During recent years the phenomenon of Boko Haram has dominated policy debates among academics and policymakers interested in African and Nigerian politics. Yet, many issues about the sect remain unclear and contested. This collection of articles on Boko Haram by selected experts is essential reading for those interested in Nigeria, and the broader issues of state building, terrorism, humanitarian emergencies, conflict resolution and intrastate violence.

Host Harry Kreisler welcomes Ambassador Princeton N. Lyman, former U.S. Ambassador to South Africa and Nigeria for a discussion of U.S. Africa Relations. He talks about AfricaŐs strategic importance to the United States focusing on issues such as energy, health, terrorism, and human rights. He describes the role of China in African affairs and analyzes the U.S. capacity to engage Africa in the new strategic environment of the post 911 world. (52 min)

In this edition, Nigerian attorney and environmental activist Oronto Douglas, talks about political activism and cultural identity in the context of globalization, the international oil economy, and the domestic politics of Nigeria. (55 min)

The 11th grade learning experience consists of 7 mostly month-long units aligned to the Common Core State Standards, with available course material for teachers and students easily accessible online. Over the course of the year there is a steady progression in text complexity levels, sophistication of writing tasks, speaking and listening activities, and increased opportunities for independent and collaborative work. Rubrics and student models accompany many writing assignments.Throughout the 11th grade year, in addition to the Common Read texts that the whole class reads together, students each select an Independent Reading book and engage with peers in group Book Talks. Students move from learning the class rituals and routines and genre features of argument writing in Unit 11.1 to learning about narrative and informational genres in Unit 11.2: The American Short Story. Teacher resources provide additional materials to support each unit.

In this 5-day unit, students will explore the topic of cheating. Cheating seems to be ever-present in today’s society. Whether we are talking about athletes being busted for using steroids or students “sharing” answers and plagiarizing on final exams, one thing is clear—there’s a whole lot of cheating going on. In this unit, students will take a look at some contemporary instances of cheating and argue whether under certain situations cheating is not only excusable, but also justifiable.

In this lesson, you will take the writing portion of the culminating assessment. You will continue to use the skills you have learned in the first three lessons of this unit.Today, students will take the writing portion of the culminating assessment.They will reflect on all the material they have read in this unit, and they will use their understanding of all the material presented to them to write an essay. You will evaluate their work in both reading comprehension and writing.

The 12th grade learning experience consists of 7 mostly month-long units aligned to the Common Core State Standards, with available course material for teachers and students easily accessible online. Over the course of the year there is a steady progression in text complexity levels, sophistication of writing tasks, speaking and listening activities, and increased opportunities for independent and collaborative work. Rubrics and student models accompany many writing assignments.Throughout the 12th grade year, in addition to the Common Read texts that the whole class reads together, students each select an Independent Reading book and engage with peers in group Book Talks. Language study is embedded in every 12th grade unit as students use annotation to closely review aspects of each text. Teacher resources provide additional materials to support each unit.

In our lives, we are constantly telling stories to ourselves and to others in an attempt to both understand our experiences and present our best selves to others.  But how do we tell a story about ourselves that is both true and positive? How do we hold ourselves up in the best possible light, while still being honest about our struggles and our flaws? Students will explore ways of interpreting and portraying personal experiences.  They'll read Chinua Achebe's novel Things Fall Apart , analyzing the text through the eyes of one character. They'll get to know that character's flaws and strengths, and they'll tell part of the story from that character's perspective, doing their best to tell an honest tale that presents their character's best side. Then they'll explore their own stories, crafting a personal narrative about an important moment of learning in his or her life.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Students read and analyze Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart , viewing the events and conflicts of the novel through the eyes of one of the central characters.
Students write a two-part narrative project: one narrative told through their character’s perspective and one personal narrative about an incident in their own life.

GUIDING QUESTIONS

These questions are a guide to stimulate thinking, discussion, and writing on the themes and ideas in the unit. For complete and thoughtful answers and for meaningful discussions, students must use evidence based on careful reading of the texts.

How do our conflicts shape and show our character?
How can we tell a story about ourselves that’s both honest and positive?
How do definitions of justice change depending on the culture you live in?
What are ways individuals can react to a changing world? To a community that doesn’t accept us?

BENCHMARK ASSESSMENT: Cold Read

During this unit, on a day of your choosing, we recommend you administer a Cold Read to assess students’ reading comprehension. For this assessment, students read a text they have never seen before and then respond to multiple-choice and constructed-response questions. The assessment is not included in this course materials.

In this lesson, students will begin to learn how to use their digital course. How can this technology help them as a learner this year? How can they take advantage of the possibilities it offers?

This course is an introduction to selected musical traditions of West Africa. A variety of musical practices and their cultural contexts will be explored through listening, reading, and written assignments, with an emphasis on class discussion. The course includes in-class instruction in West African drumming, song and dance, as well as lecture-demonstrations by guest artists.
After an introductory unit, the course will be organized around four main geographical areas: Senegal, Mali, Ghana, and Nigeria. An in-depth study of music from these countries will be interspersed with brief overviews of Southern, Central, and East Africa.

The easy-to-understand self-study tutorial democratises contextual climate education in Nigeria through an easy-to-understand open self-study tutorial. Taking into consideration the ways climate change affects different regions, the online self-study tutorial is designed to build the capacity of any literate person with little or no prior formal education or knowledge of climate change. The open tutorial will also be beneficial for participants interested in building their capacity on climate education for the non-specialist audience.

This is the second module of the Open Tutorial NaijaCLIMATE.At the end of this tutorial, participants will be able to:1. Describe strategies and solutions for adapting to and mitigating the effectsof climate change in Nigeria, using both local and global best practicesand approaches applicable to Nigerians.2. Identify how they can take the first action to adapt to the climate crises inNigeria, based on relevant examples or activities in their context (includingactivism, climate action enterprises and businesses or communicatingabout the climate crises).

Yoruba‡ YŽ Mi is an interactive, communicative, introductory, multimedia program intended to provide college/university students with basic listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills of language learning in Yoruba‡. It exposes the learner not only to Yoruba‡ language in meaningful situations but also to the culture of the Yorb‡-speaking people of South-western Nigeria. It contains effective techniques for teaching and learning Yorb‡ including tones, and is user-friendly in its approach.