When People Struggle Together, What Was Once Unimaginable Suddenly Becomes Possible

When people struggle together, what was once unimaginable suddenly becomes possible...

A Unit Plan by Eman Mir'ib, Merrar Comprehensive school

The Women's Rights Movement integrating the

COMPARE and CONTRAST thinking skill

Based on Access and Shared Citizenship

In American History

Targeted Domain(s) / Targeted Benchmark(s) / Targeted understanding Facets / Performance Task(s) / Assessment Tool(s)
Access
to
Information from a written text / Follow the development of an argument and use this knowledge as needed (Compare and contrast strategy) in different text types (song, story, article) / Explanation
Interpretation
Application
Perspective
Empathy
Self-knowledge / A different text with compare and contrast from / Answer key
Writing rubrics for
Presentation / Two Writing Tasks / Module D/ F

Enabling Skills (Prerequisites) for the Benchmark.

Objective / Activities / Assessment Tools
1. To introducethe theme of women's rights, role in society and concepts of discrimination and fight for equality.
2. To familiarize the students with the vocabulary connected to changing women's image, fighting for the right to vote and equality. / 1. Students relate to a picture and predict the topic.
2. Students complete a sentence about women's place and explain the idea they chose.
3. Teacher writes quotes on the board and asks the students to relate to them.
1. Teacher asks two questions leading to the topic and required vocabulary.
2. Brainstorming words from the picture in the booklet.
3. Three practice vocabulary activities. / Frontal check
Answer key
3. To provide the students with the historical background about the women's rights movement in the U.S.A. / 1. Students read the text about women's rights to vote and answer the questions in the booklet.
2. Students go through the timeline of the women's rights movement emphasizing different events on the timeline.
3. Students answer a quiz about some famous women.
4. Students watch a short movie on the women's rights movement and complete a post-viewing activity. / Answer key
Computer check
4. To familiarize the students with linking ideas through compare and contrast connectors. / 1. Give the students the definition of compare and contrast and lists of connectors of compare and contrast.
2. Practice based on compare and contrast connectors. / Frontal Check
Answer key
5. Practicing Compare and Contrast on texts. / 1. Handout of a story to read, discuss and ask them to answer the questions.
(followed by a writing task)
2. Give the students a handout of lyrics to read, discuss and ask them to answer the questions. / Answer key
Writing rubric
Answer Key
6.Presentation / 1. Complete a writing task after the story.
2. Complete a writing task based on a survey the students conduct. / Writing rubric
Writing rubric.

OBJECTIVE 1: Introducing the theme

Activity 1

The teacher shows the students the picture in two stages and asks questions as follows:

1. The teacher only shows the words : "We Can Do It"

and asks:

• Who does "We" refer to?
• What can "We" do?
• Why can "We" do "It"?

1. The teacher shows the students the picture and asks them what it illustrates and to relate to (compare/contrast):
2. the face/body
3. the hair cover/uniform
4. the words/picture

Activity 2

The teacher writes on the board the words:

A woman's place is in______.

And asks the students

a) to complete the sentence.

b) to explain why they chose to give this completion.

Activity 3

The teacher writes two quotes on the board

*" I wish you were a boy".

*"When I started working on women's history about thirty years ago, the field did not exist. People didn't think that women had a history worth knowing"

Ask the students to discuss each quote separately and what they both imply using the questions:

a) Who said it?

b) To whom?

c) When?

d) Why?
e) Do these sayings refer to the past or to the present? Explain.

OBJECTIVE TWO: Familiarize students with vocabulary

Activity 1

Ask the students:

a) What factors determine a woman's role? Discuss.

b) Do women have the same rights as men? Discuss.

Brainstorm the vocabulary. Accept suggested words and add to the list.

Activity 2

Brainstorm the picture in the booklet (lesson 9)

Vocabulary list

Right / role / equal / image /struggle /fight/ property /

Inherit /customs / powerless / tradition /suffrage /viewed/ identity/obtain/considered/inferior /vote /law/customs/gender/

Amendment / culture/religion /tradition/social class / education/national events/ aspiration/stereotypes/community/satisfaction/reality

Students work in pairs and write the meanings of the words they know (2-3 minutes). Get the answers from all the groups/ pairs. Then ask the students to look up the words which no one could guess their meaning.

