Sephardic and Mizrahi Storytelling, from Diversify Your Narrative

Mizrahi and Sephardic Jews are Jewish Diasporic groups that are often underrepresented in education and media. Mizrahi Jews are Jews whose ancestors lived continuously for 2,500 years in Southwest Asia/North Africa, and Sephardic Jews are Jews whose ancestors were exiled to Spain in 70 CE and then many joined Mizrahi communities after the Spanish Inquisition in 1492. Mizrahi and Sephardic culture is rich, vibrant, and dynamic. In this lesson plan, students will learn about Mizrahi and Sephardic culture, analyze how cultural elements appear in folktales, and then create their own storybook incorporating folktales and elements of their own culture. 

At the end of this lesson, students should be able to: 

1. Understand cultural elements of Mizrahi and Sephardic Jewish people
2. Analyze how cultural elements appear in stories and folktales
3. Create a storybook incorporating their own cultural elements 

This lesson plan meets these California State standards: CCR.WH.6.3, CCR.WH.7.2