Anandibai Joshee & Pandita Ramabai Activity
The following is a sample activity from SAADA's professional development workshop for high school teachers featuring the stories of two pioneering South Asian American women: Anandibai Joshee and Pandita Ramabai.
Anandibai Joshee was the first South Asian woman in the world to become a physician, graduating from the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1886. Pandita Ramabai, her distant cousin, attended Joshee's graduation in Philadelphia and then lived and traveled across the U.S. for the next three years, documenting her experiences in a memoir.
In this activity, we use primary artifacts from Joshee and Ramabai's first person accounts along with a song composed by musical artist Anju for SAADA's Revolution Remix walking tour. The lesson plan was created in alignment with common core standards. Specific standards are listed in the lesson plan.
Activity Outline
Estimated time: 45 minutes
1. Introduce students to the story of Anandibai Joshee using this video created by SAADA.
2. Have students listen and read the lyrics to Red, Anju's song about the lives of these two women. Ask students to underline any words or phrases in the lyrics that are unfamiliar to them or for which they would like additional context.
3. Provide students with:
• Cultural reference sheet, which includes additional context for unfamiliar words and phrases from the song.
• Primary artifacts (original text or leveled for middle school) from Joshee and Ramabai's first person accounts of their time in Philadelphia.
• A note catcher for students to record their responses.
4. Divide students into small groups and ask them to read the three primary artifacts and identify the lines in the song that match each primary artifact. Students should record their responses in the note catcher. After they have matched the artifacts and lyrics in small groups, bring the class back together to share responses and analyze together.
Downloadable lesson plan.
The following is a sample activity from SAADA's professional development workshop for high school teachers featuring the stories of two pioneering South Asian American women: Anandibai Joshee and Pandita Ramabai.
Anandibai Joshee was the first South Asian woman in the world to become a physician, graduating from the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1886. Pandita Ramabai, her distant cousin, attended Joshee's graduation in Philadelphia and then lived and traveled across the U.S. for the next three years, documenting her experiences in a memoir.
In this activity, we use primary artifacts from Joshee and Ramabai's first person accounts along with a song composed by musical artist Anju for SAADA's Revolution Remix walking tour. The lesson plan was created in alignment with common core standards. Specific standards are listed in the lesson plan.
Activity Outline
Estimated time: 45 minutes
1. Introduce students to the story of Anandibai Joshee using this video created by SAADA.
2. Have students listen and read the lyrics to Red, Anju's song about the lives of these two women. Ask students to underline any words or phrases in the lyrics that are unfamiliar to them or for which they would like additional context.
3. Provide students with:
• Cultural reference sheet, which includes additional context for unfamiliar words and phrases from the song.
• Primary artifacts (original text or leveled for middle school) from Joshee and Ramabai's first person accounts of their time in Philadelphia.
• A note catcher for students to record their responses.
4. Divide students into small groups and ask them to read the three primary artifacts and identify the lines in the song that match each primary artifact. Students should record their responses in the note catcher. After they have matched the artifacts and lyrics in small groups, bring the class back together to share responses and analyze together.
Downloadable lesson plan.