Social Studies and Self- Esteem Lesson Length: Ongoing throughout the school year Topic: The Melting Pot Of America Content: Students are unaware Of the many cultures that make up the “Melting Pot of America’. Our classes forget to put a focus on the different cultures that make up our communities and country. This activity was designed to put a focus on that and to help students embrace their differences and their assets that the bring to their very own classroom. SHOP Points Displayed: Hands- on activities Reported definitions aloud Class discussions with visuals (realize, bulletin boards)
Vocabulary: Nationality: Membership in a particular nation; a people having a common origin, tradition, and language. Culture: The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization. Heritage: Tradition Learning Outcomes: This activity allows students to become more aware of the many rich cultures that make up the country that we live in today. This activity is also used to build self esteem Objectives (standards addressed): 1. Become aware of the rich cultures that contribute to our nation today 2. Becoming aware of their own traditions and culture .
Become confident of their own cultures while learning the different assets of other cultures Materials Needed: 1. Videos and books with focus on different heritage and cultures and their different traditions. 2. Music from different cultures to learn songs and cultural dances a. Compact Discs Cassette Tapes c. Instruments Amp’s . Posters made by the students to show their cultures and different traditions they Withhold in their families. A. Poster board b. Markers, Crayons, Colored pencils c. Printed Pictures d. Ribbons e. Stickers f. Scissors g. Glue h. Other Miscellaneous Arts and Crafts tools 4.
Items from students who are willing to share their traditions and cultures thru dress, dances, artifacts, displays, and pictures. 5. A number of different food dishes from different cultures made by the class. Procedure or Method of Instruction: l. Opening school year activity- Start out the school year introducing ourselves, as a teacher will start out first picking out three things that make me proud of my own culture, Explaining my families roots, the national flag, my favorite cultural dish, etc. 2. Allowing the students to introduce themselves and point out 3 positive traditions of their cultures. 3.
Activities that can take place throughout the year: a. Story/ Polk tales- Each month guest speakers can come in to give an insight on each culture to the students b. Dress up- Students to make different fun clothing pieces from different cultures. This activity is not to be confused as being stereotypical of disrespectful in any type of manner. C. Dancing- Students can be introduced to the different dances Of each culture mentioned in class such as Salsa, Backchat, Square-Dancing, The Waltz, and River-Dancing; to name a few. D. Songs- Students Will learn different songs and national anthems Of different countries and cultures. Foods- students will make popular cultural dishes in class. Evaluation or Assessment: 1. After each activity, students will record what they enjoyed most about the activity in a personal journal. In this journal the students will also record the different things that they learned about each culture. These journals can be kept forever by the children.