Activity 3

Vocabulary exercises.

A) Look up the underlined words in the dictionary and write the

meaning according to the context.

1. In the past, women were not allowed to own any property. ______
2. Many nations obtained their freedom / independence after years of struggle. ______
3. According to law, it is forbidden to discriminate between men and women. ______
4. I find much satisfaction in volunteering for the homeless.______
5. Much of a person's behavior is affected by self-image and social-class.

______

6. Women and men should have equal rights. ______

7. This community has a rich culture. ______

8. Ron worked hard to improve his public image before the elections.

______

9. Computers played an important role in shaping modern life.______

10. Mary inherited an expensive ring from her mother. ______

B) Match the words to their definitions. You may use your dictionary.

Word Definition

1. Identity _____a) suggested change to a proposal

2. Aspiration _____b) right to vote in elections

3. Stereotypes _____c) pattern of certain types of person

4. Customs _____d) ambition

5. Amendment _____e) who someone is

6. Suffrage _____f) habits

C) Complete the sentences with the correct words from the box.

Religions / inferior/ culture / inherited / role

Vote / national event / right

1. Everyone has the ______to express his opinion freely.

2. Sam took the ______of the leader after his father’s death.

3. Janet ______her mother’s eyes.

4. All ______educate people to respect their parents.

5. The Egyptian ______is very rich and interesting.

6. In the past, women were considered ______to men.

7. All my friends want to ______for the new law.

8. Thanksgiving is a ______in the U.S.A.

OBJECTIVETHREE: Historical background

Activity 1

Ask the students to read the text Women's Right to Vote (lesson 9)

in the booklet and answer the questions that follow.

Activity 2

Ask students: Has women's role / rights changed over the years?

Go through the timeline and answer the quiz in activity 3 below.

Travel through our timeline and meet some amazing women who helped shape our country's history. Click any picture for a larger view. /
/ / Sojourner Truth delivers her famous "Ain't I a Woman" speech at a women's rights convention in Akron, Ohio. The former slave spent 40 years of her life preaching a message of equality for all people.
/ / Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony organize the National Woman Suffrage Association to fight for women's rights, especially the right to vote. More than a century later, Anthony was honored when the U.S. Mint created a coin using her image.
/ / After 72 years of struggle, women win the right to vote with the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Shortly afterwards, the League of Women Voters is formed to push for more reforms.
/ / About 350,000 women serve in the armed forces during World War II. Many more provide support services. About 100,000 of those women serve in the U.S. Navy as WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service).
/ / Shirley Chisholm becomes the first African American woman elected to Congress. Four years later, the New Yorker[z1]became the first black person to run for President in the Democratic primaries.
/ / Congress passes the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), 49 years after it was first introduced! ERA calls for equal rights for both men and women. However, a constitutional amendment requires both Congress' and the states' approval, and the measure later failed when too few states approved it.
/ / A federal law known as Title IX ensures equal funding for both male and female sports in schools. As a result, women and girls have more opportunities to participate in sports. In fact, many female Olympic athletes say Title IX gave them the opportunity to attend college, participate in sports, and receive athletic scholarships.
/ / Sandra Day O'Connor becomes the first woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. At the time, just six percent of all federal judges were women.
/ / Sally Ride becomes America's first female astronaut when she spends six days in space. Today, about 25 percent of NASA's astronauts are women.
/ / Hillary Clinton becomes the first First Lady to be elected to public office. She is nearing the end of her first term as a U.S. Senator from New York.
/ / Young women make their mark in the music industry. Singer, songwriter and piano whiz Alicia Keys took home five Grammy Awards in 2002, and four more in 2005. Piano-playing singer and songwriter Norah Jones and her album Come Away with Me snagged eight Grammys in 2003. Jones won three more of music's biggest awards in 2005.
/ / In 2005, Condoleezza Rice became the second woman to serve as Secretary of State, the President's top advisor on foreign policy. As Secretary of State, Rice is the most powerful woman in President George W. Bush’s Cabinet. She is also one of the most powerful women in the world

