Lesson Title: Ethical Behavior in Literature from the Middle East

Name: Lisa Landrum

School: Charles Herbert Flowers High School, Springdale, Maryland, Prince George’s County Public Schools

Grades Taught: 9th-12th

Grade Appropriate: 12th

Discipline Taught: English

Discipline Appropriate: English; Social Studies – History, Geography; Art; Social Sciences

Length of Lesson Plan: Ninety minute block; A-Day, B-Day Schedule; Three days

Big Idea: Ethical Behavior – What is a Person’s Responsibility to or for Others?

Learner Outcomes:

English
Core Learning Goal One	The student will demonstrate the ability to respond to a text by employing personal experiences and critical analysis.
Core Learning Goal Two	The student will demonstrate the ability to compose in a variety of modes by developing content, employing specific forms and selecting language appropriate for a particular audience and purpose.
Social Studies
Core Learning Goal One	The student will demonstrate an understanding of the historical development and current status of principles, institutions and processes of political systems.
Core Learning Goal Two	The student will demonstrate an understanding of the history, diversity and commonality of the people of the nation and world, the reality of human interdependence, and the need for global cooperation through a perspective that is both historical and multi-cultural.
Core Learning Goal Three	The student will demonstrate an understanding of geographic concepts and processes to examine the role of culture, technology, and the environment in the location and distribution of human activities throughout history.

Lesson Objectives: Students will read the story “The Cabuliwallah” (The Fruit Seller from Cabul) by Rabindranath Tagore, Literature and Language, English 12, pages 207-211, in order to answer comprehension questions, discuss major themes/ideas, and write an essay to summarize key ideas.

Abstract of Lesson: The story involves a man from Cabul who annually travels to Calcutta to sell his wares for a period of time. He befriends a family, but is left on his own when he is imprisoned for seven years because he was cheated by the family’s neighbor. The students will learn how prejudice and discrimination can hurt people.

Lesson Components:

Warm-up: Students will trace the route that the fruit seller takes from his homeland in Afghanistan to his final destination in India. Students will also trace a copy of the fruit seller's face and his clothing. Teacher will write the title of the story on the board and ask the students to predict what the story is about.

Guided Practice: Teacher will create a graphic organizer divided into the following four columns: Who is Mistreated (in the story), By Whom, How, and Why. The teacher will then model how the students should read the story silently and fill in the graphic organizer. The teacher will model by reading the first page out loud and filling in the graphic organizer. Students will read the rest of the story silently in pairs or trios and complete their own individual graphic organizers.

Independent Practice: Students will have a mock trial centering on ethics pertaining to this story. The main question that needs to be answered is “Does the Cabuliwallah deserve what happens to him?. Why or why not?

The mock trial participants will include the fruit seller, the family that he befriended, the man who cheated and abused him, lawyers for both side, a civil rights advocate, and the Supreme Justice of Ethical Behavior, who will decide the case.

Assessment: After everyone has stated his/her case and prior to the Supreme Being delivering his verdict, each student will write his own personal opinion in an essay and explain his/her reasoning.

Closure: Students will discuss the story, trial and their own personal opinions about the fruit seller's treatment and how it relates to the bigger issue of Man's responsibility to others.

Materials/Resources
Text: Literature and Language, English 12, pages 207-211
Web Sites: Search for information on dress, customs, caste system, geography (for homework)
Handouts: Graphic organizer

Assessment:
Peer review of essay
Teacher observation of group discussion
Panel Discussion: Does the Man Deserve What Happened to Him? Why or Why Not?
Panel Participants: Religious leader, average citizen, lawyer, civil rights advocate, father, mother, and fruit seller

Key Words: Ethical Behavior, Caste System