Culture in the Classroom

Presented by Stuart Greene
June 27, 2011

General Information about Multicultural Resources

http://education.jhu.edu/newhorizons/strategies/topics/multicultural-education/
John Hopkins University’s School of Education offers an extensive list of articles, recommended readings, and related links for multicultural education.

http://www.tolerance.org/
Teaching Tolerance is a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center that helps schools create an atmosphere of respect for differences among students. They provide many free resources, including an online magazine, classroom activities, teaching kits, and a resource list.

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3757
“How to Choose the Best Multicultural Books” includes lists of books recommended by literature specialists from Native American, Latino, African-American, Jewish, and Asian-American perspectives.

http://www.tolerance.org/activity/avoiding-holiday-balance-traps
Celebrating holidays at school has become very complicated. Avoiding the Holiday “Balance Traps” and other articles linked to this page examine ways to present holidays from a multicultural perspective.

http://www.alliance.brown.edu/tdl/tl-strategies/crt-principles.shtml#sensitivity
Brown University’s Teaching Diverse Learners program offers “Principles for Culturally Responsive Teaching” which includes advice on student-centered instruction and teacher as facilitator.

http://crede.berkeley.edu/research/crede/index.html
The Berkeley Graduate School of Education’s Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence, CREED, works to help students who are challenged by language, cultural barriers, race, geographic location, or poverty.

http://www.education.com/reference/article/culturally-relevant-pedagogy/
Several good articles on culturally relevant pedagogy can be found at education.com.

http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/leadrshp/le0gay.htm
This article discusses definitions of multicultural education along with the need for developing ethnic and cultural literacy and multicultural social competence.

http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-32-fall-2007/one-nation-many-gods
Teaching about world religions can provide an excellent conduit for multicultural education, but getting it into the curriculum can be difficult. This link provides suggestions for developing and implementing a curriculum that discusses differences in religious beliefs.

http://www.alliance.brown.edu/tdl/tl-strategies/crt-principles.shtml#sensitivity
NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development has written a paper on “Culturally Responsive Differentiated Instructional Strategies” that offers many solid suggestions and links to other articles. It downloads as a PDF.

Multicultural Lesson Plans

General Multicultural Lessons Plans

http://www.racebridgesforschools.com/wp/
Racebridges for Schools is an excellent resource that uses professional storytellers to tell personal stories about race and immigration. There are also lesson plans and resource links for dealing with race issues in schools.

http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/educators/lessonplans/lesson.cfm?lpid=2841&sid=1
In this lesson, you can use an e-book from Peace Corps to help young learners see what schools look like around the world. A Venn diagram is used to compare and contrast American schools with those in other countries.

http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Social_Studies/Multicultural_Education/MUL0004.html
After defining culture and differences that exist in social norms, students make private lists of behaviors they find offensive. After sharing these in small groups, an attempt is made to formulate a class list that is acceptable to everyone. This project might become contentious and is more appropriate for older students.

http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Social_Studies/Multicultural_Education/MUL0007.html
Using a variety of apples as props, students define differences and create stories about individual pieces of fruit, eventually drawing parallels between similarities and differences in nature and cultures.

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/
The New York Times provides an education service that incorporates lesson plans based on articles from past editions. They are sorted by topic.

http://wilderdom.com/games/descriptions/HelloInDifferentLanguages.html
A great beginning-of-the-year warm-up, students see how many ways they can say “hello” to each other using different languages. It links to ipl2 For Kids that provides “Say Hello to the World” in dozens of languages.

http://wilderdom.com/games/descriptions/NameStory.html
Students research the origins of their names and research alter ego “fantasy names” or names that they might use for their children someday.

http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/educators/lessonplans/lesson.cfm?lpid=350
This is an interesting lesson plan from the Peace Corps that examines what “Americans” look like to those from other cultures. It is appropriate for middle and high school students.

