Life Of Students In Other Cultures example essay topic

Purpose: Students will investigate contributions of diverse cultures to American culture through reading and research. They will then organize their information and write fifty documented and cited facts about a specific culture. Ten of those facts will be expanded into 1-chunk paragraphs using the Jane Schaffer method of writing. Students will then create two visual aides that utilize technology; one of which will be a handout for the audience (their classmates). Each student will then prepare and practice an oral presentation that utilizes the information in their report and the two visual aides.

Finally, students will give their oral presentation to the class. Objective Students will understand the following: 1. Students will read one "Dear America" book and analyze for cultural contributions to American culture. 2. Students will research a specific culture found within the United States through reading books, magazine articles and Internet web pages. 3.

Students will organize their research. 4. Students will write fifty facts about the chosen culture, using MLA citation and include a bibliography. 5. Students will develop ten 1-chunk paragraphs using the Jane Schaffer method of writing to demonstrate contributions of their chosen culture to American Society. 6.

Students will use technology to create two visual aides, one that will illustrate factual information during the report, and one hand-out. 7. Students will prepare, practice, and present an oral report on their chosen culture that utilizes the two visual aides they have created. Materials Set of 30 or more "Dear America" series books. MS Office, including Word, Publisher, Power Point and Encarta PC Computers (minimum of seven; more if available) Internet Access Sign-out sheet Reading Log MLA Reference Guide Jane Schaffer Formatting examples Overhead Projector Grading Rubric for each section Paper Printer (s) Procedures Students will read one "Dear America" book and analyze for cultural contributions to American culture.

Questions What culture are you looking at? What is the setting or where are these people located? What language do these people speak? What foods do the people eat?

What types of clothing do the people wear? What traditions do the people have? What are their cultural practices? What specific impacts has this people had on today's American culture?

Assessments Entry Behaviors Test EUR No test will be given, as most students have little or no obvious training in this subject, and we will begin at the lowest levels. Pretest EUR Students will be asked to brainstorm all they know about cultures other than their own. Discussion of their brainstorming will take place as a class and informal instructor evaluation will take place. Mid-project evaluations EUR Reading records are kept that journal daily progress in reading the assigned book.

Teacher observation of the reading validates this progress. Mid-project evaluations EUR Teacher evaluation will occur as the students work on their projects. A checklist will be given to students in which each step will be checked off by the students and teacher indicating satisfactory progress and completion of each level. Post-test EUR The post-test for the reading is the completed four-paragraph paper that indicates contributions of the individual culture to American culture. Post-test EUR The written and typed list of fifty facts and the demonstrations of how ten facts affect (ed) American culture are an assessment of the knowledge acquired by the student through reading and research. Extensions The lesson can be modified to fit almost any age level of students, though it is geared for the upper grade levels.

Simplifying the criteria may make this fit the middle school level. Adding additional writing assignments and / or research may offer more of a challenge for gifted or hig level students. Readings Dear America Series books, by Scholastic Additional books beyond the one assigned may be read and evaluated for additional credit. A paper that compares and contrasts the two books can extend that project further.

Links Multicultural Education Introduction web This site has been developed to address multicultural considerations in teacher pedagogy. The issue of multicultural education is of paramount importance in the twenty-first century (Banks & Banks, 2001). Diversity in the United States will become progressively more reflected in the country's schools. Vocabulary Culture: The customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious or social group.

Standards Language Arts 10-12 Standard 2: Uses the stylistic and rhetorical aspects of writing. Benchmark 1: Uses precise and descriptive language that clarifies and enhances ideas and supports different purposes (e. g., to stimulate the imagination of the reader, to translate concepts into similar or more easily understood terms, to achieve a specific tone, to explain concepts in literature). Benchmark 2: Uses paragraph form in writing (e. g., arranges paragraphs into a logical progression, uses clincher or closing sentences). Benchmark 3: Uses a variety of sentence structures and lengths (e. g., complex sentences; parallel or repetitive sentence structure.

Benchmark 6: Organizes ideas to achieve cohesion in writing. web Language Arts 10-12 Standard 3: Uses grammatical and mechanical conventions in written compositions. Benchmark 1: Uses complex and compound EUR complex sentences in written compositions. Benchmark 2: Uses pronouns in written compositions. Benchmark 3: Uses nouns in written compositions. Benchmark 4: Uses verbs in written compositions. Benchmark 5: Uses adjectives in written compositions.

Benchmark 6: Uses adverbs in written compositions. Benchmark 7: Uses conjunctions in written compositions. Benchmark 8: Uses conventions of spelling in written compositions. Benchmark 9: Uses conventions of capitalization in written compositions. Benchmark 10: Uses conventions of punctuation in written compositions. web Language Arts 10-12 Standard 4: Gathers and uses information for research purposes. Benchmark 2: Uses a variety of print and electronic sources to gather information for research topics (e. g., news sources such as magazines, radio, television, newspapers, government publications, microfiche, telephone information services, databases, field studies, speeches, technical documents, periodicals, Internet).

Benchmark 4: Uses a variety of criteria to evaluate the validity and reliability of primary and secondary source information (e. g., the motives, credibility, and perspective of the author; date of publication, use of logic, propaganda, bias, and language; comprehensiveness of evidence). Benchmark 6: Uses systematic strategies (e. g., anecdotal scripting, annotated bibliographies, graphics, conceptual maps, learning logs, notes, outlines) to organize and record information. Benchmark 8: Use standard format and methodology for documenting reference sources (e. g., credits quotes and paraphrased ideas; understands the meaning and consequences of plagerism; distinguishes own ideas from others; uses a style sheet method for citing sources, such as the Modern Language Association, EUR; includes a bibliography of reference material. web Language Arts 10-12 Standard 5: Uses the general skills and strategies of the reading process. Benchmark 5: Understands influences on a readerEURs response to a text (e. g., personal experiences and values; perspective shaded by age, gender, class or nationality.) Benchmark 6: Understands the philosophical assumptions and basic beliefs underlying an authorEURs work (e. g., point of view, attitude, and values conveyed by a specific language; clarity and consistency of political assumptions). web Language Arts 10-12. Standard 8: Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes. Benchmark 4: Adjusts message wording and delivery to particular audiences and for particular purposes (e. g., to defend a position, to entertain, to inform, to persuade).

Benchmark 5: Makes formal presentations to the class. Benchmark 6: Makes multi-media presentations using text, images and sound. Benchmark 7: Uses a variety of verbal and nonverbal techniques for presentations. Benchmark 8: Responds to questions and feedback about own presentations. web Language Arts 10-12 Standard 9: Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media.

Benchmark 7: Understands how images and sound convey messages in visual media (e. g., special effects, camera angles, symbols, color, line, texture, shape, headlines, photographs, reaction shots, sequencing of images, sound effects, music, dialogue, narrative, lighting). Benchmark 10: Understands a variety of techniques used in advertising. Benchmark 11: Understands how editing shapes meaning in visual media. web Time required Materials / resources needed Books to provide background (fiction and nonfiction) Books on other countries to use in research (These will vary depending on availability.) See list of supplemental resources Encyclopedia for each country to be researched World Map to display Copies of poems Overhead projector Overhead transparencies of poems Overhead transparency of Double Bubble Thinking Map to be used in comparing and contrasting another country with the United States. Video - Kids Explore Mexico Video - Victor Video - Where In The World, Kids Explore - Children's Int. Network, Inc. Technology resources needed Access to the Internet Kid Pix Hyper Studio Pre-activities The class will complete a K-W-L Chart for each country that we study to show what they know, what they want to learn, and what they learned as a whole group.

Students from other countries will name a country where they have lived and discuss how that country is different from life in the United States. Students will choose one of the following countries that they want to learn more about: Mexico, Africa, Russia / Ukraine, Italy, and China The teacher will read a book about children from other countries to build background knowledge. The students will share prior knowledge about other countries. Activities The teacher and third grade students will read fiction and nonfiction books about different cultures to the first grade students. The teacher will provide students with a selection of newspapers and magazines. The third grade students will read to the first grade students newspaper articles and magazine articles about countries other than the United States and display the articles on a multicultural bulletin board.

The students will choose a country they want to learn more about from the third grade students. The students will read poetry about other cultures and illustrate the meaning of the poem. The teacher and students will brainstorm an acrostic poem using the letters in OUR WORLD as a whole class. The students will make a list of cultural restaurants in the local area and obtain a menu from each restaurant.

The first and third grade students will work together to name the countries in which the foods originated. The students will create a national symbol to represent the country they studied. Third and first grade students will work together to present a different country on a different day. Part of the presentation will be tasting food from that country. The students will add additional information to the multicultural bulletin board. The teachers will pair up the first and third grade students that studied the same countries to compare and contrast information on a double bubble-thinking map.

