Kelli Nemetz

English 304-01, Fall 2016

Instructional Plan

Instructional Plan for Does My Head Look Big in This?:

Looking through the Lens of Islamic Culture

a. Context of hypothetical class:
I will use this instructional unit in a ninth grade classroom. The classroom has
24 students and is fairly even with the number of males and females. These
students all must take this English class as part of their tenth grade credits. While
this classroom is in the Grand Rapids area, there is not much diversity in the
classroom and almost all of the students are White and come from middle to uppermiddle social classes. Most of the students have lived in this area their whole lives
and have not traveled outside of the United States. The students have explored
other international literature in small groups but none from the Islamic culture. With
todays atmosphere around Islamophobia, some of the parents of these students
were wary when they saw I was teaching this lesson but are interested, like their
children, to explore the culture from a non-biased perspective.

b. An essential question or unit theme:

This instructional plan fits into our wider theme weve been exploring,
answering the questions about the purpose of international literature. With the
overall unit, we are focusing on the two central questions: In what ways can reading
international childrens and young adult literature create possibilities and limitation
for understanding ones own and others cultural memberships? and How, if at all,
does this literature challenge images of the world presented by the America media?
The second is really prominent in this plan because of the current events
surrounding this question. While Does My Head Look Big in This? By Randa AbdelFattah is set in Australia, we will mainly be focusing on the Islamic culture and
learning about it to see how it is different and similar to our own. In the last part of
this plan, we will look at American media that portrays Muslims and Islamic culture
to see how it is different or the same than what we have learned.

c. Learning objectives:
- Students will use technology to do research to explore and define terms
- Students will read a full-length novel from Australia surrounding a Muslim
girl and her friends
written for Young Adults.
- Students will analyze assigned characters and interpret plot from the book
in the way their

character would react.

- Students will engage in small group literary discussion.
- Students will examine pieces of American media about Islamic people and
interpret what they
see and hear.
- Students will continue to recognize stereotyping and misconceptions.
- Students will think critically about their own culture and ways other cultures
are interpreted.
- Students will become self-aware of similarities and differences between their
own culture and
the culture within our text.

d. Lesson plan and materials for an intro activity:

Goal: To begin broadening students thinking with the discovery of terms in Islamic
culture and providing them with vocabulary that will help them understand and
communicate about the text. Also to get students preemptive thoughts about
Islamic culture and Muslim people.

Procedure:
1. Distribute the Islamic terms handout (below). Students will complete this
handout in 45 minutes one hour. Deep research into these terms is
encouraged as time permits.
2. Have students find a partner to complete the Part One of the handout
together.
3. Have students use their laptops or go to the computer lab to research these
terms and get full, detailed definitions.
4. When students complete Part One, have students work individually and
silently on Part Two.
5. Have students answer questions about what the already know about Islamic
culture and what they want to know or any questions they have.
6. When the entire class is finished, gather class together to allow students to
give answers about their term definitions while following the slides (below) to
ensure correct definitions.
7. Ask students to share out anything they think they already know or want to
know.
8. Allow students to keep handout for future use.

Handout (d)

Name:

Islamic Culture Worksheet

Part One: Please work with a partner to find definitions of these terms using your
computers. All definitions must have full, detailed descriptions to help you
remember these terms while you are reading.

1.) Islam:

2.) Muslim:

3.) Hijab:

4.) Burka:

5.) Ramadan:

Part Two: Please work individually, without a computer, to thoughtfully answer these
questions. Your answers may be personal and you do not need to share them with
anyone. Please write complete thoughts as you will use this after we finish this
lesson.
Things you already know about Islamic
culture:

Things you want to know/Questions you

have:

Slides (d):

Slide One:

Slide Two:

Slide Three:
Islam: the religion of the Muslims, a monotheistic faith regarded as revealed through
Muhammad as the Prophet of Allah.

Muslim: a follower of the religion of Islam or as an adjective of or relating to the

Muslims or their religion.

Slide Four:
Hijab: a head covering worn in public by some Muslim women. There is a religious
code that governs the wearing of the hijab.

Slide Five:
Burka: a long, loose garment covering the whole body from head to feet, worn in
public by many Muslim women.

Slide Six:

Slide Seven:
Ramadan: the ninth month of the Muslim year, during which strict fasting is
observed from sunrise to sunset.

e. Lesson plan and materials for through activity:

Goals: For students to engage with their book Does My Head Look Big in This? At
home and during independent reading time while journaling their thoughts and
main points in assigned chapters that can be analyzed through the eyes of their
assigned characters. The students will also engage in discussion with classmates
about the text as they read.

Procedure:
1. Divide the class into three groups each group with an assigned character.
Group one Amal, Group Two Leila, Group Three Simone.
2. Assign a certain number of chapters to be read as each homework
assignment to get through the book at the same pace. In each homework
assignment, have students keep journals of what they notice, what they like
or dont like, and personal thoughts throughout. Also have students pick one
or two key plot points for their characters and have them write a journal
entry reaction based on how they think their character would react.
3. Each class period after the assigned chapters are completed, allow students
to get into groups of 3, where each character is represented. Have students
discuss their personal notes first for 15 minutes. For the next 30 minutes,
have each character read their reactions aloud to their group. After each
character, have group discuss why they believe the character would/would
not react that way.
4. Have students return to whole-group discussions and have a short shareout period to talk about what is going on in the book and their groups
favorite reaction journal entry.
5. Do this same process for the assigned readings. The length of this will
depend on classs level and the other on-goings in the classroom.
6. Collect the journals for each student at the end of the book for assessment.

f. Lesson plan and materials for a beyond activity:

Goal: Students will explore credible sources for American media as groups and keep
track of the things they see as common themes and what they know as correct and
incorrect based on their own studies of Islamic culture. Work to recognize
stereotyping and Islamophobia. Students will recognize similarities and differences
of a culture other than their own and see how they can live cohesively.

Procedure:
1. Present slide to remind students terms to work with (below).
2. Split class into groups of three.

3. Allow students to use technology to research news sites like CNN, Washington
Post, Fox News, etc. for articles or posts relating to Muslims or Islamic culture
for 45 minutes.
4. Have students take detailed notes on the handout below.
5. Have students chose one article or event they feel is most important to share
with class and have each group share out a piece of news they found and
their thoughts on it whether it was bias or not, an example of stereotyping,
or correct information.
6. At the end of this whole group discussion, show this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWVBn8XqRXs that shows woman who
wear the hijab and their own testimonies.
7. Have students do a reflective journal entry to share their feelings on reading
a book with Muslim characters and how they feel about the portrayal of
Islamic culture in the media of the United States for remaining time.

Slide (f):
Slide One:

Terms to remember
Stereotype: a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular
type of person or thing.
Prejudice: preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.
Bias: prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with
another, usually in a way considered to be unfair.
Islamophobia: dislike of or prejudice against Islam or Muslims, especially as a
political force.

Handout (f):

Names:

Islamic Culture & Muslims in American Media Worksheet

Directions: Please complete this worksheet as a group and be prepared to share out
one of your news finds.

1.)

a. News Source:
b. Title of Article:
c. Summary:

d. Information:
i. Correct:

ii. ii. Not Correct:

e. Any other thoughts:

2.)

a. News source:
b. Title of Article:
c. Summary:
d. Information:
i. Correct:

ii. ii. Not Correct:

e. Any other thoughts:

3.)

a. News source:
b. Title of Article:
c. Summary:
d. Information:
i. Correct:

ii. ii. Not Correct:

e. Any other thoughts: