Celebrate Arab American Heritage Month With Edpuzzle
What do your students know about Arab Americans and their contributions to history? Dive into the culture with an Edpuzzle Original video lesson!
Illustration by Edpuzzle Staff
On April 26, 2021, Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan of the House introduced a bill to grant official federal recognition of Arab American Heritage Month.
Here’s what she had to say about it:
As a strong, proud, and unapologetically Arab American woman in Congress, it is an honor to introduce this new Arab American Heritage Month resolution uplifting our contributions to this nation. This resolution is a symbol of our utmost appreciation and thanks for the contributions Arab Americans have made for generations and the ones to come that will no doubt continue our historic legacy. Our love and pursuit of freedom, justice, and equity makes this country a better place and I look forward to seeing that officially recognized.
Take this opportunity to teach your students that Arab American heritage and history are an integral part of America’s past, present, and future.
An Arab American Heritage Month Video Lesson
This Edpuzzle Original video lesson is the perfect introduction to Arab American Heritage Month. In it, your students will learn about the Arabic language, food, and the achievements of Arab Americans as just a few examples of things to celebrate during the month.
They’ll also learn what it means to be Arab American: living in America, but coming from an Arabic-speaking place or having family members or ancestors from an Arabic-speaking place, like countries in Asia and Africa where Arabic is a native language.
Video length: 4 mins. 54 secs.
The video spotlights the achievements of three Arab Americans:
- Dr. Farouk el-Baz, who chose the landing spot for the first spaceflight ever to land humans on the moon!
- Manute Bol, at 7 feet 7 inches, one of the tallest people to ever play in the NBA!
- Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who has used her political career to spread awareness and resources for Arab American Heritage Month to be taught in schools and officially recognized by the U.S. government.
With built-in questions, this video lesson is ready to go for your students in just a couple of clicks!
Video Lesson: Khalil Gibran and the Mahjar Literary Movement
In this video lesson for middle and high schoolers, students will explore the life of Kahlil Gibran and his role in the Mahjar Literary Movement.
Video length: 7 mins. 57 secs.
Video Lesson: Ralph Nader and Consumer Rights
Here students will examine the life of Ralph Nader, the son of Lebanese immigrants, in order to evaluate his influence on consumer rights in the United States. This video lesson is geared towards middle and high school students.
Video length: 8 mins. 36 secs.
Video Lesson: Helen Thomas and the White House Press Corps
In this video lesson for 6th-12th grade, students will learn about the role of the White House Press Corps by examining the life of Helen Thomas, the daughter of immigrants from Lebanon.
Video length: 8 mins. 6 secs.
Student Projects for Arab American Heritage Month
Looking for extension activities? Use the famous Arab Americans highlighted in the video lesson as a source of inspiration for a student project.
Ask your students to each choose a famous Arab American to research, and then use Edpuzzle’s student projects feature to have them create their own video lessons presenting their findings!
So, how will you spend Arab American Heritage Month with your students? Let us know on Twitter and start sharing ideas with our amazing community of teachers!