Lesson Plan: Don’ut Break Tradition

Essential Questions

• What is the importance of tradition? Of family and community? 
• How can we cope in difficult times?
• What is empathy? How can we show it to others? What about to ourselves?

Literature Connection

• Fiction Anthology: Once Upon an Eid: Stories of Hope and Joy From 15 Muslim Voices by S.K. Ali (Editor)
• Novel: Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca

Build Background Knowledge (5 minutes)

Prepare to read the story by viewing our Background Builder Slideshow. This resource will familiarize students with some aspects of Muslim culture and life that are mentioned in the story.

Preview Text Features (5 minutes)

Guide students to locate the story. Then preview text features with the following prompts:

• Read the story’s title. What do you make of the first word in the title? What is it supposed to mean and why is it spelled that way? This is a play on words. “Don’ut” stands in for “don’t” but sounds like “donut.” This is probably because donuts play a role in the story, as the illustration also suggests. 
• Answer the question posed in the subtitle: “What makes a special day special?” Answers will vary. 
• Read the “Know This Before You Read” box at the top of the story. What does it tell you about Eid? What questions do you have about Eid? The box tells you that Eid is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, which is a month of fasting. Families dress up, eat sweets, decorate their homes, and gather to celebrate. Answers to the second question will vary.
• Skim through the story and look at the side bubbles that contain questions. Read the headers, such as “Make a Prediction” and “Interpreting Text.” Are there any skills you’re not familiar with? Answers will vary. 

Preview Vocabulary (10 minutes)

• Point out the vocabulary box. Read the words (mosque, blurt, dangling, hijab) aloud and discuss their definitions.
• Play the Vocabulary Slideshow.

Make a Plan for Reading

• Before students start to read, set a purpose for reading by telling them that they will make inferences about “Don’ut Break Tradition.” Explain that making an inference means figuring out something that isn’t directly stated by using clues from the text. (You may also consider showing our “Skills in Action: What Is an Inference?” video.)

• Read the story (or visit Action Digital and click Presentation View to access an audio read-aloud). Then discuss the following close-reading and critical-thinking questions.

Close-Reading Questions (15 minutes)

• Make a Prediction (p. 21) Mama seems to be sick. Usually moms don’t sleep in on special days, and they don’t need their daughters when they wake up. So these clues tell us she might not be well and she might need Nadia to help her start her day.
• Interpreting Text (p. 21) The phrase “before happiness left the house” makes it seem like something bad happened to this family. The phrase means something like “before things became sad and gloomy in our lives.”
• Inference (p. 22) Joy seems to like Kareem. We can tell from the way her face lights up when she talks about him. When someone’s face lights up, they look pleased and happy. 
• Inference (p. 22) After she left the bakery, Nadia went to a store called Buyway and bought something. The author intentionally doesn’t reveal what she bought, but we can tell there is some connection to Joy’s turquoise ring.
• Interpreting Text (p. 22) Kareem is making the word donut sound like the contraction “don’t.” Kareem is saying that having donuts on Eid is a tradition that must not be broken, and he is saying so in a humorous way.
• Inference (p. 23) We know that Nadia’s mom is sick, so we can infer that they needed the money to pay for her medical care.
• Inference (p. 23) Someone might think Mama doesn’t need a hijab because she doesn’t have hair. Nadia mentions earlier in the story that Mama has a “bare head,” likely caused by the treatment she’s getting for her illness.
• Inference (p. 24) Mama’s smile is enough to make the day special because she probably hadn’t smiled big like that in a long time. Nadia says that Mama’s eyes widened like they wanted to see “everything” again, “like they did before she got sick.” We can infer that her big smile also reminded Nadia of how Mama was back when she was healthy.
• Interpreting Text (p. 24) Nadia feels fancy in her purple-black outfit, like she’s ready for a special day. She wants Mama to feel the same way so that they celebrate Eid in this small but special way.
• Inference (p. 24) Someone’s face might look “squished” if they are stressed or upset. Nadia and Mama have both been feeling stressed because of Mama’s illness.
• Character (p. 25) Nadia expresses gratitude (a feeling of being thankful) for having a porch. It helps make the day better because for once she’s not comparing this Eid with past Eids and feeling bad about it falling short. Instead she’s focusing on the good things that they have today.
• Inference (p. 25) Dad is surprised that Nadia went out of her way to make everyone’s day better. He might be feeling proud of her in that moment.
• Interpreting Text (p. 25) Nadia “ran toward” the day, meaning she made the day better than it would have been otherwise. She found moments of joy—like chatting with Joy and being appreciative of her porch and all the guests who filled it. She also created moments of joy, like when she dressed up herself and her mom, and when she got donuts for everyone.

Critical-Thinking Questions (10 minutes)

• How does Nadia change from the beginning of the story to the end? What does she learn? (character) In the beginning of the story, Nadia is grumpy. She starts out by pointing out everything that’s missing: “No delicious smells coming from the kitchen. No colorful balloons. No music playing from the stereo. I want to go back to bed . . .” But later in the story, she learns to appreciate what she has: Mama’s smile, many different flavors of donuts, siblings who are kind, the generosity of strangers, and a lot of family and friends to celebrate a special day with. 
• After having read the story, answer the question in the subhead of the article: “What makes a special day special?” (synthesizing) Students may say that what makes a special day special are the traditions that we carry out from year to year: eating certain foods, dressing a certain way, doing certain activities. They may also add that not every year might look the same, and “special” some years can be just appreciating the goodness around you.

• Have students work in pairs to complete the Spotlight Skill Workout: Inference activity at the end of the play.
• Assign students to work independently on our Character Skill Builder. (Click here to see all your Skill Builders for this feature.)
• Writing prompt: Think about the quote, “Special days start when you run toward them.” Write about a time when you “ran toward” a day and made it special. Detail what you did and what impact your actions had on you and others. Alternatively, think about a special day that’s coming up and make a list of things you can do to “run toward” that day.