Title – Cultural Differences

By – Monica Burke

Primary Subject – Social Studies

Secondary Subjects – Art, Language Arts

Grade Level – 6

Concept:

Student will explore their country of origin by researching this topic. Students will have a folder to display their research and will have a chance to show their work and share their culture with other students in the class.

Guiding Question/s:

1) What is your family’s country of origin?

2) Why is this information important to know?

3) How are we different from each other?

Lesson Duration: 40 minutes in class to explain how to make project and the student will have a week to work on the project with most work being done as homework. A minimum of 4 hours homework required.

Objective: Students will understand the origin of their family. They will understand the culture, language, and traditions of their native land of origin. The students will also share their information with the other students in the class so students will learn many different cultures and countries.

Teacher Preparation for lesson:

Create a portfolio for the students to reference as they are creating their own. It will also give them some background as to the teachers land of origin.

Materials needed:

• Colored pencils and/or markers
  
• One 11×17 piece of construction paper per student
  
• Two half sheets and 2 quarter sheets of paper without lines per student
  
• One 8½ x 3 piece of paper shaped like a bookmark per student
  
• Laminating machine

1. Teacher will have students create a construction paper folder using an 11×17 piece of construction paper. Students will hold the piece of construction paper horizontally and fold paper in half but do not crease the paper. Pinch the top of the paper so the middle is marked. Open paper back up and then fold the left side in to the middle so the edge of the paper lines up with the middle crease of the paper and make a permanent crease. Do the same with the right side folding it in so it lines up with the middle and make the crease permanent.

2. Draw an illustration on the front cover of the construction paper folder. Make a picture that matches up where the two edges meet as if it were one complete piece of paper. The illustration should be a picture of someone wearing the traditional clothing of the country that your family origin is from. This information can be researched on the Internet or in other books or by asking their family. The student will make a title for their construction paper folder and write it at the top of the page. The student will then write their name on the front cover. The student should make sure the illustration is colorful and creative and should express the culture of their native country.

3. The student will research on the Internet or consult their family and choose a favorite traditional recipe from their country of origin. On a half sheet of paper, write the recipe following the proper pattern for writing a recipe. The ingredients are written out first separately, then the instructions should be written in paragraph form below the ingredients. Add pictures and illustrations if the student would like to do so. Make sure the title of the recipe is at the top of the page. Using a glue stick, place the half sheet of paper at the top center of your construction paper folder. If desired, student can bring in a sample of the recipe for each student to try.

4. Students will search the Internet for information on the top five cities by population of the country of origin. On a half sheet of paper student will compile the information and create a graph that displays this information. The graph can be as creative as the student would like, but must show accurate information and be easy to understand. Make sure each side is properly labeled. Add color and/or illustrations if the student would like to do so. Using a glue stick, place the half sheet of paper at the bottom center of your construction paper folder.

5. Students will research on the Internet by going to

if the language to be translated is Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian or Spanish. Students will translate a traditional phrase from their country of origin, If it is a different language then one listed above, the student should ask their parents or relatives. If their native language cannot be found, it should be dealt with on an individual basis. Take a quarter sheet of paper and write a title at the top that says Traditional Phrase Translation. Write the phrase in the native language underneath the title then write the English translation. Student should practice saying the phrase so it can be shared aloud with the other students. Student should add color and/or illustrations if they would like to do so. Using a glue stick, place this on the inside top left flap of the construction paper folder.

6. Students will research on the Internet or ask their parents or family member about a holiday, festival, celebration, party, tradition, decorations, religious, political, heroic, personal or an important day from their country of origin. Take a quarter sheet of paper and write down the special day at the top of the paper in a title form. Write a small paragraph explaining the holiday below the name. At the bottom of the quarter sheet, draw a small picture explaining the special day. Using a glue stick, place the sheet at the inside, bottom section of the left flap of the construction paper folder.

7. Students will create a bookmark using information gathered from the Internet or information from their family. It should be a creative and colorful as possible. There is nothing specific that has to be on this bookmark, but it has to reflect the spirit of the country of origin. After the bookmark is finished, it will be lamented. Have students write their name on the back of the bookmark before it is lamented. After lamenting, use tack glue to place bookmark on the right side of the construction paper folder. This is so it can be removed at a later time so it can be used as a bookmark.

Accommodation of diverse learners:

If there is a learner that is struggling through this lesson, then they can be paired up with another student that has a good grasp of the concept of the project so they can help the lower achieving student succeed. Preferable match students together with the same country of origin so they can look for the same information together, but this is not necessarily required.

Anticipated problems and possible solutions:

One possible problem might be that the student will not be able to find the specific information out about their country of origin. If this happens, then the type of information documented could be adjusted to what the student is able to find.

E-Mail

Monica Burke

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