http://wilderdom.com/games/descriptions/HaveYouEver.html
Students answer a list of “have you ever” questions provided in this warm-up lesson. Generating their own lists, students discover the variety of life experiences enjoyed by their classmates.

http://wilderdom.com/personality/intelligenceCulturalBias.html
“Cultural Bias in Intelligence Testing” provides shortened versions of intelligence tests from various countries and cultures. After taking these, students discuss if they feel the tests were an accurate measure of intelligence.

http://atlantis.coe.uh.edu/archive/sstudies/sstudies_lessons/ssles3.htm
This site provides many ideas about how to plan a school-wide multicultural day at your school, including ways in which each department can participate.

http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/educators/lessonplans/lesson.cfm?lpid=2913
Students can use an online e-book Asha’s Village in India to view everyday life in an Indian village. Follow-up activities include comparing Asha’s village with the students’ neighborhoods and examining differences in animals, fuels, and lifestyles.

http://www.earthcalendar.net/index.php
Use this Earth Calendar to find world celebrations based on date, country, or religion. You can also link to a map of the country or information about the religion.

Multicultural Math Lesson Plans

http://www.tolerance.org/activity/early-african-calendars
Designed for middle school, this lesson compares early African calendars with today’s Gregorian version.

http://mathforum.org/alejandre/mathfair/pyramid2.html
Students construct a scale model of the Great Pyramid of Giza and measure its surface area and volume. This project is adaptable to middle and high school math. A Nova site, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/ provides good background information on the pyramids.

http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Social_Studies/Multicultural_Education/MUL0011.html
Young students take on the role of different geometrical shapes and act out a story that includes circles accidentally rolling out of their hilltop playground into the rectangles’ segregated playground. An adaptation for older students is provided using the book Flatland, A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/earth/global-population-growth.html
“Human Numbers through Time” from Nova has articles and interactive activities such as “Be a Demographer,” “The Global Population Conundrum,” and “Population Campaigns” that provide enrichment for projects involving graphing numbers and trends.

http://mathforum.org/alejandre/mathfair/latimer.html
Designed for middle school math classes, students learn about the work of Howard Latimer, son of escaped slaves, who worked with Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison to invent the first telephone and electric light bulb.

http://mathforum.org/geometry/rugs/symmetry/
Study symmetry and patterns by learning about Oriental carpets. This exercise reviews the four basic symmetries as well as types of grids and tessellations.

http://asiasociety.org/education/resources-schools/secondary-lesson-plans/how-much-there-eat
This excellent lesson compares India and the southern U.S. for land area, population density, climate, amount of arable land, and food produced/available for consumption. The lesson involves a lot of calculations and use of fractions.

http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Babylonian_and_Egyptian.html
With links to information on Babylonian and Egyptian mathematics, including the history of zero, this site provides good historical background information.

http://mathforum.org/dr.math/faq/faq.pi.html
When teaching about pi, credit the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians by using this website.

http://mathforum.org/dr.math/faq/faq.pi.html
To work on higher-level thinking, use the information on this website to calculate dates using the Mayan calendar.

http://asiasociety.org/education/resources-schools/secondary-lesson-plans/indian-mathematical-achievements
Students learn about India’s contributions to math and how Indian religion and culture contributed to these advances.

http://asiasociety.org/education/resources-schools/secondary-lesson-plans/how-big-big
Use chairs to help students visualize relative sizes of the world’s regions and populations. Students compare population density, land usage, and other concepts in this clever hands-on activity.

