Lesson Topics: Ms. Rachel, Israel, political inaction
Skill Focus: Reading, Listening, Speaking, Vocabulary
Approximate Class Time: 1.75 hours
Lesson Plan Download: israel-children-rachel-advanced-062025.docx
- Cautionary Foreword: This lesson is decidedly against the Israeli settlement of Palestine and the current genocide. I feel it is impossible to write a lesson about the killing of 56,000 people in a "neutral" tone. As Ms. Rachel says, when enough people say (or discuss) something, it's not controversial anymore. I feel that bringing light to the atrocities in Gaza is necessary, even if it is uncomfortable for some people to hear. -MB
- The lesson begins with warm-up questions about charities and global issues.
- As inputs, this lesson has a short reading passage and a video. The passage, at 103 words, introduces Ms. Rachel, her advocacy, and the attack on her by pro-Israeli groups. The short TikTok video (1:44m) features Ms. Rachel shaming politicians who refuse to act to protect children in Palestine.
- The passage is followed by comprehension and follow-up questions.
- Next, students match vocabulary from the passage to definitions. Then students form discussion questions with the target vocabulary.
- The lesson has three debate prompts about political inaction and involvement in foreign politics.
- The first roleplay depicts are very real scenario: a character trying to persuade her husband to publicly announce his opposition to Israel's actions in Palestine, yet the husband is concerned about the ramifications for his career if he does so.
- This is followed by a group activity in which students pick a cause and then select a style of fundraiser to raise awareness for the cause.
- Next, students review three famous quotations and the lesson's collocations.
- Finally, students review vocabulary before discussing some final discussion questions. The lesson has one writing prompt as well.
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ADVANCED (C1/C2) Lesson on Ms. Rachel & Israel
Warm-up
- Do you donate to charities? If so, which ones?
- What global issues are you most concerned with? Why?
- How likely do you think it is that the situation in Palestine will improve or be solved?
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This lesson plan was created by Matthew Barton of EnglishCurrent.com (copyright). Site members may photocopy and edit the file for their classes. Permission is not given to rebrand the lesson, redistribute it on another platform, or sell it as part of commercial course curriculum. ChatGPT was used to generate answer keys and some famous quotations. For questions, contact the author.
Comprehension Question Answer Key
1. …
2. The video shows how Daryl Davis used personal conversation and music to form relationships with KKK members and change their views.
3. Because Daryl had impressed him with his music, and the man was curious — it was a moment of openness.
4. “How can you hate me when you don’t even know me?”
- She uses repetition (Be so ashamed that…). She also appeals to emotion by being on the edge of tears. There’s moral argumentation as well.
6. When the Klan members began asking for his opinion — not just answering his questions.
7. Daryl uses personal, one-on-one dialogue; the younger generation uses activism and social media. Both approaches have value, but students may have differing opinions on which is more effective.
Vocabulary: 1-f, 2-a, 3-i, 4-d, 5-b, 6-g, 7-e, 8-c, 9-h
Collocations 1-a, 2-b, 3-d, 4-c
[1] https://x.com/StopAntisemites/status/1909425776727830619, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/17/ms-rachel-gaza-fundraiser
[2] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/immigration-judge-rules-that-columbia-student-mahmoud-khalil-can-be-deported