Lesson Plan United Arab Emirates: a Place of Hope

Lesson Plan United Arab Emirates: a Place of Hope

Lesson plan United Arab Emirates: A Place of Hope

Kathryn Hodgkinson

Study of the UAE could fall in various places in the curriculum of a Geography or World History course. For example, it could be part of a study of the Middle East, a contemporary study of countries with significant oil reserves, a current example of a government directed diversification of the economy, or its study could stem from a look into European (in this case British) interference in the Middle East after the world wars.

Premise: The UAE is unique in the Middle East, and in the world, in its history and culture. Evidence of its positive and hopeful view of life and the country include the vision and direction of its first leader, Sheikh Zayed, it’s role as host of the International Center of Excellence for Countering Violent Extremism, Hedayah, and its initiatives to counter violent extremism and forces of radicalization , and the creation of the Ministries of Happiness, Tolerance, and Youth.

World History TEKS

(25)World History Culture: The student understands how the development of ideas has influenced

institutions and societies. The student is expect to:

(D) explain how Islam influences law and government in the Muslim World

(29) Social Studies Skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use

information acquired from a variety of valid sources, including electronic technology. The student is

expected to:

(F) analyze information by sequencing, categorizing, identifying cause-and-effect relationships,

comparing, contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making generalizations and predictions,

drawing inferences and conclusions, and developing connections between historical events over time

(30) Social studies skills. The student communicates in written, oral, and visual forms. The student

is expected to:

(B) Use standard, grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and punctuation.

(C) interpret and create written, oral and visual presentations of social studies information

(D) transfer information from one medium to another

(31B) Social Studies Skills. The student use a decision-making process to identify a situation that

requires a decision, gather information, identify options, predict consequences, and take action to implement a decision.

Opening Activity

Objective: is to observe biases and how they can impact the study of history.

  1. Label map of Middle East
  2. Students individually complete “Questions for Discussion.” (Included)
  3. Discuss bullet point lists with neighbor (or partner). Each student may add to his/her list.
  4. Open up discussion for class. Write major points of impressions/assumptions on board.
  5. Introduce idea that some of the students’ impressions/assumptions about the UAE may be correct, but as more is learned about the UAE, many of those assumptions may be incorrect.

Gathering information about the UAE

Objective: Create an overall picture of the UAE.

This can be accomplished in several ways. There are many sources on the UAE for students to gather data about the country.

Examples include:

The UAE Embassy website:

The CIA World Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ae.html

UAE Interact:

I especially like this last one for history and information on Sheikh Zayed. The UAE Embassy website is also good as it divides the information into categories including history and the economy.

Some of the historical background and overall introduction could be presented in a lecture format as well. Background should include:

The coming of Islam to the area

Role of Britain early in history of area

Discovery of oil

Impetus for unification of seven Emirates to become the UAE, December 2, 1971

Role of Sheik Zayed in directing development of UAE.

Divide students into groups to gather information about different aspects of the UAE by category. These should include:

History (if not provided in a lecture)

The unification of the UAE

Sheikh Zayed (Direct students to the UAE Interact website, which has good information on this topic.

The Economy in the UAE

Demographic information and Education in the UAE

Government of the UAE (Include current leaders.)

Religion and its role in the UAE

Women in the UAE

Create a class “Fact Sheet” on the UAE and PowerPoint on Sheik Zayed

The class as a whole will create a combined UAE Fact Sheet that includes the information gathered from each group.

The group assigned to gather information on Sheikh Zayed should create a PowerPoint presentation or video on his role in the UAE. (include info on Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi)

All of the class should receive copies of the final, compiled Fact Sheet (which will probably cover the front and back of one sheet of paper.)

Next, the class should view the PowerPoint or video on Sheikh Zayed, and then complete the following questions:

  1. Where was Sheikh Zayed from?
  2. Describe Sheikh Zayed’s background.
  3. Describe his attitudes about his land and its people. Include his views about women.)
  4. Discuss Sheikh Zayed’s role in the unification of the UAE.
  5. What position did Zayed hold in the UAE? For how long did he hold this position?
  6. List actions Sheikh Zayed took to create a hopeful society for the people of the UAE.
  7. List evidence that supports the idea of Sheikh Zayed as a “visionary leader.”

Discuss the answers to the questions.

Investigate programs/ministries in the UAE.

Objective: to discover how the uniqueness of the UAE in the Middle East through its establishments of Hedayah and the Ministries of Happiness, Tolerance, and Youth.

Assign students to read three articles for homework, two by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and one by Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba. (Provided as Articles #’s 1, 2, & 3)

After reading articles have students do the following for each article:

Article #1

- Explain His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s plan for “lasting peace” from the threat of ISIS.

Article #2

- Explain His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s rationale for creating the Ministries of Happiness, Tolerance, and Youth.

Article #3

- Explain Ambassador Yousef Al Otaiba’s argument that extremism must be fought “on new fronts.”

Discuss the main points of each of the articles.

A more in-depth look at the UAE

Objective: understand the proactive work in the UAE concerning countering violent extremism and the role of women in an Islamic state.

Divide students into two groups to research the topics listed below

Hedayah and the UAE’s efforts to counter violent extremism (See information sheet provided on Hedayah.)

Women in the UAE today (See article provided on this topic.)

Each group should research its topic thoroughly and compose three to four questions to ask the rest of the class on its topic.

Present information on topics.

Each group presents information to class on topic.

Class discussion on what these topics demonstrate about the UAE and its role in the Middle East and the world.

Answer the questions created by the groups.

Culminating assignment

Individually or in groups, students will write a two-page paper that provides an overall picture of the UAE and discusses ways in which the UAE seeks to be a role model for other countries in the Middle East and the world. The paper must include a thesis statement and evidence to support the points of the thesis.

Works Cited

Heard-Bey, Frauke. From Trucial States to United Arab Emirates. Motivate Publishing, 2004.

Hedayah Website. Accessed 10 July, 2017.

Morton, Michael Quentin. Keepers of the Golden Shore: A History of the United Arab Emirates. Reaktion Books, 2016.

UAE Interact Website. Accessed 18 July 2017.

The United Arab Emirates Embassy Website. Accessed 22 July, 2017.

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