Lesson Plans
TEACHING THE COVER STORY: Afghanistan: Eight Years Later
STANDARD
SOCIAL STUDIES—Students should understand the United States’ relationship to other nations and to world regions.
SUMMARY
As the United States marks the eighth year of its involvement in the war in Afghanistan, Scholastic News updates readers on the war’s progress and speaks with a girl whose father, a U.S. Army First Sergeant, has served in Afghanistan.
PRE-READING DISCUSSION
Do you know anyone who has served in Afghanistan or Iraq or anyone with a family member who has served? If so, what have they told you about their experiences?
BACKGROUND
Afghanistan is a country of more than 28 million people in central Asia. U.S. troops have been in conflict there since 2001.
Currently more than 200,000 U.S. kids and teens have a parent away at war. Nearly half of all troops deployed in support of recent wars are parents. Most of these troops have been deployed more than once.
Recent surveys show that most children, despite being very resilient, experience worry and anxiety when a parent is deployed. Some kids’ behavior changes, and their grades may also suffer. The military has increased counseling services to try to address these concerns.
POST-READING DISCUSSION
What do you think are the biggest advantages and disadvantages of being part of a military family?
MINI LESSON PLAN
Have each student write a letter of support to a U.S. soldier stationed in Afghanistan. Visit www.anysoldier.com and choose a unit to send the letters to. Be sure to include the school’s address so that the recipients of the letters can write back!
RESOURCE
- Off to War: Voices of Soldiers’ Children by Deborah Ellis. (Groundwood Books, 2008)
- Letters to a Soldier by David Falvey and Julie Hutt. (Marshall Cavendish Corp./CCB, 2009)
- Visit https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/index.html. Select “Afghanistan” for national data.
