Cultural Diversity

Introduction

Cultural Diversity

Welcome to the Cultural Diversity Webquest! This site is meant for fourth graders to explore the different cultures that may be present in their class and also give them a chance to look at their own backgrounds. The purpose of this unit is to create a community of learners by facilitating respect of our differences! The United States is a mosaic of all different types of people, and together we unite as one to build an effective society! Through this unit, we will explore ethnicities, foods, arts, music, and special characteristics that make us who we are!

The students were introduced to the Cultural Diversity unit through a Musuem Walk. They walked queitly through different stations that were all different on the outside, but the same on the inside. At each station, they treated the objects like they were at a musuem and they had to stay quiet while they took notes on a sticky note. We realized that people were just like these things; different on the outside, but we are all made up of the same things on the inside. 

Task

Performance Task

At the end of this unit, you will present the handout given on your assigned country so the rest of the class can hear about what you learned! When you present, you must bring in one item that can represent your country. For example, if i was doing America, I might bring in an American flag, an apple pie, or a baseball because those are all things that symbolize America. You can also dress up for extra credit. If i were going to dress up for america, I would try to look like the Statue of Liberty. Everyone will turn their project in on December 1st and four people will present every day until we are done presenting.

Below is a copy of the worksheet, just in case you lost it!

Process

Here are the countries. Click on the links below YOUR ASSIGNED COUNTRY to find more information!

Egypt:

Kenya:

Morocco:

Australia:

New Zealand:

India:

Japan:

China:

Thailand:

Russia:

Vietnam:

Nicauragua:

Isreal:

Germany:

Iceland:

Italy:

Spain:

France:

Greece:

Ireland:

Brazil:

Evaluation

Category

4

3

2

1

Cool Country Report Sheet:

50%

The student has everything required from the Cool Country Sheet.

The student is only missing one part of a section on the Cool Country Sheet.

The student is missing two parts of the Cool Country Sheet.

The student is missing multiple parts of the Cool Country Sheet.

Presentation:

30%

The student presented the project with confidence and knowledge of the country was obvious.

The student presented the project with confidence, but knew little about the country being presented.

The student presented the project with little clarity and little confidence, and didn’t speak loudly. The student had little knowledge about the country.

The student showed no interest in their country or presentation, and had little knowledge about the country being presented.

Symbol of Country:

20%

The student had an object that represented the country appropriately.

The student had an object but it didn’t represent the country well.

The student had an object that was completely irrelevant to the country being presented.

The student did not bring an object to represent the country.

Extra Credit: 5 points for dressing up--- Yes_____

                                                          No______

Conclusion

Conclusion:

By the end of this unit, the students will walk away knowing lots of interesting information about different countries. I will wrap this lesson up by talking about how all of the different cultures are here in America, and we have to embrace them because the differences make everyone unique. Respect will be a vocabulary word we talk about a lot, and I want the kids to walk away knowing that their different backgrounds make them all special. 

Another thing the students will walk away with is the skill of researching. The students used websites and a video to find all of their information. They will then present the information to the class, which will enhance their communication skills. 

Credits

Teacher Page

Teacher Page:

This unit will take at least 3 weeks to complete. Two weeks will be used for introducing the topic then beginning inquiry, and the other time will be spent on presentations. The teacher should model an example with the United States so the student's know what to expect. Adding extra resources are not a bad idea and here are some other resources i have found helpful. 

Here is also a list of books that you may find helpful for this unit:

  • The Sandwhich Shop by Queen Rania
  • One Diverse Universe by Phyllis Reid 
  • Duck for Turkey Day by Jacqueline Jules

Some Standards that this project hits are:

* The students are exploring what makes people different, but it is up to the teacher to really drive home what makes that important. Some community building activities as the ones below may also be found as helpful to build a classroom of learners. 

Pinterest is a great resource as well. 

Good luck, and go forth to create a community in your class!