Head Look Big in This?
Randa Abdel-Fattah, 2005. Amal is an Australian-Palestinian girl who is currently attending a private school in suburbian Melbourne. Amal comes from a very liberal Palestinian family who have chosen to assimilate into the everyday culture that surrounds them. Amal, who is trying to find herself, decides, in spite of her parents’ warnings, to begin wearing the hijab, the traditional muslim head scarf. In this humorous tale we learn of not only everyday high school struggles, but also of Amal’s journey to find her faith.
Total Score: 14/15
Curriculum Connection: Universal Themes, Cultural Values, Religions of the World
Resources to Teach: About Palestinian Culture http://www.everydayculture.com/No-Sa/Palestine-West-Bank-and-Gaza-Strip.html
About the Author: http://www.randaabdelfattah.com/about-abdel-fattah.html
Total Score: 14/15
Curriculum Connection: Universal Themes, Cultural Values, Religions of the World
Resources to Teach: About Palestinian Culture http://www.everydayculture.com/No-Sa/Palestine-West-Bank-and-Gaza-Strip.html
About the Author: http://www.randaabdelfattah.com/about-abdel-fattah.html
Shabanu Daughter of the Wind
Suzanne Fisher Staples, 1989. In this Newbury Honor Book, 11-year-old Shabanu, the second daughter in a Pakistani family living in the Cholistan desert, is a strong-willed, independent girl enjoying freedoms that are forbidden to most Muslim girls. When a disaster strikes, it is up to Shabanu to restore peace and save her family by marrying a man she doesn't even know. Will Shabanu do what is necessary to uphold the honor of her family, or will she follow her own heart?
Rate: 14/15
Curriculum Match: Religions of the World, Geography, Cultural Comparisons, Point of View and Character Description for Language Arts
Resources to Teach:
Click here for related readings.
Click here for lesson plan ideas.
Rate: 14/15
Curriculum Match: Religions of the World, Geography, Cultural Comparisons, Point of View and Character Description for Language Arts
Resources to Teach:
Click here for related readings.
Click here for lesson plan ideas.
Waiting for the Owl’s Call
Gloria Whelan
This is an emotional tale about an eight year Turkoman girl growing up in Afghanistan. Zulivaya shares the intricate work of carpet making that the women in her family have done for many generations. As Zulivaya weaves her own carpets she uses one traditional pattern, but also includes one pattern she creates herself. As she weaves her own pattern she includes the very essence of everyday life she experiences and her hopes and dreams.
Total Score: 15/15
Resources to Teach:
This is an emotional tale about an eight year Turkoman girl growing up in Afghanistan. Zulivaya shares the intricate work of carpet making that the women in her family have done for many generations. As Zulivaya weaves her own carpets she uses one traditional pattern, but also includes one pattern she creates herself. As she weaves her own pattern she includes the very essence of everyday life she experiences and her hopes and dreams.
Total Score: 15/15
Resources to Teach:
What About Me?
Ed Young
This is a story of a young man who sets off an aventure in the hopes of finding knowledge. In his quest to find knowledge he encounters different characters that he thinks will be able to help him. He soon learns that as he encounters these characters he is gaining knowledge in the process. He realizes that knowledge is something one can gain when least expected.
Total Score: 12/18
Resources to Teach:
This is a story of a young man who sets off an aventure in the hopes of finding knowledge. In his quest to find knowledge he encounters different characters that he thinks will be able to help him. He soon learns that as he encounters these characters he is gaining knowledge in the process. He realizes that knowledge is something one can gain when least expected.
Total Score: 12/18
Resources to Teach:
