Lesson Plan - Learning to Skate in a War Zone

Build Background Knowledge

Use the interactive atlas and almanac to display information about Afghanistan. (Click “Atlas & Almanac” in the top menu at junior.scholastic.com. Select “World Atlas.” Then zoom in on Afghanistan and click its name.) Then have students write three sentences with facts about Afghanistan.

Preview Vocabulary

Use Words to Know to preteach the domain-specific terms terrorist, ally, civilian, civics, resilience, democracy, coalition, poverty, invest, extremist, volatile, refugee, displace, activist, parliament, and Congress. Have students refer to the Skill Builder as they read.

Read the Article

Read the article aloud or have students read it independently. As students read, ask them to notice how text features like photos and sidebars support the article.

Answer Close-Reading Questions

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

• What is Skateistan? How did it start? (Central Ideas)
Skateistan is an organization that combines skateboarding and education. It has schools in five locations, including three in Afghanistan as well as one in Cambodia and another in South Africa. So far, about 12,000 students ages 5 to 17 have completed its programs. In addition to learning skateboarding, students go on field trips, take art classes, and complete lessons in reading, writing, math, and other subjects. Oliver Percovich started Skateistan after he moved to Afghanistan in 2007 and saw how interested local kids were in skateboarding.

• Why did the U.S. go to war in Afghanistan? (Key Details)
The U.S. invaded Afghanistan in October 2001, shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people in the U.S. Afghanistan’s Taliban government had given safe haven to Al Qaeda, the group that carried out the attacks. The conflict with the Taliban is the longest in U.S. history and has led to the deaths of more than 2,200 U.S. troops and tens of thousands of Afghan soldiers and civilians.

• What is resilience? How does Skateistan try to build it? (Social and Emotional Learning)
Resilience is the ability to recover quickly from a difficult situation or change. Skateistan tries to build resilience through skateboarding and education. Many Skateistan students live in unstable environments where there are a lot of dangers, so learning to overcome challenges is important. For example, repeatedly practicing a difficult skateboarding trick can show someone the value of getting back up after falling.

• How did the rise of the Taliban affect Afghan people? (Cause and Effect)
After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 1996, the extremist group imposed strict rules. They banned music, movies, and TV. Men had to grow beards. Girls older than 8 couldn’t attend school. Women couldn’t work in most jobs and had to wear burqas whenever they left their homes. People who didn’t follow the rules risked public beatings, imprisonment, or death.

• Summarize the section “Back in the Classroom.” (Summarizing)
In Afghanistan, about half of all school-aged children­—3.7 million kids—don’t have access to education. The situation is even more difficult for girls. Some families with limited resources can only afford to send boys to school. Instead of going to school, many children have to look after siblings or work to help their families get by. For example, one student used to sell gum in the streets before attending Skateistan.

• How have women and girls in Afghanistan made progress toward equality? What challenges do they still face? (Text Evidence)
Female activists have worked hard to secure access to education, employment, and health care for women that the Taliban had taken away. Today, women in Afghanistan work as judges, soldiers, and teachers, and about 25 percent of the country’s lawmakers are women. However, only about 33 percent of Afghan girls attend school. Some people in Afghanistan don’t think girls deserve equality and believe girls shouldn’t take part in physical activities like skateboarding or playing soccer. Additionally, some experts worry that as U.S. troops leave Afghanistan, the Taliban could take control of the country again and undo the progress that women and girls have made.

Watch a Video

As students watch “Behind the Scenes at Skateistan,” ask them to think about these questions: Which statistic is most interesting to you? Why? Toward the end of the video, a kid attempts a trick repeatedly before landing it. How does that scene help illustrate Skateistan’s mission?

Analyze a Map

Assign Map Reading: Afghanistan to have students answer 10 questions about a more detailed version of the map on page 11.

Write for a Task, Purpose, and Audience

Use the Skill Builder Choice Board to have students choose from eight activities related to the article. Options include exploring Skateistan’s website, choosing an article from our Women’s Rights text set, analyzing a photograph, and watching the trailer for Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl).

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.