English Lesson PLan: Marjane & Malala
"So let us wage a GLORIOUS struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism.
let us pick up our books and our pens; they are the most powerful weapons."
-Malala Yousafzai
objectives1. After
reading and analyzing themes of oppression, education, religious extremism, and
social justice in Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis and Malala Yousafzai’s “Diary of
a Pakistani Schoolgirl,” students will discuss the similarities and differences
between each girl’s experience in order to complete a “Suspended Themes of Social Justice”
graphic organizer.
2.Having discussed and evaluated the themes of oppression, education, religious extremism, and social justice, students will work in groups to investigate various activism websites in order to create an action plan to implement in their community, as a means to elaborate on Malala Yousafzai’s courageous fight for girls’ education in Pakistan. 3. By recognizing Marji and Malala’s commitment to their Islamic faith and their contempt for Islamic Radicals, students will challenge potential stereotypical or preconceived notions about the relationship between the Islamic religion and terrorism. 4. Students will reverently discuss Malala’s fight for social justice without criticizing the Islamic faith as a whole, but rather by examining the negative implications of religious extremism and terrorism. |
rationale
Twin-texting Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis and Malala Yousafzai's blog posts challenges students to analyze complex themes of religious extremism and its impact on our collective perceptions and stereotypes that we may have about certain religious groups. In addition, students will be able to compare and contrast multiple perspectives written in different formats and during different historical time periods and countries.
For many students, the only images they have of Islam and the Muslim world come from the news media's coverage of the Middle East, and therefore are heavily steeped in themes of violence, extremism, and injustice. However, the religion of Islam is traditionally a peaceful religion, and the vast majority of Muslims (in the past as well as today) are neither extremists nor terrorists, but average, everyday people. Students' personal schema for Islam is skewed in the direction of negative presumptions and stereotypes, and therefore this segment of the unit consciously approaches Islam from a drastically different perspective in order to push students to restructure their understanding of this religion. At the same time, it is important that students understand the role extremists play in hijacking a religious tradition and rebranding it as something that most moderate believers would not recognize as their faith. Therefore, this lesson utilizes two "cultural insiders" (Malala and Marjane) to provide a critique of extremism while simultaneously celebrating Islam's long history of emphasizing equality and social justice. |
Common Core State Standards
Reading Standards for Literature (6-12)
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Reading Standards for Informational Text (6-12)
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NCTE/IRA Standards for the English Language Arts
1. Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
2. Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience.
3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
6. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and non-print texts.
7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
9. Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.
11. Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).
2. Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience.
3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
6. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and non-print texts.
7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
9. Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.
11. Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).
Materials & ModificationsStudents will need Marjane Satrapi' graphic novel, Persepolis and a copy of "Diary of a Pakistani Schoolgirl." Students will also need the "Suspended Themes of Social Justice" graphic organizer, and computers for the social justice action plan group activity.
Students who may need modifications for this activity will have familiarized themselves with Persepolis during resource room and will have the option to listen to the book on tape. Groups for the social justice action plan activity will be heterogeneous so that students who may need assistance will be able to ask their group members for support. |
procedure
Anticipatory Set1. For homework the previous night, students were tasked with finishing Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi. At the beginning of class, students will discuss their general reactions to the graphic novel. What stood out to them? Was there anything about Persepolis that they would change? Are they confused about any content in the book? What stereotypes exist about the Islamic religion? Does Persepolis confirm or deny these stereotypes? 2. Following a brief, informal discussion about Persepolis, students will be asked to reflect on Marji's story. What does the timeline for the Islamic Revolution tell us about when it takes place? Is the terrorism associated with such religious extremism evident today? Can you think of any examples? After discussing these questions briefly, students will watch a short CNN video clip which recounts the fateful day that Malala Yousafzai fell prey to Taliban radicalism. Body1. After watching the Malala clip, students will silently read two blog posts that Malala wrote under a pseudonym before she was shot by the Taliban. While they read, students will be encouraged to close read, annotating the text using meta-cognitive markers from the INSERT strategy and writing notes/comments in the margins. In addition, students will be asked to think about similarities and differences between Malala and Persepolis's Marji. 2. Once they have finished reading silently and annotating Malala's blog posts, they will turn to a partner to reflect on what they just read. The teacher will put a list of possible teaching points on the SMART board for students to refer to throughout their partner conversations. The questions are as follows: What are Malala's major concerns and hopes? Based on the video clip we just watched, what adversity has Malala overcome in order to achieve her goals? How is Malala's story similar/different from Marji? Is Malala a social justice activist? Is Marji? How does each girl feel about Islam? How does each girl express her ideas? Is one's opinion more powerful based on the format she chose to express it with? Why, or why not? Following discussion with a partner, the teacher will lead a whole-class discussion and ask for volunteers to share their thoughts with the class. 3. After discussing parallels between Malala and Marji's narratives, students will work in groups of four to complete a "Suspended Themes of Social Justice" graphic organizer. Students will need to identify one common theme from both the blog posts written by Malala and Marjane Satrapi's illustrations and dialogue in Persepolis. To support the theme that they identify as a group, students will need to cite evidence from the video, blog posts, and graphic novel. Their theme needs a combination of six direct quotes from sources (three from each). On the bottom of the graphic organizer, students must generate one question to ask the class. Their question must connect the concepts of social justice and its relationship to religion (in general, or specifically Islam). Once they finish their graphic organizers, students will briefly share their identified themes and supporting details with the class. Finally, sitting in a circle, students will participate in a discussion about social justice and religion based on the questions they generated and the Islamic texts that they have read so far. Although it will be student-centered and facilitated by students, the teacher will ensure that discussion is focused. |
"They thought that the bullet would silence us. But they failed...weakness, fear, and hopelessness died. strength, power, and courage was born." -Malala Yousefzai
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Closure1. Working with their same small group, students will explore one social justice activism website which endorses Malala's fight for education. Each group will have a different website to peruse. On poster paper, each group will write the mission statement for their website and what aspects of the foundation's goals they could bring to our school. In addition, they will think critically about what challenges they may encounter while trying to be activists for the particular cause they are researching. What strategies exist to combat such difficulties?
2. Once students have finished researching their websites, each group will present their poster to the class. Based on the posters, the teacher will ask the students if they want to write themselves into Malala's (and even Marji's) story. How can we be activists? 3. Finally, students will be given directions for their extension activity. If time permits, they will also be given the last few minutes to work on their Freedom of Faith final project. |
AssessmentStudents' graphic organizers will be collected and graded based on completion--3 points (excellent), 2 points (satisfactory), 1 point (unsatisfactory). The teacher will also do an informal, formative assessment measuring the quality of student participation during both whole-class and small-group discussions. Although there is no "formal" grade for participation, students' comments will contribute to their overall unit participation grade. Finally, the extension activity will be collected with the intention of hanging them up during the Freedom of Faith open house.
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Extension ActivityFor homework, students will create their own page of a graphic novel based on tragic events that have transpired in Malala's life, her fight for educational equality, and two quotes from her novel, I Am Malala: The Girl who Stood up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban. The teacher will have photocopied pages of the novel for students to take home and refer to over the weekend if they do not get a chance to look at a copy of the book during class. Students are encouraged to use colored pencils or sharpies for their homework, but do not have to. In addition to illustrations, students will also include four captions which capture Malala's point of view. Students will be given a homework grade on this graphic organizer. They will either receive a 3 (excellent), a 2 (satisfactory), or a 1(unsatisfactory).
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