Multicultural Language Arts Lesson Plans

http://www.tolerance.org/activity/act-it-out
A high school teacher developed this lesson plan to help her “all home-schooled, financially secure and white” students learn about stereotypes.

http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Social_Studies/Multicultural_Education/MUL0005.html
Designed for younger learners, students compare the traditional “Disney” version of Cinderella with Shirley Climo’s The Egyptian Cinderella. Students then write their own version based on their personal cultural background. Another version of this lesson idea incorporates the Egyptian and Chinese versions of the story at http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/lessons/grade-3-4/Cinderella%20Trilogy.aspx.

http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/stories/stories.cfm?psid=6
Sometimes the endings of folk tales from another culture are not what we’d expect. Students read a story from Togo and analyze it for structural elements normally found in folk tales. Discussion of values and cultural differences make this an interesting lesson.

http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/stories/stories.cfm?psid=1
After reading this engaging story of one Peace Corps volunteer’s attempt to teach in Guinea-Bissau, students analyze how the same story can be told from two very different perspectives.

http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/activity/cultural-diversity-united-states/?ar_a=1&ar_r=999
National Geographic suggests middle school students examine the metaphors “melting pot,” “salad bowl,” and “kaleidoscope” as ways to describe cultural diversity in the United States. Students also brainstorm to create a new metaphor that fits their perspective.

http://www.readwritethink.org/parent-afterschool-resources/printouts/tips-teens-writing-children-30224.html
Using guidelines from “Tips for Teens Writing a Children’s Picture Storybook,” from readwritethink.org, would be a great way to have teens write about their own cultural experiences.

http://www.readwritethink.org/parent-afterschool-resources/games-tools/graphic-a-30239.html
Graphic maps can help students of all ages describe their lives in terms of positive/negative, high/medium/low, or smiley/frown on an interactive graph provided by readwritethink.org. This tool could be done on paper or on this interactive website by any age.

http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/lessons/grade-3-4/Listening_Doll.aspx
Students create clay “storyteller dolls” in the tradition of the Pueblos. This can be incorporated into a language arts lesson on storytelling and listening skills.

http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/lessons/grade-6-8/A_World_of_Myths.aspx
The Kennedy Center’s ArtsEdge website helps middle school students explore myths from various cultures. Students learn that different cultures can create totally different stories to explain the same phenomenon.

http://www.racebridgesforschools.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/sticking_LESSONPLAN_FINAL.pdf
Use storytelling to create a sense of community in the classroom and to explore similarities and differences among students. This can be adapted to any grade level.

http://asiasociety.org/education/resources-schools/elementary-lesson-plans/animal-tales-travel-around-world
“Animal Tales Travel Around the World” compares two tales from ancient India with a tale from Uncle Remus and a West African folktale. Students make comparisons between cultural traditions and values while analyzing similarities and differences between countries. Students further compare the tales to Aesop’s fables and Jesus’ parables.

http://asiasociety.org/education/resources-schools/secondary-lesson-plans/thoreau-gandhi-and-martin-luther-king-jr
The life experiences of Thoreau, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. are intertwined on many levels. Using the article Indian Influences on Western Literature, teachers can help students understand the influence one culture has had on another.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/instructor/pourquoitales.htm
Many short examples of pourquoi tales from around the world can be used to compare and contrast cultures. At the end of the lesson, students write their own tales.

Multicultural Science Lesson Plans

http://www.tolerance.org/activity/who-has-hair
By comparing hair in different mammals, young children can see that diversity is a part of nature.

http://hiphopclassroom.com/?cat=1
“Photosynthesis Rap” is one of many videos made by students in this “Hip-Hop Classroom.”

http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/educators/lessonplans/lesson.cfm?lpid=2081
Students role-play “tree experts” in this interactive Peace Corps Challenge game. After collecting advice on trees from villagers, students must present recommendations to the community elders on what trees would be best planted in the village.

http://www.tolerance.org/activity/many-shapes-and-sizes
Young children can trace and measure their bodies to learn that people come in all shapes and sizes. These activities link to articles about size-bias.

http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/educators/lessonplans/lesson.cfm?lpid=2481
In a WebQuest provided by the Peace Corps, students study soil fertility and its effect on agriculture in Senegal. After viewing a video about Senegalese farming, students research soil fertility and develop a 3-year plan for planting and rotating crops.

