The MIddle East. Afghanistan. War. Terrorism. It is hard to turn on the news without hearing these words. What is even more difficult is realizing that my students do not know anything about this region of the world; it is time that these household terms become words my students understand.
I teach 9-12th graders in an urban school district with approximately 2,000 students.
These 80% of our students are free and reduced lunch but that does not hamper their desire to learn. I would use these books in my college bound world history and current events classes. I had the opportunity to go to Israel over the winter, and when I came back to tell my students about my travels, I was amazed at how little they knew about this area. If you ask them to tell you about Afghanistan or the Middle East, students always associate war with this region. However, when you delve deeper into the "why" are we in war, and "how" does that effect us at home; students simply do not know. In a world where news revolves around Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Israel, etc. our students should be knowledgeable about this regions past history and present.
My Project
"How many of you have family members fighting overseas?" Hands go up.
"So tell me, why are we fighting overseas in the first place?" Puzzled looks.
I have students who have family fighting for a cause that they know nothing about. I have students enlisting in the military without knowing why they are signing up.
This breaks my heart.
With teaching world history, it often seems like we travel a mile wide and only an inch deep in terms of curriculum. My hope that is that with a new Middle East unit, we can travel an inch wide and a mile deep. The Kite Runner will allow my students to see what life is like in Afghanistan while also understanding the important political implications, leaders, struggles at home, and how the world is united by a common hope for peace. My world history students will be reading this as a class, and I will focus on bringing their historical knowledge up to date so that they can understand the who, what, where, when, how, and why's of Afghanistan.
Teaching history is more than just learning names, dates, and people.
History is about learning about life, how events change the world we live in, and it is about having students understand their role in this global community. Your donations will make a difference to these students. I want to pair this project with an "adopt a soldier" so we can correspond with someone overseas. Overall, this project will be extremely memorable and bring history alive.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Dr. Diehl and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.