Shahnameh - Persian "Book of Kings" activity idea

[Kate in Arabia]

This week we were studying Ferdowsi's Shahnameh as part of ds' high school ME studies course, but one activity we did seemed suited also to youngers so I thought I would mention it in case anyone is looking for an activity in this geographical area and/or time period.

 

The poem is a long mythical/historical story of Iran/Persia.  I chose one chapter from it to read in translation, you can find online translations.  I used a prose one found here, translation by Helen Zimmern.  

 

The Shahnameh was a popular topic for manuscript illumination, and Persian miniatures are an integral part of the art history of the region, so I found a website that is collecting electronic copies of the paintings from Shahnameh manuscripts, here.   I found the chapter I had chosen, and went through and printed a smaller copy of many of the pages and laminated them.  Then I had the kids look for the corresponding pictures as they read through the story.  They picked out specific elements (like the leopard skin Rostam wore), and we talked about artistic points as well as historical/literary ones.  By the end, they could take the stack of paintings, shuffle them, and put them back in order (without looking at the story).

 

I also found a lesson plan for getting more into the Persian language aspect, if anyone is studying Persian/Farsi -- my high-schooler is playing around with that.  He doesn't know Persian, but does know Arabic and is using that and a Persian dictionary to get a taste.

 

Maybe of interest to someone?

 

Kate

[Rosie_0801]

Your posts are always of interest. 

[Kate in Arabia]

Aww, thanks, Rosie! :)

[umsami]

Very neat.  We're doing a self-crafted Rumi study this year. I'm definitely going to tuck this away to use ISA later. :)

[Mandy in TN]

A couple of years ago my son read a comic book version about Rostam from the Shahnameh by Bruce Bahmani. (so, lower elementary age instead of high school.) We also looked at pictures online, but the ones you linked are beautiful! I hope they are still there when we cover this again.

Thanks-

Mandy

[Roadrunner]

Kate, with the exception of 1001 nights (we are enjoying those), do you have any recommendations for Arabic and Persian lit for upper elementary to middle school levels? I want to incorporate more books from around the world into our reading lists.

My older is in love with Haroun and the Sea of Stories (I know this isn't Arabic lit, but :) ). He had an equal fascination with Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (it's American, but deals with Chinese folk stories).

[Kate in Arabia]

A couple of years ago my son read a comic book version about Rostam from the Shahnameh by Bruce Bahmani. (so, lower elementary age instead of high school.) We also looked at pictures online, but the ones you linked are beautiful! I hope they are still there when we cover this again.

Thanks-

Mandy

 

We have that series as well.. it actually was a big help, because this time when ds was reading selections he already knew who the main characters were.  Part of the Persian worksheets he was working on has you matching the characters' Persian names with descriptions, and I was surprised how much he knew -- people who weren't even in the selections I had him read -- and he said he knew it from reading the comics before.  So they can be of value! ;)

[Kate in Arabia]

Kate, with the exception of 1001 nights (we are enjoying those), do you have any recommendations for Arabic and Persian lit for upper elementary to middle school levels? I want to incorporate more books from around the world into our reading lists.

My older is in love with Haroun and the Sea of Stories (I know this isn't Arabic lit, but :) ). He had an equal fascination with Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (it's American, but deals with Chinese folk stories).

 

Do you have a specific time period in mind?  There's (obviously) a whole lot to choose from...

 

Also, increasingly there are novels being written by expats (or former expats) living in this area, like this series from Linda Davies. 

[Roadrunner]

Do you have a specific time period in mind? There's (obviously) a whole lot to choose from...

 

Also, increasingly there are novels being written by expats (or former expats) living in this area, like this series from Linda Davies.

I don't have a time period, but I would like incorporate "classics" from around the world. I was thinking about which books a child (3rd through 6th grade) in the Middle East would I be reading. I want to incorporate Dumas and Mark Twains of the non-western world into their releasing list. I hope I make sense.

Thanks for the link above, I will check it out for sure!

[Kate in Arabia]

I don't have a time period, but I would like incorporate "classics" from around the world. I was thinking about which books a child (3rd through 6th grade) in the Middle East would I be reading. I want to incorporate Dumas and Mark Twains of the non-western world into their releasing list. I hope I make sense.

 

This is a more complicated question than it might seem.  There is a distinct lag in development of reading materials for children in this area, I can remember when we first moved here and going to annual book fairs, the selection for children was mainly western books (in English and in Arabic).  Over the years that has started improving.

 

How I have approached it, rather than considering what children here would be reading, is what makes someone "culturally literate".  Historically this was more of an oral culture than a written one, the greatest classics that come to mind -- 1001 Nights, the Shahnameh, the Qur'an even -- were passed on more orally than written.  So for my own kids I have gone from this direction, to think about with what/whom they should be familiar, then look for resources to support that.  I hope that makes sense.

 

You may have already seen my posts on the high school board about this, where I've listed what we're using for ME Studies.  I've covered from early times up through early modern, so I haven't gotten to the modern period yet, I'll hopefully be working on putting that list together during the school year.  I can further narrow those lists down, if that would be helpful.  The issue will be finding English material that is at a suitable reading level; mostly I have taken "adult level" books and chosen selections that would hopefully work, kwim?

[Roadrunner]

This is a more complicated question than it might seem.  There is a distinct lag in development of reading materials for children in this area, I can remember when we first moved here and going to annual book fairs, the selection for children was mainly western books (in English and in Arabic).  Over the years that has started improving.

