Lesson Plan - A Team Stays Together in a Time of War

Engage and Discuss

Ask students to respond to this prompt: Think about a time when you had a disagreement with a friend. What happened? How did you handle it? Did anything help you rebuild your friendship? Looking back, would you do anything differently? Use Think-Pair-Share to discuss students’ responses.

Preview Vocabulary

Use the online Skill Builder Words to Know to preteach the domain-specific terms Arab, Christianity, civilian, displace, humanity, Islam, Judaism, and militant. Have students refer to the Skill Builder as they read.

Read the Article

Read the article aloud or have students read it independently or in pairs. As students read, direct them to underline or highlight details that help answer the question at the beginning of the article.

Answer Close-Reading Questions

Have students write their responses, or use the Close-Reading Questions to guide a discussion.

• What is the main goal of the Greater Jerusalem swim club? Why? (Central Ideas)
The club’s coach, Emanuel May, says the main goal of the club is to foster unity among young people in Jerusalem. The club is made up of both Israeli and Palestinian teenagers. Israelis and Palestinians have a long and divisive history, in part because both groups claim the same land. Being a part of the club encourages the teens to see beyond their differences and get to know each other as individuals. They also learn to work together to achieve common goals.

• What happened on October 7, 2023? How did Israel respond? (Analyzing Events)
On October 7, armed members of Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, invaded Israel. They killed about 1,200 Israelis and took more than 240 people hostage. Videos showed Hamas fighters lighting homes on fire and shooting at unarmed people. Israel responded by declaring war against Hamas. The Israeli military launched deadly airstrikes and invaded the Gaza Strip, killing more than 29,000 Palestinians and displacing about 1.7 million Palestinians from their homes as of mid-February 2024.

• Before October 7, the swim teammates spent time together outside of the club and often joked around after practice. How has the war “tested that normalcy in ways that the teens are still processing?” (Cause and Effect)
On October 8, Mustafa Abdu posted a photo on Instagram of a Palestinian child with the caption “Where were the people calling for humanity when we were killed?” Avishag Ozeri was shocked and texted Mustafa about it. On October 11, a different Palestinian swimmer posted on Instagram predicting a quick victory for Hamas, and Shira Chuna felt betrayed. The team didn’t swim together again until October 16, and “a heaviness hung in the air.”

• How did Mustafa Abdu and Avishag Ozeri work together to achieve “an uneasy peace”? (Key Details)
The swimmers texted each other about an Instagram post that Mustafa uploaded of a Palestinian child. Avishag and Mustafa asked each other questions and tried to understand each other’s perspectives. After disagreeing about which side was right or wrong, Avishag asked if they were cool. Mustafa hearted her message and said “Yes” in Spanish. After the coach contacted Mustafa, the teen deleted the post. Weeks later, the two friends exchanged smiles after she touched his toes at practice.

• Summarize the section “A Team Meeting.” (Summarizing)
In the days after October 7, Israel prepared to invade Gaza, launching airstrikes and blocking supplies. Hamas continued to fire rockets at Israel. Shira Chuna, an Israeli swim club member, felt betrayed by an October 11 post by a Palestinian swimmer predicting a swift win for Hamas. The swim club’s coach contacted Mustafa and the other swimmer, who took down their posts. The team didn’t practice again until October 16, as deaths in Gaza were rapidly increasing and Israelis were still reeling. Before practice, May brought the team members together for a meeting. The teens swam together but didn’t joke around or talk much. By the following day, however, the swimmers reported that tensions had eased. A few weeks later, team members were back to having cheerful conversations and teasing each other. However, the realities of war continued to affect the teens. Shira’s cousin, an Israeli soldier, was killed. Mustafa told her he was sorry for her loss. Shira said she felt like Mustafa cared. Mustafa says, “If we have a problem, we fix it like a team.”

• Choose one of the quotes in the article to analyze. What did the person mean by it? Why do you think the author included it? (Analyze Text Structure)
Sample response: Shai Doron, the president of the Jerusalem Foundation, says, “Swimming brings people together in the most natural way. It’s impossible to tell who’s a Jew and an Arab.” Doron means that an activity like swimming can promote unity because team members train together and build strong relationships. He might also be referring to how much Israeli and Palestinian swimmers look alike when they are all wearing goggles and swim caps. In the pool, athletic ability matters more than someone’s background. Doron’s organization, which works to improve Jerusalem, awarded the club funding four years ago. I think the author included the quote to help explain the club’s mission and show what someone less directly involved thinks of it.

Discuss Concepts

Guide students to discuss the Your Turn questions at the end of the article. You might provide sentence starters to scaffold conversations: “No politics in the pool” means that ____. It is an unspoken rule for the club because _____. I (do/do not) agree with the rule because _____.

Analyze Text Features

Assign the Skill Builder Use Text Features to have students analyze some of the photos and captions, the map, and the sidebar “Jerusalem: A Holy City.” Have students work independently, in pairs, or in small groups to analyze what each text feature tells readers and why it is important.

Assess Comprehension

Assign the 10-question Know the News quiz, available in PDF and interactive forms. You can also use Quiz Wizard to assess comprehension of this article and three others from the issue.