The students will make a poster about how families from different cultures celebrate holidays. The students will take an imaginary trip to one of the countries that they studied and write what they think they will see and do. While reading Grandfather Tang's Story students will create animals that are described throughout the story by using tangrams. Refer to The Tangram Exploration Lesson Plan by Jennifer Hobbie for further ideas. Assessment Observe third and first grade students sharing information about the US and their country. Make sure they compare and contrast at least three characteristics.

Kid Pix project that third grade students will help first grade students prepare. Each team's slide must contain graphic, text and sound. Stories written about their life in another country and how it would be different. Examination of Double Bubble Thinking Map Examination of the K-W-L Chart Supplemental resources / information for teachers A Poem A Day by Helen H. Moore - Publisher Scholastic "Kwanzaa Time is Hear" - page 60 "Happy Chinese New Year" - page 61 Poetry Place Anthology Compiled and edited by Rosemary Alexander and Instructor Staff, Instructor Books "Hanukkah Quiz" - page 34 "Martin Luther King, Jr". - page 54 "Millions of People" - page 135 Children Just Like Me Celebrations! by Barnabas and Anabel Kindersley Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc. Our Multi culture World by Mollie Britten um - Instructional Fair, Inc.

Grandfather Tang's Story by Ann Tom pert - Crown Publishers, Inc., NY South of the Border, Wonders of Mexico - The Rourke Book Co., Inc., Vero Beach, Fla. South of the Border, Mexico - The Rourke Book Co., Inc... , Vero Beach, Fla. Take a Trip to China - Text and Photographs by Sally Mason - Franklin Watts Limited Pablo Remembers by George Ancona - Lathrop, Lee & Shepard Books, NY Hopscotch Around the World by Mary D. Lankford - Morrow Junior Books, NY Imani's Gift, at Kwanzaa by Denise Burden Putman - Simon & Schuster Books How My Family Lives In America by Susan Ku klin - Simon & Schuster Books Come Home With Me: A Multicultural Treasure Hunt by Aylette Jennets -A "Kids Bridge" Book from The children's Museum Boston All the Colors of the Earth by Sheila Haman aka - Morrow Junior Books, NY My Big Book of the World by Angela Royston - mithmark Publishers, Inc.

Alyonushka (Russian Folk Tales) Translated by Irina Zheleznova and Bernard Isaacs Radu ga Publishers, Moscow Relevant websites web (This is for students to use during research.) web (This is for teachers to use when planning.) Comments Since schools are becoming more diversified, a multicultural unit will help students better understand the life of students in other cultures. Some of the activities will be done in individual classes, some with first and third grade working together, and then the entire group making presentations. This unit of study could be done for an individual class instead of a cross grade level lesson. Most libraries will have books on different countries available, if you don't have access to the books that we have listed. In addition, you could do these activities with countries other than the countries that we have listed for our students. Immigration and Racial Diversity is Changing America Today Except for Native Americans, no one is from America.

It is estimated that at least 170 ethnic groups live in the United States. The capacity of this country to absorb so many different people and at the same time, forge binding ties among them is an incredible feat. 10 Throughout America's history, waves of immigrants have changed this nation. Until the second half of this century, most immigrants arrived from Europe.

In the 1980 more than half of all immigrants were Asians. Many others from the Philippines, Korea, Vietnam, and India along with Mexico are the chief sources of immigration. China, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba follow close behind. 11 The flow of people from those countries continues to change America gradually.

For example, African Americans are currently the largest minority group, making up 12 percent of the total population. Hispanic are the second largest racial minority. They make up seven percent of the population. However, Hispanics are expected to become the largest ethnic minority in the United States. 12 Most people came to America because of economic hardship, religious persecution and political oppression. Over the last 50 years, people of European ancestry have blended almost completely into the melting pot.

About 80 percent of all Polish, Italian, and Irish-American now marry someone outside their ethnic group. This is also true for 50 percent of Jews and Greek-Americans. Thirty percent of Asian-Americans and Hispanic are marrying outside their ethnic groups. Blacks have the smallest percentage, 1-2 percent, marrying outside their ethnic group. In 1991, however, the Census Bureau estimated almost 230,000 interracial marriages between blacks and whites.

13 Putting religion with ethnicity is common in the United States. Religious freedom in this country is one of the major reasons so many ethnic groups can live together peacefully. This represents a victory for the American experiment. Because of the amount of immigrants in this nation, the United States has a diversity that has changed the concept of what it means to be an American. This diversity makes us more interesting and viable than any one group by itself. In 1792, when the motto " E. Pluribus Unum", was adopted, it referred to the union forged from 13 separate colonies.

