Short Stories: The American Dreamers (2020)

Lesson 6
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ELA

Unit 12

7th Grade

Lesson 6 of 13

Objective


Analyze how Ibrahim and his wife adapt to the American way of life. 

Readings and Materials


  • Short Story: “An Iraqi Immigrant's Unexpected Role” by Akhtar al-Sinjari, as told to Cynthia Agustin 

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Target Task


Writing Prompt

How has the butcher’s wife adapted to her new life in America? At what cost? Make sure to use details from the text to support your answer.

Key Questions


  • Why did the couple move from Mosul, Iraq, to Cleveland, Ohio? 
  • According to the narrator, what was the hardest part about leaving her home country? 
  • How does the narrator hold on to her religion as a Muslim while adapting to the American way of life? 
  • What is symbolic about the supermarket for the speaker? How is food symbolic in both “The Butcher’s Wife” and “Mrs. Sen’s”? 
  • What is challenging about the narrator’s new life in America? What has she and her husband given up in order to live here? What have they gained by living here? 
  • How does the narrator resolve her inner conflict of being the butcher’s wife? 
  • Text to Text comparison: How is the narrator’s experiences the same as but different than Negi’s family in When I Was Puerto Rican
  • Rigorous Discussion: Does a person’s social class and education in her native country determine her success as a new immigrant in the United States? Make sure to use examples from the texts to support your answer.

Notes


Today’s text is short. Make sure to weave in a rigorous discussion and/or vocabulary lesson on this day.

Common Core Standards


  • RL.6.3 — Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

Next

Explain how the Scots-Irish adapted to their lives in America.

Lesson 7
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