Teacher's Guide to the Syria Lesson Toolkit:
Thank you for your interest in I Am Syria. This Teach Syria educational toolkit is designed by teachers for teachers, and allows you to feel comfortable teaching about Syria without having to feel like you are an expert—within a 40-minute lesson plan. Our hope is that these ready-to-use, Common Core-friendly materials will help to bring in-depth foreign policy education to your classroom, highlighting history in action via a contemporary global and humanitarian issue, allowing your students to learn in a new interactive way geared towards a millennial audience.
The Issue at Hand
Foreign policy education in the United States is extremely limited, which is why this issue is so important for educators. As one of the most influential countries in the world, America as a nation must be aware of global crises starting from a young age as globalization and the phenomena of social media bring us closer together as a global community. Through lesson plans such as these, we educate, inform, and engage our youth to be the global leaders of tomorrow. For more information, the following articles can be extremely helpful: Why the Events Happening in Syria Matter to Americans and an op-ed from our founders Teaching Syria: What You Do Matters.
Implementing this Lesson Plan in Your Classroom
This lesson plan uses terms and concepts such as: human rights, the United Nations, genocide and sanctions, among others. Based on their grade, some students may have not covered these topics and they can be difficult to understand. In the days leading up to your lesson plan, be sure that your students have some basic shared terminology so that they are able to understand the lesson plan. Recommended format, ideas for linking this into the arch of your classroom's curriculum, and ideas for how to engage your students can all be found under the section Syria for Educators. For low-tech classroom materials or for further suggestions, please contact kristin@newsdeeply.org
Pick What Works for YOUR Classroom
Whether you teach Middle School Social Studies or AP Government, every attempt was made to include materials and activities that are designed for your students—and easy for you to use. To get stated, go to our toolkit to choose what materials fit your needs and situation. You’ll find introductory videos, classroom-ready PowerPoint and notes, as well as an interactive Presidential Cabinet Video which allows your students to pretend that they are in the Situation Room of the White House. You’ll also have the option of have the option of having your students get involved through our I Am Syria Facebook campaign. Doing so provides them with the opportunity to contribute in some small way to the global conversation about Syria, beginning with a brief video about the campaign that is available by clicking here.
Additional Resources
Teaching about Syria can seem intimidating, but the materials included are designed for someone to just point n' click through the presentation. To further educate yourself on Syria or for more in-depth materials for AP classes, try some of these incredible resources:
Syria Deeply
Teach Deeply
Syria Revolution Digest
Syria Deeply
Teach Deeply
Syria Revolution Digest
Teach Deeply
As one stream of News Deeply, the creators of Syria Deeply, we are working with teachers and our Formal Advisor Steve Armstrong, President-Elect of the National Council for the Social Studies to create interactive lesson plans that educate, inform and engage our youth around humanitarian issues and global conflicts for middle and high school students. All programs will be licensed by Creative Commons for public use. The model can and will be expanded to cover any number of topics, including: Teach Syria, Teach Against Genocide, Teach North Korea, and Teach Global Water. Teach Deeply hopes to provide a whole new level to curriculum support that is teacher friendly, student friendly and Common Core Standards compliant. To receive information about our upcoming projects, friend us on Facebook.
Who We Are
Teach Syria is a collaborative program combining the skills of educators, technologists, and journalists to fulfill the mission of educate, inform and engage middle & high school students on the Syrian conflict.
Our Team:
Educators:
Our Team:
Educators:
- I Am Syria Project Managers Andrew Beiter and Joseph Karb, who are 8th grade Social Studies teachers at Springville Middle School in upstate New York, along with Student Teacher Alanna Letson.
- Formal Advisor President-Elect of the National Council for the Social Studies Steve Armstrong
- Syria Deeply Founder and Reporter Lara Setrakian as well as Development and Educational Programs Director Kristin Nolan
- The Prezi Team
Your Feedback is Welcome!
Joseph Karb and Andrew Beiter
Having both taught Social Studies at Springville Middle School outside of Buffalo, New York since 1998, Joseph Karb and Andrew Beiter are both local and nationally recognized educational leaders. In addition to being selected the 2011 National Middle School Social Studies Teacher of the Year, Karb is the founder and Co-Director of the NYSUT/Robert F. Kennedy Speak Truth to Power Human Rights Video Contest. Beiter is the Director of the Summer Institute for Human Rights and Genocide Studies in Buffalo, and is a Regional Education Coordinator for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Both serve as Education Directors for the Robert H. Jackson Center in Jamestown, New York.
As you know, teaching is always a work in progress. We thank you for educating, informing and engaging your students, as well as for your interest in this program. Any feedback you may have as to how we can improve these materials is always appreciated. Remember that what you do matters to the lives of your students and the future of the world.
abeiter@springvillegi.org or jkarb@springvillegi.org or kristin@newsdeeply.org
As you know, teaching is always a work in progress. We thank you for educating, informing and engaging your students, as well as for your interest in this program. Any feedback you may have as to how we can improve these materials is always appreciated. Remember that what you do matters to the lives of your students and the future of the world.
abeiter@springvillegi.org or jkarb@springvillegi.org or kristin@newsdeeply.org
