Curated OER
Writing Exercises: The Byzantine Empire III
Three wonderful questions will help your middle schoolers better understand the Byzantine Empire. They construct short essay responses to each of the three prompts, discuss the schism between the Greek and Roman Catholic church, the...
University of Chicago
Using Artifacts for Clues About Identity
Learn about the ancient Near East through a close examination of ancient artifacts. Lead your class into analysis by first observing an artifact as a class. Pupils can then work in pairs to analyze the other artifacts and compile a list...
Curated OER
Cinderella Stories From Around the World
Fifth graders review the basic story of the Cinderella fairy tale. In groups, they read various stories of Cinderella from different cultures. They use a compare and contrast chart to examine the differences between the American...
Curated OER
Continuing Gandhi's Legacy of Cross-Cultural Understanding: Central Asia and the Middle East
Students investigate the lifestyle of Gandhi by creating a Venn Diagram. In this biographical instructional activity, students compare the philosophies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi while discussing their teaching methods....
Curated OER
Nasreddin Hodja - Turkish and Middle Eastern Folklore Philosopher
Third graders read a readers theater written by Nasreddin Hodja. In this Nasreddin Hodja lesson plan, 3rd graders learn about the philosopher and participate in one of his reader's theaters.
Curated OER
The Prairie Dog That Met the President
Students identify and interpret the relationships between music, the other arts, and disciplines outside the arts. They identify and relate to music in relation to history and culture. Finally, students gain knowledge of the history of...
Curated OER
Holes
Students watch the movie Holes. They list 5 key events from Holes and use a pyramid to rank the events in order of importance to the story. They determine cultural differences between the character and themselves.
Curated OER
Getting Oriented
Students explore the geography, culture, and philosophy of Asia using all five senses and information about China and Japan. This lesson is detailed and may take several days of in-class activities to complete.
Oklahoma State Department of Education
Narrative Prompt
Reading about history is nothing like experiencing it firsthand. Encourage your eighth graders to do the next best thing with a historical narrative prompt, in which they describe the experience of a first-time traveler on the...
Curated OER
Through Many Lenses: How are Countries Depicted by the Media?
If you plan to utilize the ABC miniseries, "The Path to 9/11" in your classroom, consider incorporating media literacy and research skills. After (or while) learners view the series, they discuss ways information can differ from source...
Curated OER
Ottoman Lyric Poetry
Students explore the Ottoman style of poetry. They view a video, Suleyman the Magnificent, and view maps of Europe, Asia, Africa and the Mediterranean Sea. They research the Ottoman Empire and keep a journal. They read various Ottoman...
Curated OER
Guidelines for Governing: Utopia and The Prince
Students explore the power of the Church in government. In this literature lesson, students read Sir Thomas More's Utopia and Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince. Students respond to questions regarding the works and discuss them.
Curated OER
Steamers Lesson 1: Background Information
Students discover the use of steamboats in North Carolina. After reading background information, they take notes on their reading and participate in a class discussion. They complete a KWL chart and share what they have gathered in small...
Curated OER
Steamers Lesson 1: Design and Construction
Young scholars examine the use of steamboats in North Carolina. In groups, they design and contruct their own small models of steamboats using simple materials. They test their models in water and share how they were built and why. ...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Somalis
The Muslim Somalis of the Horn of Africa speak the Somali language and live in the Somali Democratic Republic (Somalia). There are also substantial numbers of Somalis in neighboring countries: the southern half of Djibouti, the eastern...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Nandi and Other Kalenjin Peoples Kinship
Nandi; about one-third of all Kalenjin and second-largest of the Kalenjin subgroups, they are geographically the most centrally located. The Kalenjin live mainly in the highland of western Kenya, although the Sebei and some Pokot are...
American Forum for Global Education
American Forum for Global Education: Spotlight on Muslim Identity [Pdf]
This downloadable booklet is a comprehensive teacher's guide you can use to help students' understand Muslims and their countries and cultures of origin. 100 pages include background information and teaching tips, activities and...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Lunda
"Lunda" is the most widely used English term to refer to literally hundreds of social groups whose oral histories link them in varying ways to a far-flung empire that controlled trade and tribute in much of Central Africa from the...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Syriacs
Syriac is a branch of the Aramaic family of languages and was the lingua franca of the eastern Roman Empire at the beginning of the Christian era. It is also spoken extensively in the regions farther east. It became the language of...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Luyia
"Abaluyia" refers to the nation, tribe, or ethnic group, Omuluyia" to an individual, and "Luluyia" to the language they speak. There are seventeen Luluyia-speaking sub-nations in Western and Nyanza provinces of Kenya. The Abaluyia are...
Other
Al bab.com: An Open Door to the Arab World
This English-language site offers information about all aspects of the Arab world, from material culture to human rights. There are also sections on minority populations living in the Arab Middle East (e.g., the Kurds). Site is entirely...