http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/educators/lessonplans/lesson.cfm?lpid=2201
While studying the chemistry of water, include information about its importance in cultural events around the world. This Peace Corps site also links to pages that give the average rainfall in various countries.

http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/multimedia/videos/solarstill/
Watch Peace Corps volunteers create a solar still with high school students in Cape Verde. This could be a great science fair project.

http://asiasociety.org/education/resources-schools/professional-learning/three-steps-put-global-issues-your-science-class
This article describes a variety of ways to internationalize science curriculum, including ideas for interacting with a school from another country.

http://www.tolerance.org/activity/rooting-out-termites
After studying the destructive effects of the tiny termite, this teacher identifies expressions and attitudes that can harm society. It is best used for middle school ages and up.

Multicultural Social Studies Lesson Plans

http://www.tolerance.org/activity/latino-civil-rights-timeline-activities
Latino civil rights timelines can be created for any grade level using resources at this site.

http://www.tolerance.org/activity/ethnicity-gender-and-courts
By following the confirmation of Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina to sit on the Supreme Court, high school students can learn about the Court’s makeup and the reasons behind it.

http://www.tolerance.org/activity/hate-crimes-legislation
All grade levels can use materials from this page to teach about hate crimes and legislation in the United States.

http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Social_Studies/Multicultural_Education/MUL0200.html
Adaptable to any age, students create their own holidays, defining the purpose, history, colors, foods, and symbols that will represent the special days.

http://www.peacecorps.gov/wws/educators/enrichment/africa/index.html
“Peace, rain, prosperity” is a Basotho greeting that reflects the importance of rainfall to every culture. Use this link to access information about average rainfall in African countries.

http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/activity/calculating-population-density/?ar_a=1&ar_r=999
By crowding more and more students into small areas of the classroom, young children can get a feel for population density. A world map is used to show the world’s most densely populated country.

http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/mapping/interactive-map/
National Geographic provides an interactive MapMaker that shows ocean currents, climates, population density, world religions, lights at night, and many other features.

http://www.antislavery.org/english/what_we_do/education/teachers_2/curriculum_guide.aspx
Anti-slavery.org offers a curriculum guide with information about how to integrate the topic of slavery into lessons.

http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/lessons/grade-3-4/Lens_Into_The_Past.aspx
Young students learn to use photographs as primary sources to study immigration to the U.S. from the late 19th to early 20th century. These photos can be used to create a timeline and serve as a demonstration on how to record their own lives for future generations.

http://asiasociety.org/education/resources-schools/secondary-lesson-plans/thoreau-gandhi-and-martin-luther-king-jr
The life experiences of Thoreau, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. are intertwined on many levels. In this lesson, students compare and contrast the tactics of these three peacemakers. A handout provides background information for the students and online articles help enhance the educators’ knowledge.

Multicultural Music Lesson Plans

http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Social_Studies/Multicultural_Education/MUL0002.html
This lesson plan gives many ideas about how to create a music festival celebrating cultural differences within the class.

http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/lessons/grade-3-4/Chinese_Instruments.aspx
Students categorize Chinese instruments by type and create their own for a class presentations.

http://www.echospace.org/articles/377/sections/1077
The National Network for Folk Arts in Education offers a lesson plan that includes songs, dances, instruments, and stories from six different cultures, including several Native American tribes. Short videos show instruments and stories from the highlighted cultures.

http://hiphopclassroom.com/?cat=1
See this “Hip-Hop Classroom” with videos made by students on topics such as “Manifest Destiny,” “John Brown,” “Teach Me How to Study,” and “Photosynthesis Rap.”

http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Social_Studies/Multicultural_Education/MUL0002.html%20
Adaptable to any age, this page gives a complete list of ways to study music in multiple cultures.

http://www.songsforteaching.com/diversitymulticulturalism.htm
“Songs for Teaching” includes a list of songs that celebrate diversity or are from other countries. You can listen to the song and read the lyrics.

http://africa.si.edu/exhibits/ntan.html
The Smithsonian Institute has lesson plans for various ages based on the Ntan Drum from Ghana.

http://asiasociety.org/education/resources-schools/elementary-lesson-plans/world-rhythms-tabla
The development of various “double-drums” along the silk road show how societies used materials and technologies at-hand to create the same thing in different ways. Students create an Indian tabla in this lesson plan that can be adapted to any age.