 

How I have approached it, rather than considering what children here would be reading, is what makes someone "culturally literate".  Historically this was more of an oral culture than a written one, the greatest classics that come to mind -- 1001 Nights, the Shahnameh, the Qur'an even -- were passed on more orally than written.  So for my own kids I have gone from this direction, to think about with what/whom they should be familiar, then look for resources to support that.  I hope that makes sense.

 

You may have already seen my posts on the high school board about this, where I've listed what we're using for ME Studies.  I've covered from early times up through early modern, so I haven't gotten to the modern period yet, I'll hopefully be working on putting that list together during the school year.  I can further narrow those lists down, if that would be helpful.  The issue will be finding English material that is at a suitable reading level; mostly I have taken "adult level" books and chosen selections that would hopefully work, kwim?

I know exactly what you mean. I am also approaching from the point of view of cultural literacy, hoping to pluck out "the best" of each region at least (at the very least everybody should know Ali Baba and the 40 thieves). I will definitely get Shahnameh (we do have Qur'an for kids, which we will introduce along with history lessons). I found few collections of Arabic folk tales (in English). I was hoping there was more than just folk tales for the younger audience, but it looks like we will have to wait till high school. I will dig through your posts. Thanks Kate!

[Kate in Arabia]

There are more things than that, for example there are books about Ibn Battuta's travels; actually, in general I have found the genre of travel writing more accessible to middle-school kids, although some should be pre-read because the writers were pretty straightforward about everything they saw/heard, lol.  For example, we tied a reading of ibn Fadlan's travels among the Vikings (which was a shorter read, but some bits to be pre-read for youngers) and the movie The 13th Warrior. 

 

Also, the story of Layla-Majnun is a folktale with longevity, even allegedly inspiring the title for Eric Clapton's song, "Layla".

 

Another accessible topic, the folk figure Juha/Nasrudddin; again largely stories and fables that have been passed down orally but you can find books with them. 

 

This is off the top of my head, I'll need some time to think it through more thoroughly.

 

[JamieInChocolate]

Kate,

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you!  Your posts have been so helpful to us.  We recently came back to homeschooling after a 2 1/2 year "adventure" in our local schools and I have been struggling to pull together resources for my boys that was more inclusive of world lit, especially Middle Eastern/Islamic world.  With  both my husband & I working full time away from home, getting decent curricula in general in this part of the world, and planning out our other subjects I was completely overwhelmed.  Along came your posts and I was able to breathe a sigh of relief that I wouldn't have to spend as much time researching this subject as I feared.  I'll be looking at your posts on the bilingual education board & high school boards too.

 

Keep it up, you are doing a great job of crafting curricula.  You should really consider publishing some of your curricula in a comprehensive form.  I for one know many families (homeschoolers and afterschoolers) who would willingly pay good money for it.

 

On another topic, any suggestions for Arabic language teaching materials that would be easy to use for a fluent, but non-native speaker of Arabic?  My boys are orally proficient in the colloquial language, but are very far behind in reading and writing MSA.  We live in Lebanon and do have access to plenty of Arabic language material, but I'm a bit overwhelmed.  Any suggestions on easy reader stories that my guys might find interesting?  Ages 13, 10, & 4. 13 & 10 year old are both reading on about a 2nd grade level in Arabic.  We could do read alouds too.  Have you ever come across audio books of true literary interest in Arabic?

 

Again thanks for sharing your work with us.

 

Jamie

[Kate in Arabia]

Hi Jamie!

 

I have not looked much into audio books.  We do listen to some audio lectures, but they are religious topics and probably not of general interest.  I have also found some documentaries on YouTube in Arabic -- this week we're watching one on the Fatimids and al-Azhar -- my kids are big fans of documentaries so this isn't as much a chore as it might seem.

 

For graded reader stories, I have relied pretty heavily on Librarie du Liban Publishers.  FYI for others, I have also ordered from them when living in the US and received my shipment from Lebanon without incident -- back then (10+ years ago?) they shipped by sea and I got my package in a big burlap sack.  It was really cheap then.  They have a stall at our annual book fairs here and are, imo, one of the better quality publishers.  They do have a line of books that are based on Arab/regional cultural stories, so that's another bonus, although primarily they carry translations of western works.

 

For curricula, I have been all over the place, lol.  My kids are at different fluency levels, and so all three are using different curricula this year.  My oldest (15) is strongest, he's using the al-Kitaab series by Kristen Brustad; he's a high schooler, my hope is he will finish the series somewhere in his senior year (he finished most of level 1 last year as a freshman).  I noted that this is a common choice for high schools in the US for Arabic, although it is meant for college.

 

My middle (12) is a completely different learner; his strength is in spoken/listening and he has gotten frustrated in the past with programs that are grammar-intense (common in Arabic programs).  This year we're trying Living Arabic by Munther Younes, and so far he is enjoying it.  It's one of the few programs, actually, that I have heard using the Shaam (Syria-Lebanon-Palestine) dialect.  It's much more tied to listening comprehension, my hope at the moment is that ds will finish this curriculum by the end of 8th grade and then move on to al-Kitaab in high school.

 

My youngest (8) is also my weakest Arabic speaker.  I have had a really hard time finding a set program for her, it has been more my cobbling together resources.  This summer I had the good sense to research what grade schools in the US that teach Arabic are using, and I came across Mastering Arabic by Jane Wightwick.  It has been less painful than other things we've tried, lol.

 

I do want to stress that while I understand the need to cater to my kids' strengths, I'm also a strong believer in the importance of getting a solid base in Arabic grammar in order to handle higher level material.  My oldest is there, I'm working towards it with my youngers...