#4066. Cultural Awareness

Social Studies, level: Elementary
Posted Mon Dec 17 15:07:08 PST 2007 by Pauls Smith-Turner (ak2922@wayne.edu).
Wayne State University, Detroit, Wane
Activity Time: 45-50 minutes
Concepts Taught: Recognizing differences

LESON TOPIC: Cultural Traditions of Africa

Grade Level: 4-6

Content Area: Social Studies/Technology

Length of Lesson: 1-2 Days

Instructor: Paula Smith-Turner

Objective:
Students will be able to describe some of the various traditions that are in Africa.

Students will be able to compare the similarities and differences of their culture with those of Africa.

Students will be able to research important facts about Africa using the internet.

Social Studies Benchmarks:
• SOC.IV.1.EE.1-Locate information using people, books, audio/video recordings, photos, maps, graphs, and electronic technology.
• SOC.V.2.EE.2-Gather and analyze information in order to answer the question posed.
• SOC.II.1.MS.2-Describe and compare characteristics of major world cultures including language, religion, belief systems, gender roles, and traditions.
Michigan Educational Technology Standards:
• MET6a-Students use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources.
• MET6b-Students use technology data to process data and report results.
• MET5a.1-Students use web search engines and built in search functions and various resources to locate information.
• MET4a-Students use telecommunications to collaborate, publish, and interact with peers, experts, and audiences. (e.g. email, web quest, chat rooms, and IM blogs).

Evaluation:
The teacher will follow students' progress by having them keep a journal of the sites visited and information found. Each student will also be given a fact and activity sheet on Africa to assist with their research. Students will be further evaluated by following this link http://webinstituteforteachers.org/~dfrancis/twebquests730 and completing the web quest activity.

Accommodations/Adaptations:
To ensure that all students are able to effectively participate in the lesson, reasonable accommodations can be made for those who may need additional assistance whether they are physically or academically challenged. Those with a mild learning disability such as autism and speech impairment will be allowed to use a special word prediction software program and an AAC device to aid in speech communication. Those who are hearing impaired will be equipped with an assistive listening device to enhance their hearing and visually impaired students will be using the descriptive video services (DVS). Any student academically challenged can be allowed additional time to complete the assignment and be assigned a peer teacher to work with them.

Procedure:
• Students will get back into their assigned groups to continue the unit on culture awareness. After a brief review about the many traditions that exist in our society, students will be given an article titled "Traditional African Culture and Society."

• Before reading the article, the teacher will access each student's prior knowledge by instructing him or her to write in their journals some cultural traditions that they believe exist in Africa.

• The teacher will monitor students to ensure that all students' are actively engaged in the learning and writing process. For the students who are learning challenged/disabled additional help and time will be provided.

• Students will be instructed to read the article so that they can compare what they wrote in their journals to the material in the article. The teacher will wrap up and have students complete a short activity sheet and talk about what they learned.

• The teacher will provide each group with all the information needed for completing the web quest assignment from the link above.

Materials:
Articles on "Traditional African Culture and Society"
Activity sheets
Journals
Pencils/pens
Computer with internet access
Paper

Concept Vocabulary:
Africa
Continent
Culture
Tradition