Multicultural Art Lesson Plan

http://www.tolerance.org/activity/using-photographs-teach-social-justice
Using Photographs to Teach Social Justice is a 12-part lesson that analyzes many aspects of photography to explore how color, light, composition, cropping, and other factors contribute to meaning and message. Each lesson is centered on a social justice issue such as exploitation of poverty and anti-immigration sentiment.

http://www.kinderart.com/multic/
This site has many simple, multicultural craft activities explained in detail. Lessons are appropriate for K-8.

http://www.tolerance.org/activity/celebrate-each-other
Young children can create paper dolls that best match their own skin, eye, and hair color using a variety of precut figures, yarn, and other materials.

http://mathforum.org/geometry/rugs/
Study the patterns in Oriental carpets while learning about Asian cultures.

http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/lessons/grade-3-4/Lens_Into_The_Past.aspx
Young children study photographs of early 20th century immigrants to the U.S. and create a display of their own lives for the benefit of future generations.

http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/themes/native-american-cultures.aspx
Several good activities related to Native Americans are available at the Kennedy Center’s website.

http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/lessons/grade-9-12/Science_Meets_Artistry.aspx
Designed for more advanced art students, this lesson analyzes how climate, resources, and technology can influence the visual characteristics of art. Chinese gunpowder artist Cai Guo-Qiang is featured.

Multicultural Physical Education Lesson Plans

http://www.ga.k12.pa.us/Academics/MS/6th/MCGAMES/Games/Dragon.htm
“1,2,3 Dragon” is an active game for 10 or more of any age. The game originated in China to celebrate the New Year.

http://people.bethel.edu/~shenkel/PhysicalActivities/Rhythms/Tinikling/TinikleIdeas.html
Tinkiling is the national dance in the Philippines. See this website for background information and links to videos demonstrating dance steps.

http://www.ga.k12.pa.us/Academics/MS/6th/MCGAMES/Games/Dragon.htm
This African version of “Capture the Flag” originated in Zaire.

http://www.ga.k12.pa.us/Academics/MS/6th/MCGAMES/Games/Stars.htm
Pygmy tribes in Africa developed this simple running game, “Catching Stars”.

http://www.ga.k12.pa.us/Academics/MS/6th/MCGAMES/Games/Kulit.htm
A bit like the old-fashioned game “Jacks,” this Indonesian version uses beans or shells and a small bouncy ball.

http://www.ga.k12.pa.us/Academics/MS/6th/MCGAMES/Games/takraw.htm
Played in various parts of Asia, “Net Takraw” is volleyball without using hands.

Multicultural Resources at the Kellogg Institute

Traveling Trunks of Latin America and Africa
The Traveling Trunks of Latin America and Africa are available free of charge to educators in the Notre Dame area. These treasure chests of engaging materials from around the world help students learn about the diverse cultures of the regions through hands-on activities. Each trunk comes with a curriculum guide, books, music CDs, instruments, and artifacts.

Global Speakers Program
The Global Speakers Program matches Notre Dame students who have worked and/or lived in the developing world with local K-12 classrooms. These ambassadors can add a sense of excitement and relevance to your curriculum with photos and first-hand stories of what it’s like to live in a different culture.

International Teacher Discussion Groups
The Kellogg Institute shares its expertise in international affairs with local educators six evenings during the school year by offering presentations on teacher-requested topics. An extensive list of follow-up resources is also provided for each event.

Perspectives Newsletter
Notre Dame undergraduates share their experiences living and traveling in developing countries in articles written for middle and high school students.