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Lesson Plan for My Name Is Rachamim by Jonathan P. Kendall

Objectives:

Students will locate Ethiopia and Israel on a map. (Standard IX: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of global connections and interdependence)

Students will identify Beta Esrael as Jews from Ethiopia who believe they are descendants of King Solomon. (Standard II: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the ways human beings view themselves in and over time)

Students will be able to list some customs of the Beta Esrael. (Standard I: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of culture and cultural diversity)

Students will identify at least three words in Amharic. (Standard I: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of culture and cultural diversity)

Students will be able to list reasons why the Beta Esrael needed to leave Ethiopia. (Standard IV: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of how people create and change structures of power, authority, and governance)

Students will compare the reasons for emigration of people around the world to the Beta Esrael and recognize the similarities and differences. (Standard V: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of interactions among individuals, groups, and institutions)

Students will be able to describe Operation Moses as the rescue of Ethiopian Jews by Israel. (Standard X: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the ideals, principles, and practices of citizenship in a democratic republic)

Students will describe other acts in history that have rescued people. (Standard II: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the ways human beings view themselves in and over time)

Before reading My Name is Rachamim:

  1. Locate Israel and Ethiopia on a world map or globe.
  2. Explain that Ethiopian Jews claim to have settled in Ethiopia at the time of King Solomon. They believe that they are the descendants of Solomon and Sheba’s son Menelik. Look up Solomon in the Encyclopedia and find out when and where he lived.
  3. Define the following words: famine, falasha, refugee, sanbat, tsedakeh, absorption center.

After reading My Name Is Rachamim:

  1. Color a world map, identifying Ethiopia and Israel. Use the scale to find out how far Ethiopia is from Israel.
  2. Research the climate in Ethiopia. Identify any recent changes in the climate. Show average annual rainfall in 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, and now by making a bar graph. Explain how rainfall is connected to the health of the crops.
  3. Make a poster showing the relationship between climate and times of famine. Brainstorm possible solutions to the problem.
  4. Imagine that you are a member of a family in Ethiopia that makes its living by farming. What will you do if your crops fail? Make a list of possible solutions.
  5. Discuss why the Beta Esrael needed to leave Ethiopia. Find out why you or your ancestors came to America. How are the reasons similar? How are they different?
  6. Write a diary about a typical week a Beta Esrael family would have. Include details about daily and weekly customs such as celebration of Sanbat, bathing, caring for animals.
  7. Imagine you are a member of the Israeli parliament. Argue why Israel should spend money to bring the Beta Esrael to Israel.
  8. Pretend you are a brother or sister of Rachamim. Write a journal about your trip from your village to Israel.
  9. Make an Amharic/English dictionary. Include all the Amharic words in the story.

Additional Resources:

Kurtz, Jane. Faraway Home; illustrated by E.B. Lewis. San Diego: Harcourt, Inc., c2000.

(unpaged)

Kurtz, Jane. Saba : Under the Hyena's Foot. Middleton, Wis.: Pleasant Co., c2003.

207 pages

Kurtz, Jane. The Storyteller's Beads. San Diego, Calif.: Harcourt Brace, c1998. 154 pages

Levitin, Sonia. The Return. New York: Atheneum, 1987. 213 pages

Naim, Asher. Saving the Lost Tribe: The Rrescue and Redemption of the Ethiopian Jews New York: Ballantine Books, 2003. 266 pages

Schrier, Jeffrey. On the Wings of Eagles: An Ethiopian child's story. Brookfield, Conn. : Millbrook Press, c1998. (unpaged)

Schur, Maxine Rose. Day of delight: a Jewish Sabbath in Ethiopia; pictures by Brian Pinkney. New York : Dial Books for Young Readers, c1994 (unpaged)

Schur, Maxine Rose. When I Left my Village; pictures by Brian Pinkney. New York : Dial Books for Young Readers, c1996. 62 pages

Spector, Stephen. Operation Solomon: The Daring Rescue of the Ethiopian Jews. Oxford; New York : Oxford University Press, 2005. 279 pages.

Zuehlke, Jeffrey. Ethiopia in Pictures. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Co., 2005.

80 pages.