Teaching Gaza Now: A Multiple Narratives Approach
By Samia Shoman
Sitti’s Bird: A Gaza Story—An Introduction to Gaza for Children
By Donnie Rotkin and Jody Sokolower
This lesson uses Gazan artist Malak Mattar’s beautiful picture book, Sitti’s Bird: A Gaza Story, to open discussion about current events in Gaza. The lesson is aimed at 3rd to 5th graders, but can be adapted for younger and older students.
Teaching Palestine/Israel: A Multiple Narratives Approach
by Samia Shoman
High school. This unit, which exposes students to the idea that Palestinians and Israelis have different narratives about the same historical events, was developed by a Palestinian American teacher specifically for teaching about Palestine in situations where pushback from Zionist parents, administrators and/or organizations is likely. Despite years of attacks, Samia was able to continue promoting critical thinking about Israeli and Palestinian history and current realities. Based on critical analysis of primary documents, this multiple narratives approach unit, which covers history from the First Zionist Conference in 1897 through 2011, looks at history through four concepts: facts, perspectives, narratives, and your truth.
Power and Perspective in Palestine: A 6th Grade Unit Based on Determined to Stay
By Lyndsey MacKenzie
“Was She Really Going to Punch That Israeli Soldier?”
A 6th Grade Unit Takes a Global Look at Youth Incarceration
By Simone Allen
Encouraged by student interest and participation in the Teach Palestine Teacher Trip, a 6th-grade teacher creates and teaches units comparing youth incarceration in the US and Palestine.
Determined to Stay Lesson Plans
Slideshows and Downloads by Samia Shoman and Jody Sokolower
These lessons are based on the young adult book Determined to Stay: Palestinian Youth Fight for Their Village. Like the book, they focus on youth in the Palestinian village of Silwan, which is just outside the Old City in East Jerusalem. Because Palestinian history and current reality can seem “too complicated to understand,” centering on one village provides an effective and accessible introduction.
Teach Arab American Studies!
Webinar led by Samia Shoman
Samia Shoman, Palestinian educator and Teach Palestine Project co-coordinator, models an Arab American studies lesson and shares resources.
Palestine in English Class
An interview with Kristia Castrillo by Jody Sokolower
“Why Isn’t Palestine on Our Map?”
An Introduction to the Middle East for Third Graders
By Christina Lagerwerff
Third grade (can be adapted for upper elementary). Description and resources for integrating Palestine and other countries in the Middle East into “the nooks and crannies” of third-grade curriculum. Creative use of maps, geography, age-appropriate literature, and “Al-Kwarismi’s Magic Function Machine.”
Stolen Land: A Unit Comparing Palestine to the Americas
By Marcy Newman
High school (adaptable for middle school and/or English language learners). Description and resources for a unit that compares the impact of walls, borders, and forced migration on Indigenous peoples of North America and Palestine. Starting with class-generated questions, students develop vocabulary, study historical maps, and explore how the ongoing conflicts are expressed in poetry, hip hop and visual arts. Includes an example of street theater as a final project.
Borders and Walls: Stories that Connect Us to Palestine
by Jody Sokolower
Middle and high school English language learners and mainstream students. Description, lesson plans and materials for a unit designed to be integrated into US history, world history and ethnic studies classes. Begins with gallery walk of borders/walls around the world. Students compare texts and impact of Manifest Destiny rhetoric in US with Promised Land rhetoric in Israel through original sources, maps and poetry. Exploration of current realities through voices of Palestinian youth in the West Bank and English language learner researchers in the US. Includes options for final projects.