Erin Conley’s FOTIP Global Citizenship Lesson Plan

Course: LLC 1/1H (9th grade English)

Unit: ​Persepolis
Unit Question: How do stereotypes influence how we look at and understand the world?

Lesson Title: “​Persepolis​: Iranian Culture and History”

Required Materials:
- Initial Unit Question Journal Prompt (slide 1)
- Follow-up Unit Question Journal Reflection (slide 2)
- CrashCourse Video for Iranian Revolutions
- CrashCourse cloze notes
- Iranian Revolution PearDeck
- Iranian Revolution Cloze notes
- Rick Steves’ documentary
- Rick Steves’ documentary video questions
- 100 Years of Beauty video

Lesson Summary​: Students will compose initial responses to the unit question. They will then
build background using a CrashCourse video about Iran’s revolutions and will then participate in
a PearDeck lecture to (a) demonstrate what they already know about Iranian history, (b) clarify
misconceptions about Iran through watching excerpts of a documentary of Iranian history and
culture, and (c) build background about the history surrounding Iran’s revolutions and how that
history is pertinent to the upcoming memoir, ​Persepolis.​ ​ ​Students will then reassess their
answers to the unit question (to be revisited again at the end of the unit).

Standard:
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.6​: Analyze a particular point of view or cultural
experience reflected in a work of literature from outside the United States, drawing on a
wide reading of world literature.

Objective:
- Students will be able to summarize key details pertaining to (a) the lead up to the Iranian
Revolution and (b) life under the Iranian theocratic regime.

Opening Lesson Activities:

- Students complete a quickwrite in response to the unit question.
- Students watch Iranian Revolution Crash Course video and complete the accompanying
cloze notes.
- Students attempt to locate the Middle East on a PearDeck map slide (specifically Iran,
Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Israel). Brief discussion to follow regarding
students’ ability or inability to correctly locate and label countries.
 - Students use Google Maps to explore modern-day Tehran, Iran and summarize
interesting findings in PearDeck response slide.

Lesson Body Activities:

- Students watch selected sections of Rick Steves’ “Iran: Yesterday and Today”
documentary and complete the viewing guide for assigned sections.
- Students define terms: revolution, Islam
- Students complete PearDeck slide presentation regarding background information on
Iran and its 1979 revolution, including completing the PearDeck cloze notes.
- This presentation includes information on changing culture (100 Years of
Beauty), the Islamic Revolution, and the Iran/Iraq War (each of which is followed
by a written response question in the PearDeck slides for students to summarize
their learning).

Lesson Closing Activities:

- Students summarize their findings and learnings from the PearDeck in the last PearDeck
slide.
- Students revisit journal response prompt and reflect on if/how their answer has changed
as a result of the background-building.

**In the next lesson, students will examine historical articles pertinent to aspects of the
revolution discussed in the lecture (including hijab-wearing, martyrdom, and political
imprisonment).

Student Assessment:
- Formative Assessments
- Students will complete cloze notes for the Iranian Revolution Crash Course
video.
- Students will complete the Rick Steves’ documentary viewing guide.
- Students will complete cloze notes for the Iranian Revolution PearDeck.
- Students will write both initial and follow-up reflections on the unit question.
- Summative Assessments:
- Questions taken from the notes in this lesson will appear on the unit test.