Culture Projects

As an extension of my immigration unit, the students have been working on "culture projects."  This not only went with our social studies topic but also connected to our reading standards as well. Students have been comparing and contrasting multiple versions of the same story. To do this, we have read folk tales/fables from all around the world.

My students were having a very hard time understanding exactly what I meant by "culture" so I started racking my brain for another way to explain it. I decided that in order to break it down to a second grade level I would give them certain target areas to pinpoint in the stories we were reading. I told the class to focus on the food, clothing, language, and beliefs/traditions/environment.  Once they had something concrete to look for the lessons started flowing much more smoothly. 

At the end of our reading unit I had students choose a fable/folk tale from a culture other than our own. They then created a poster and presented it while I videotaped the groups. I inserted their videos into a PowerPoint presentation and the kids played "Guess Our Culture" as we watched the clips. They seemed to really enjoy seeing themselves on the "big screen" aka...SmartBoard :)

 

 



After all the videos were completed, the students filled in their own culture sheet identifying how they would change an original version of a story. They focused on the same four elements they included in the posters.

Finally, the students wrapped up the project by choosing a partner (or working individually if they preferred) and researching a specific country.  They completed the culture project outline paper that is included in my TPT unit.  When they were done, they used the information to write a "report" on their country/culture and then create a poster to present to the class. I went online and printed out outlines of their countries, dug out the markers, and let them go! They had a blast being given the freedom to do anything they wanted to it. Here's how they looked...