Subsequently, it has come to suggest the ties that bind the remarkable array of diverse people who have settled here. Even though many different American nationalities exist, that does not mean all Americans are exactly alike or must become uniform to be real Americans. It simply means that a genuine national community does exist and that it has its own distinctive principle of unity, its own history, and its own appropriate sense of belonging. However, since that time we have developed a common culture in America. This culture allows us to respect all nationalities as real Americans. If America is to be free, this must be so.

Our Common Culture The many generations of immigrants to this nation have been people of courage, endurance, and determination. We all have faced, but some more than others, ethnic, cultural, financial, educational, language, and social barriers when settling in the United States. Our belief in faith, freedom, family, work, and country has strengthened our national life and culture. Regardless of race, most Americans' common culture is composed of three central elements: The democratic ethic, the work ethic, and the Judeo-Christian ethic or similar religious ethic. The democratic ethic has its roots in the Declaration of Independence. This ethic recognizes the truth of human equality and the fact that all people are endowed by their creator with inalienable rights.

The democratic ethic emphasizes freedom, tolerance, and respect for the rights of all. It also encourages everyone to develop his or her potential to the utmost. The work ethic emphasizes the virtues of industry and diligence, a passion for excellence, respect for personal effort. Economic success in this country tends to promote respect rather than resentment and envy, and this has fostered a hearty spirit of enterprise. The Judeo Christian ethic provides the fundamental ideals that historically shaped our entire political and social system.

These ideals help make us a genuine community, but we are officially a secular nation. Historically our culture was manufactured by the upper stratum of society. However, this is no longer true. One thing unique about our common culture is that it is not something manufactured solely by the upper stratum of society.

It holds truths that all Americans can recognize and examine for themselves. These truths are passed from generation to generation: in the family, classroom, and religious institutions. Our common culture remains strong and healthy. It will remain so as long as its fundamental premises are transmitted to succeeding generations.

One way to do that is through our educational system. Here we can sharpen our students' understanding of America, its history, and the opportunities and responsibilities of citizenship in a free society. Americans do not share a common ancestry and / or a common blood. What we share in common is a system of laws and beliefs that shaped the establishment of this country.

Our society won't survive without the values of tolerance. And, cultural tolerance amounts to nothing without cultural understanding. The challenge facing America will be the shaping of a truly common culture that is responsive to the long-silenced cultures of color. If we give up the ideal of America as a plural nation, we " ve abandoned the very experiment America represents.

This is too great a price to pay. We must remember that America is a family. There may be differences and disputes in our family, but we must not allow it to be broken into pieces. We need to find strength in our diversities.

We need to fight racism and get rid of it once and for all. Signs of open prejudice continues to appear among the people of America. It is not a warfare among ethnic groups as we see in other parts of the world, but suddenly words like "turf" have become part of our language. America is not a melting pot. We are heterogeneous. We are a pluralistic society engaged in a great experiment whereby people of different ethnic backgrounds, ancestry, religions, and race come together as one ever new society.

LESSON PLAN I Objective: student will explore how we have developed stereotyped ideas about color. What do we mean when we say, for example, "I am blue"? Blue is sad. (I am blue) Yellow means cowardice (I am yellow) Green means young or unskilled. (I am green) Ask students to consider how stereotyped ideas might have developed. If there are students in the class from different backgrounds, they may have very different associations with these colors.

Discuss how such stereotypes can vary from culture to culture. If White Means Good, Then Black Means... Children quickly learn to make the association between white- good, black-evil, and to transfer this association to people. The many references in our society that represent black as evil or bad serve to reinforce this association. Help students become more aware of how their attitudes are conditioned by discussing expressions that include black. List examples given by students.

How many of them are positive, how many negative? blackmail black eye blackhead black market black flag black lie black-hearted black mark black rage black mood black magic black humor blackball blackout black sheep in the black black death in black and white blacken black depression What does black mean in each of these expressions? What does black mean when we are talking about a person's skin color? Does the word black used in Black Power and Black is beautiful have any connection with the expression listed? These are important questions for students to discuss in order to eliminate the stereotype that black is bad. LESSON PLAN II Human Rights Day Celebration Objective: Student will celebrate "Human Rights Day" Activity: Human Rights Day celebrates the Proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations (1948). This day provides an opportunity for students to discuss what Hunan Rights are.

Ask each one to complete this sentence: Every human being has the right to... Related to Human rights is the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution. A group of students can present the Bill of Rights as part of a special program. They can prepare it as a reader's theater presentation. Reference Sheet Use this reference to do lesson plan II. The United States Bill of Rights (figure available in print form).