A Window into Afghanistan

Lesson Plans for High School Educators

This resource is designed to fit in to a high school social studies or religion curriculum. The five lessons can be taught as a one-week unit, or could be extended longer by implementing the extension activities included with each lesson. All lessons come with print-ready handouts, ideas for assessments and homework assignments, and an annotated list of additional resources. An easy-to-use power point presentation is also available for download.

Individual Lessons & Handouts

The complete document contains 41 pages in a PDF file. If you have trouble downloading the large complete document and instead prefer to download smaller files, or wish to view only single lessons, you can access the lessons, handouts and additional links according to the guide below.

Lesson 1: An Introduction to Afghanistan

This lesson is designed to introduce students to the country of Afghanistan. It provides an overview of the people, culture, religion and history and identifies some of the major challenges facing the country today as it rebuilds from war.

Lesson 2: Afghan Culture

In this lesson, students explore the various aspects of culture, and compare their own culture to Afghan culture, identifying similarities as well as differences. Students will undertake an activity where they look critically at their own culture through the lens of an outsider. The meaning of ethnocentrism is also explored.

Lesson 3: Islam

This lesson introduces students to Islam, one of the world's main religions and an extremely important pillar of Afghan culture. Students work in cooperative learning groups to understand some of the basic beliefs and practices of Muslims and to dispel some of the myths about Islam prevalent in the West.

Lesson 4: Muslim Women & Afghan Women

This lesson is designed in two parts. The first part examines the hijab (covering worn by Muslim women) and challenges the common perception in the West that it oppresses women. Students are asked to form their opinions on the subject before and after reading accounts from Muslim women themselves. The second part of the lesson focuses specifically on the women of Afghanistan and their treatment under the Taliban and today. Students are again asked to read specific accounts and determine for themselves whether this treatment constitutes oppression. Used together, the two parts of this lesson are designed to help students appreciate the real challenges faced by the women of Afghanistan, while also recognizing the danger of stereotyping all Muslim women as oppressed.

Lesson 5: Rebuilding a Nation

This lesson introduces students to the challenges faced by Afghanistan today as it begins the rebuilding process after years of war. Students work in groups to identify the elements important to rebuilding a society and undertake the difficult task of prioritizing these elements when faced with limited resources.

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