Curriculum Development

The following ideas developed from the Three Cups of Tea Curriculum Development Team.  In its current form, this is simply a list of ideas for lesson planning.  It is our hope that in the future, these ideas will continue to evolve as the teachers who are using Three Cups of Tea in their classrooms are developing lessons and contributing project ideas, work samples, objectives, student outcomes, rubrics and/or any other information they would like to share.  Please feel free to add comments or links. If you have questions or have something to add to the blog, please email me at ljlorio@gmail.com.

General Curriculum Ideas:

• Tie-in ICT Standards, Literacy and Social Studies frameworks
• Islam courses at colleges/universities 
• Introduction to Islam
• Introduction to Central Asia cultures
• Study of Taliban/radical Islam (contrast negativity)
• Field Trip to mosque
• Interview refugees
• Study of Ecosystem in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan

Project Ideas:

• Kindness Project
  
• Mountaineering Unit
• Tea cups - share a cup of tea
  
• Pen Pals with Pakistani students
  
• Pen Pals with other students reading Three Cups of Tea 
  
• Create a blog for kindness/awareness/peace
  
• Research Project - Pakistan or Afghanistan 
  
• Community project promoting Pennies for Peace
  
• Compare/contrast Christianity and Islam
  
• Research women's roles and other issues of social order
  
• Central Asia project incorporating the themes of Geography
  

Lesson ideas:

• Write letters/book review for Three Cups of Tea with specific reasons you recommend it.
  
• Write persuasive letters to potential donors for Pennies for Peace or the Central Asia Institute
  
• Interview Pakistani teachers (discuss vocabulary from book, teaching challenges, curriculum, etc.)
• Compare/contrast schools in Pakistan with schools in the United States including challenges students and teachers face in both countries. 
• Analyze important quotes from the book, (for example: "...terror doesn't happen because some group of people somewhere like Pakistan or Afghanistan simply decide to hate us, it happens because children aren't being offered a bright enough future that they had a reason to choose life over death."  Explain your interpretation and discuss whether you agree or disagree and why. 

Thematic Connections:

• Redemption
  
• Peace/Generosity
  
• Global Awareness
  
• Activism
  
• Character Education
  
• Poverty
  
• Hope
  

Technology connections:

• Powerpoint
  
• Animoto Video
  
• Baraka Video
  
• Podcasting
  
• Facebook Forum
  
• United Streaming
  
• Flip Video
  
• Twitter