What Does My Culture Represent?

The purpose of this web quest is for students to select one of their own cultures or heritages and research it.  Rather than having students randomly select a culture that they know little to nothing about, I thought it would bring awareness and diverstiy into the classroom if students researched their own cultures/heritages.  In this web quest, students will learn about the diversity of one another as well as be more in tune with their own culture/heritage.  A youtube video will be shown at the beginning of the lesson that will depict another culture, thier values, religion, beliefs and traditions.  Students will then do a quick write about what they learned about that culture and what they think the purpose of this assignment is. 

In the course of 5 days, students will be expected to research one of their own cultures/heritages to present to the class at the end of the 5 days.  They will be expected to create a visual poster board, a power point presentation, a summary paper and even bring a dish on the last day of food that is traditional in their culture/heritage.  Students will be allowed to utilize textbooks, the internet, class notes, video references and their family members as sources to generate their information from. 

• Youtube video on a culture of choice followed by a quick write
• 1-2 days in the computer lab for internet research and for the power point
• class time to use graphic organizers to put information together
• class time to complete the poster board
• time outside of school to gather information from parents or grandparents and to prepare the meal that is traditional to their culture.

Students will be evaluated on the following:

• Neatness and effort
• Accurate information from family members (parent signatures will be requested)
• Their dish accurately represents traditional food in their culture
• Internet and text book sources are cited
• Power point and poster board requirements are met following the rubric.
• Graphic organizers are used to gather information.

Students with IEP's, ELL and ESL students will be given accommodations and modifications and be evaluated based on their learning needs.

Posters will be completed by the third day and hung around the room to display the classroom culture.  Students will be presenting their power points on days 4 and 5 and on also on the 5th day, they will bring their traditional dish from their culture to share with the class.  Students will be allowed to sample and try other dishes during the power point presentation.  After the 5 days have been concluded, the following day will be another quick write for students to tell me one or more of the following:  what they learned, which dishes were their favorite, one thing they already knew about another culture, 2 things they learned about another culture and which culture other than their own interested them the most. 

Websites:

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/many-languages-many-cultures

http://worldcultures.webs.com/

http://www.exploreandmore.org/world/default.htm

http://www.timeforkids.com/around-the-world

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/cultures.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkHLL_GxG68

Illinois State Learning Standards used:  http://www.isbe.state.il.us/ils/social_science/standards.htm

A.  Compare characteristics of culture as reflected in language, literature, the arts, traditions and institutions.

18.A.3  Explain how language, literature, the arts, architecture and traditions contribute to the development and transmission of culture.

B.  Understand the roles and interactions of individuals and groups in society.