Educational tools: Lesson Plans

Middle East: Land, Resources, Economics

This lesson begins by asking students to compare and co …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: PBS, WGBH Educational Foundation

Got Water?

In this 3 part lesson plan, students consider the limit …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: PBS, WGBH Educational Foundation

Oil Crisis: What Would You Do?

In this lesson, students are given a hypothetical situa …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: PBS, WGBH Educational Foundation

Israeli-Palestinian Peace Summit

In this 4-5 day lesson plan, students take on the roles …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: PBS, WGBH Educational Foundation

Mapping the Middle East

In this lesson, students learn the history of how the M …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: PBS, WGBH Educational Foundation

Stereotypes: More than Meet the Eyes

This lesson is one of two in this particular series. In …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: PBS, WGBH Educational Foundation

“Reading” Political Cartoons

In this lesson plan, students will understand represent …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: PBS, WGBH Educational Foundation

Muslim Women and Soccer

This unit includes 5 lessons about Muslim women and soc …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Downloadable File
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: Portland State University

Exploring Stereotypes with “Aladdin”

In this lesson plan, students unpack commonly held ster …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: Elementary, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: TeachMideast

Vocabulary of the Middle East

This two-part lesson plan introduces students to key vo …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Downloadable File
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: Portland State University

The Science and Technology of Ancient Egypt

In this lesson, students learn about the scientific and …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: Elementary, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: PBS

Touring Ancient Egypt

In this lesson plan, students will use different maps t …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: Elementary, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: PBS

A Day in the Life of an Egyptian

In this lesson plan, students explore the daily lives o …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: Elementary, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: PBS

Architectural Marvels of Egypt

In this lesson plan, students learn about the architect …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: Elementary, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: PBS

Egypt’s Greatest Leaders

In this lesson, students learn about famous pharaohs in …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: Elementary, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: PBS

The Queens of Ancient Egypt

In this lesson, students learn about some of the queens …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: Elementary, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: PBS

Tombs and the Afterlife

This lesson examines the concept of the afterlife in an …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: Elementary, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: PBS

Egypt’s Golden Empire: Hieroglyphs and Communication

This lesson plan focuses on the use of hieroglyphics fo …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: Elementary, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: PBS

Egypt’s Golden Empire

This website includes a comprehensive collection of res …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: Elementary, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: PBS

Cafe Baghdad Curriculum

Cafe Baghdad, a script provided by this resource, tells …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Downloadable File
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: Portland State University

Young Adult Literature About the Middle East: A Cultural Response Perspective

Literature is a powerful tool to help students connect …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)

Lesson Plans about the Iraq War

This collection of lesson plans provides resources for …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: College/University, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: Rethinking Schools

Readings on Holidays (Maimouna) – Lesson Plan

This lesson plan for intermediate-level students is des …

Language of Presentation: Arabic
Media Format: Downloadable File
School Level: College/University, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: Sarah Standish

Security or Separation? Analyzing the West Bank Barrier through Soccer

The Israeli-built Separation Wall between the West Bank …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Downloadable File
School Level: College/University, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: Portland State University

Children of Heaven

The Persian film, Children of Heaven, tells the story o …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Downloadable File
School Level: Elementary, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: Portland State University

Umm Kulthum: Her Life and Legacy

The legacy of Umm Kulthum, the internationally famous E …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Downloadable File, Streaming Video, Webpage
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture

The Middle East after World War I: Drawing Boundaries, Dividing a Region, and Creating a Crisis

Following World War I, the Allied Powers divided the fo …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Downloadable File
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider:

Lawrence of Arabia: The Battle for the Arab World

TE Lawrence is famously known for his role as liaison t …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: PBS

Golden Age of Islamic Achievement

This five lesson unit based on Common Core State Standa …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Downloadable File
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: Portland State University

Women’s Voices in the Modern Middle East

This website hosts a collection of resources that prese …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Streaming Video, Webpage
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: Primary Source

Access Islam

These multimedia resources about Islam will help studen …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Downloadable File, Streaming Video, Webpage
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: Educational Broadcasting Corporation

The Experience of the Egyptian Revolution

In 2011, the Egyptian people staged 18 days of demonstr …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Downloadable File
School Level: College/University, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: Portland State University

Teaching with the News

This website is a collection of detailed lesson plans w …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: College/University, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: The Choices Program

Our Shared Past in the Mediterranean

This teaching resource offers a unique approach to worl …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies, George Mason University

Teaching about Refugees

As an increasing number of refugees in the Arab world s …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Downloadable File, Streaming Video
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: Georgetown University

Rethinking the Region: Arts and Technology

Arts and technology have been important elements of cul …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Downloadable File, Streaming Audio
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: Teach-MENA

Rethinking the Region: Political and Social Movements

Political and social movements in the Middle East and N …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Downloadable File
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: Teach-MENA

Rethinking the Region: Empire and Nation

This unit is based on an extensive analysis of high sch …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Downloadable File
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: Teach-MENA

Rethinking the Region: Women and Gender

This unit was developed based on an extensive analysis …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Downloadable File
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: Teach-MENA

Rethinking the Region: New Approaches to the 9-12 US Curriculum on the Middle East and North Africa

This curriculum was born out of an extensive analysis o …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Downloadable File, Webpage
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: Teach-MENA

Penn Middle East Center Useful Links, Resources, and Lesson Plans for K-12 Teachers

This is an extensive list of links related to teaching …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Downloadable File, Webpage
School Level: College/University, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: University of Pennsylvania Middle East Center

The Light in Her Eyes

This site presents the trailer of The Light in Her Eyes …

Language of Presentation: Arabic, English
Media Format: DVD/Videotape, Image/Photo, Streaming Video, Webpage
School Level: College/University, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: POV

Marhaba! Teacher’s Toolkit

“Marhaba! Teacher’s Toolkit” is a guide to help with th …

Language of Presentation: Arabic, English
Media Format: Online Tools, Print Publication
School Level: Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: Cheng & Tsui

The Trials of Spring Lesson Plan: Women War and Social Change in the Arab Spring

This lesson plan uses the Trials of Spring video series …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Downloadable File
School Level: College/University, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: Peace is Loud

Mohamed Ansary’s Blog

In this blog, you will find a great variety of resource …

Language of Presentation: Arabic, English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: College/University
Institution/Provider: Blogger

Curriculum Units and Online Resources (CMES at UT Austin)

This page lists a small collection of units and lesson …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: Elementary, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: University of Texas at Austin Center for Middle Eastern Studies

Lesson Plans (CMES at the University of Arizona)

This site provides an extensive collection of teacher-p …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: College/University, Elementary, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: University of Arizona Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES)

The Ottomans: Out of the Margins

This is a series of lesson plans based around primary s …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: College/University, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: Primary Source

Cairo: Living Past, Living Future

This module unit focuses on the historical and contempo …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Downloadable File, Online Tools, Webpage
School Level: College/University, Elementary, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: University of Texas at Austin Center for Middle Eastern Studies

Tragedy in the Mediterranean: Learning About Europe’s Immigration Crisis

This lesson plan from The Learning Network at the New Y …

Language of Presentation: English
Media Format: Webpage
School Level: College/University, Middle/High School
Institution/Provider: New York Times (The Learning Network)