Dear Tariq Storytelling Advocacy
Written by Students for Students
Dear Tariq, is a student storytelling advocacy endeavor designed to offer inspiring opportunities to students and invite them into the creative process.
We believe young people can leverage their skills, talents, and passions to create meaningful stories that inspire agency. New Day seeks to support, encourage, and facilitate a creative storytelling platform in which youth evoke a positive social and environmental impact.
FREE Curriculum for Educators
Download the curriculum lesson plan to use alongside the book Dear Tariq
New Day in collaboration with LeeAnne Lavender are proud to present the Dear Tariq curriculum for educators. A 13 lesson unit plan template designed to help students learn more about refugees, human-rights, peacemaking, & friendship with Common Core Standards, Sustainable Development Goal an UNHCR resources.
Dear Tariq Storytelling Advocacy Curriculum
Curated by Educators for Educators
Storytelling, Service-Learning, and Global Citizenship Coach LeeAnne Lavender and Educator Dagne Furth of New Day Storytelling Advocates have co-designed this 13-Lesson Adaptive Youth Advocacy Curricular Guide for students ages 8 years old and up!
A “Storytelling, Youth Advocacy, and Service in Action 13-Lesson Adaptive Curricular Guide” designed to thoughtfully engage students in exploring Dear Tariq’s youth advocacy narrative.
Unit length: 13 lessons with options for extension tasks, additional lessons, and discussion questions.
This unit is built on the foundations of service learning, a powerful way of teaching and learning that is rooted in student voice, choice, and agency, and in:
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equipping students to investigate an issue
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plan and prepare to take action
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act in positive and purposeful ways
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reflect on their experiences
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demonstrate their learning and the impact of their actions on the community
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This unit has been crafted with grade 3 students in mind, but could easily be adapted for use in grades 1-5. Choosing equivalent Common Core and C3 standards would align the unit with the learning objectives and targets for any elementary grade level, and teachers could adapt any learning activities or lessons to be more congruent with their particular students, relevant skill levels and learning outcomes.
There is a list of 60 discussion questions at the end of this unit plan that align with all pages of text in Dear Tariq. First and second-grade students should thoughtfully navigate Dear Tariq’s narrative at the discretion of their teacher.
The Dear Tariq creative team encourages educators and parents to be active co-participants in facilitating and supporting thoughtful discussions around sensitive themes of war referenced in our narrative.
A Message from the Educators
LeeAnne Lavender & Dagne Furth
"Dear Tariq is such an important story. Students have created this story, start to finish, supported by the guiding hand of master teacher Dagne Furth. Students have listened to each other and connected through stories, and these connections have led to the creation of text, art and robust relationships spanning the globe. This type of learning experience, where student voice, choice and agency is amplified and celebrated, results in deep engagement and learning. It also changes hearts and minds and allows for the emergence of intercultural understanding, empathy and deep individual and collective reflection. I am so excited to see how Dear Tariq will resonate with readers young and old, and I know there will be ripples of impact everywhere the story is read." - LeeAnne Lavender
"The best news of all is that this curriculum has been curated by educators for educators and it’s FREE! LeeAnne and I love stories, we believe in their transcendent power and desire that every child see themselves in inspiring narratives that create a more empathetic world.
A palpable lesson I learned in my Applied Learning Storytelling Agency courses was how much my high school students resonated with children’s and young adult literature. In intentionally exploring narratives that evoked awareness, empathy, human connection, and deep personal reflection, we grew in our collective capacity to create, collaborate, and wonder." - Dagne Furth
"Dear Tariq is a student-led unique, organic, creative endeavor spanning many continents. There is no doubt in my mind that when students hold the book in their hands, they will say, “hey, I can do this too!”
And that is exactly the point. They can and they should. We as educators, coaches, and parents, have an unprecedented opportunity in the wake of so many global challenges, to come alongside of students, equip them with the skills and tools they need to tell their own stories, and then get out of their way." - Dagne Furth
