1. Abd al-Rahman Ibrahima from Now is Your Time! By Walter Dean Myers
Mr. Ochoa
Mountain View Middle School
Language Arts

2. Connect to your life
What do you imagine West Africans left behind when they were forced into slavery?

3. Background information
The story takes place long ago when the Songhai Empire ruled West Africa.
The Songhai ruled for 125 years.
Their wealth came mostly from gold.

4. What is a biography
A biography is a individuals life events written by another person using several sources.

5. Story Objectives Understand chronological order Identify tone
Recognize, clarify, and connect to the main ideas of the story

6. Fouta Djallon Guinea
A small mountainous region in Guinea, which is a small nation in the west coast of Africa

7. Islam Moslems
The Moslem merchants who traveled the gold- salt routes of wealthy West African empires and introduces Islam to the world

8. Pastoral
Having a way of life raising livestock

9. Timbuktu
A city in Africa now know as Mali

10. Songhai
An African empire that thrived in the 1400’s and 1500’s

11. inhabitant
Someone living in a particular place

12. dynasty
A series of rulers who are members of the same family.

13. chaos
A state of great disorder

14. status
Ones position society; rank

15. Mandingo
A member of any of various peoples of West Africa’s

16. In full rout
In complete retreat

17. Do someone else's bidding
Following someone's orders

18. Trek
A slow difficult journey

19. Natchez
An early settlement of what is now Mississippi

20. Bondage
Slavery

21. Prosper
To be successful; thrive

22. procedure
Course of action

23. abolitionist
Favoring the end of slavery

24. Premise
An idea that forms the idea of an argument

25. Reservation
A doubt; an exception

26. Questions
If you could say one thing about Ibrahima’s life what would it be?
How does Ibrahima come to be sold into slavery?
What happens to Ibrahima in the United States?
Why doesn’t Ibrahima return to his homeland?