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Enjoying our
Differences
(Please note that
we will also have a unit on "How We Are Alike?")
Louise Gentle
Research Report Form
Grade: 4
Integrated disciplines:
Language Arts, Art, Music, Social
Studies
NE Standards:
4.2 Students
will describe the contributions from cultural and ethnic groups that made up
our national heritage: Native Americans, African Americans, European
Americans, and Asian Americans.
Objectives:
Students will learn some of the
unique differences and contributions of other cultures. Students will be
reminded that most of their ancestors came from somewhere other than the
United States. Students will learn no culture is better than another, just
different.
Duration:
This unit could take a month to complete
if the class met twice a week for 40 minutes.
Assessment:
Children
will locate country on world map and include the capital and principal
cities; students will learn
something unique about the culture, dress, and music and integrate that new
knowledge into a presentation, shadow box, poster, graphic organizer, or
Power Point.
Provision for special needs:
Children will be provided flash
cards and books with pictures of people from various countries and supplies
to put together a display or presentation. Depending on the special needs, a
Power Point presentation could be provided to them for them to learn about a
country and then they could do their work/research. They could also make
musical instruments similar to those used in their chosen country
Materials:
Computers in classroom,
Inspiration graphic organizer, 2-3 individual maps per child, encyclopedias,
travel brochures, large classroom map of the world, examples of foreign
money, notebook or journals, pens, paper, shoe boxes (for shadow boxes),
Power Point and Inspiration software, poster board, ethnic music on tape,
Word Board where students can write new words they discovered while
researching.
Vocabulary:
Currency,
European Union, ethnic, multi cultural, monetary unit, words discovered by
students
Procedures:
Let students who are
investigating the same culture work together, learning first to share
reference materials and responsibilities and, then, to share findings.
Children are to designate their
country on their map. Locate the capital and largest cities, learn the
monetary unit, principal language/languages, national religion (if there is
one), agricultural products, natural resources, industries, exports and
imports
Visit to local ethnic museum
Springboard
Teacher will have a large salad
bowl and one bag of vegetables and ask the class if they think carrot salad
would be good, interesting to eat every day. Then add other vegetables, one
by one and ask if they think the combination of vegetables is more
interesting and tasty.
After sampling the dish, launch
the idea of the US being a "melting pot" of people from a variety of
countries and continents forming a "more perfect union".
Activities:
T:
Teacher will introduce the idea that unless we are Native Americans, our
ancestors all came from other countries
S: Students
will research a country of their origin or of their choice. Students will
work in groups of 3-4 assigned by choice of country (if possible)
Students will find principal
cities, language, religion, currency/monetary unit, flag and what
products/exports the country is famous for, the natural resources and native
dress if they have one.
Students will keep a journal of
what they learned and where they found the information.
Students will be encouraged to
seek out family members or friends who might have personal knowledge of the
country.
Closure:
Students will invite parents
/interested persons to the final presentation of their discoveries.
Children could also come dressed in their
Native Costume if they have one
Final Thought:
Now we know some differences. How are we alike?
References:
A is for Africa
Ifeoma Onyefula, Cobblehill Books, 1993
This Nigerian author痴
book of words and pictures shows us the many faces and worlds of African
people.
Africa (Eyewitness Books)
Yvonne Ayo, Dorling Kindersley Books, 1995
Beautiful illustrations and brief descriptions describe life in Africa. Read
about the social life and customs, history, clothes, myths, medicine,
houses, musical instruments, and food of Africa.
Welcome to the Green House: a Story of the Tropical Rainforest
Jane Yolen, G.P. Putnam痴
Sons, 1993
Read a description of the tropical rainforest and the life found there:
animals, birds, fish, flora and fauna. Look at the beautiful pictures of
this amazing world.
Buddhism (World Religions series)
Catherine Hewitt, Thomson Learning, 1995
This book describes the history and explains the beliefs and practices of
Buddhism.
Buddha
Susan L. Roth, Doubleday Book for Young Readers, 1994
This folktale tells the story of how Siddhartha became the Buddha, the
Enlightened One.
Everybody Cooks Rice
Norah Dooley, Carolrhoda Books, nc., 1991
This wonderful story tells how rice is cooked in many different ways by
families from different cultures. Try the many different recipes given at
the end of the story!
Count Your Way Through Africa (through Korea, China, Germany, India,
Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia and the Arab world)
Carolrhoda Books, 1987-90
This is a wonderful series of books. In each one, you learn to read and
pronounce the numbers from one through ten in these different languages as
you learn about the land and people of the country.
This list is from: http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/peoplearoundtheworld/
Web Addresses for Research
http://www.factmonster.com/countries.html
Reflection:
The reason I chose this topic is
that I am interested in multicultural education. I believe the more children
learn that although others may look different, they are more like each other
than different.
Lesson Plan form developed by
Merryellen Towey Schulz, Ph.D. College of Saint Mary |