Activity 3

Play Now

1. Sojourner Truth was a famous anti-slavery activist who spread her views by doing which of the following?
   Editing an anti-slavery newspaper
   Traveling around the country as a preacher
   Running for Congress
   2. Louisa May Alcott, author of 270 novels and works of poetry, is probably most famous for writing which of the following books?
   Little Women
   Little House on the Prairie
   Charlotte's Web
   3. Susan B. Anthony, who fought for women's voting rights, was honored more than 70 years after her death in what way?
   She had a holiday named after her.
   She won the Congressional Medal of Honor.
   She was featured on a U.S. coin.
   4. Nurse Clara Barton founded which of the following organizations?
   League of Women Voters
   American Red Cross
   UNICEF
   5. In 1932, Amelia Earhart was the world's first female pilot to do which of the following by herself?
   Fly around the world
   Fly across the Atlantic Ocean
   Fly across the Arctic Ocean
   6. Working with the United Nations, what did former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt help establish in 1948?
   the rights of all people
   the rights of all women
   the rights of poor people
   7. In 1983, Sally Ride soared into history as the first American woman to do what?
   Fly across the Pacific Ocean
   Fly around the world
   Fly into space

Activity 4:

Watch the short movies and carry out the task that follows.

Task

Ask the students to answer the following questions:

1. What do the movies describe?
2. Did women in the past have the same rights they have today?
3. What changed?

4. Do you think the words "When people struggle together, what was once unimaginable suddenly becomes possible..."applyfor women's fight for equal rights? How?

OBJECTIVE 4: CONNECTORS OF COMPARE AND CONTRAST

The teacher frontally teaches the most commonly used connectors of compare and contrast, their meaning, use and placement, with clear examples. More practice and exercises can be used from "New Practical Grammar"-ECB.

We use certain words to show (comparison) when two things, people, ideas, etc. are similar. Some of the words and phrases of comparison are:

Like / (just) as / as +adj.+ as / the same as / similarly / both / likewise

e.g. Both Martin L. King and Nelson Mandela suffered from injustice.

We use certain words to show that two things, people, ideas, etc. are different. Such words express contrasting ideas. Some of these connectors of contrast are:

Although, even though, though,

Whereas, while,

Despite, in spite of,

But, yet, however, nevertheless,

On the one hand ……on the other hand

In contrast to, contrary to, unlike.

e.g. In spite of the cold weather, she didn't take a coat.

Although they were different in colour, President Kennedy and

Martin L. King were good friends, shared similarvalues and had

the same fate.

In addition, we can use verbs to express contrast such as disagree, disapprove..

Exercise

Fill in the blanks with a suitable connector of contrast.

1. Some people enjoy city life, ______others prefer quiet

Countryside.

1. ______he didn't feel well, he went to work.
2. ______the high price, she bought the dress.
3. The story is short,______it's interesting.
4. Investors wanted to build a shopping mall.______, the residents opposed the idea.

OBJECTIVE 5: PRACTICING COMPARE AND CONTRAST ON

DIFFERENT READING TEXTS.

Reading Activity 1: A SHORT STORY

PRE-READING

A)Students review the five elements of the story characters, setting, theme, plot, and other literal terms. Definitions of these terms are clearly presented in "A Cool Collection 1 & 2 by Linda Teharlev, UPP publications".

B) Vocabulary Exercise

1. Write the following words (from the story) on the board and ask students which ones are familiar to them.

grief / haunted / a sob / inability / motionless / paralyzed

body / soul / to possess / exhaustion / triumph / shudder/ victory / slender hands / joy / powerless / self assertion

1. Students look up words they do not know.
2. Students divide the words (according to meaning) into two or three categories and explain their choice of categories.
3. Students guess the theme of the story according to this list of vocabulary items.

READING

Read the short story and answer the questions appears in "A CoolCollection 2" by Linda Taharlev, ECB,

Kate Chopin "The Story of an Hour"

Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death.

It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing. Her husband's

friend Richards was there, too, near her. It was he who had been in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster was received, with Brently Mallard's name leading the list of "killed." He had only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a second telegram, and had hastened to forestall any less careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message.

She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She

wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her.

There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.

She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which some one was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves.

There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window.

She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams.

She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength. But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought.

There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air.

Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will--as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been.

When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!" The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.

She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her. A clear and exalted perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial.

She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.