Posted: July 18, 2019 in Global Citizenship Prize
From Christina:
“A student reflected: ‘It was interesting to learn about another historical figure that has not been included in textbooks.’ Going through this process was such a great learning experience for me. I researched and read about the Emir and can easily see how his story connects to the curriculum. After reading the NY Times obituary, I thought of how students could write their own obituary for him as yet another activity. I like the lesson online that compares Abdelkader to Gandhi and Washington (how about Mandela?) and feel that could be modified to fit NY State curriculum standards of writing an Enduring Issues Essay. Long story, short, this is a man who impacted many and deserves to be taught!”
From Jennifer Larson:
“The students learned the story of Abdelkader and worked to identify his core values while imagining how these characteristics could be portrayed as musical elements. Further discovery led students to uncover their own core values and explore how they would live out these values in their everyday lives.”
From Jennifer Blanchard Sayed’s student in the assignment:
Myth and Facts: What did you learn about the society that Abdelkder lived in?
He lives in Algeria where he was taught how to live a Muslim life and later learned a lot more about other religions and compared and asked questions about them.
Christina Cone
Smithtown High School West
Smithtown, N.Y.
Jennifer Lason
Decorah Middle School
Decorah, Iowa
Jennifer Blanchard Sayed
City Lab High School
Irving, Texas