Curated OER
Family Quilts Keep us Warm
Students explore families and culture. In this family and culture instructional activity, students discuss their families and their similarities and differences. Students read the book The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco and create...
Curated OER
African Clothing
Students explore African clothing. In this African culture social studies instructional activity, students brainstorm types of clothing they wear for different occasions. Students view photographs of Africans wearing Western clothing and...
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Fairy Tales Will Come True....
Students read many different fairy tales from various countries to examine different cultures. Using the text of the tales, they compare and contrast them and share their observations with the class. They write their own fairy tales and...
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Happy Thankgiving: Traditions in Culture
Students relate their own Thanksgiving experiences to those of the past through colonial games, Thanksgiving story books, and personal interviews. They develop a concept of how to celebrate Thanksgiving and plan a class time celebration,...
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Cultures around the World
Students explore Canadian culture. In this Canadian Culture lesson, students participate in a general discussion about Canada, then create a symbol for Canada as part of a class collage.
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JAPANESE CULTURE
First graders explore what life in Japan is like including, home and daily life, food and eating customs, school life, games and sports, holiday customs, and religion.
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Social Studies and Children's Literature
Students are read a story about Alejandro and how he builds an oasis to attract animals. Using the text, they discover the needs of the animal not only for water but for safety. They discuss different environmental issues as well as...
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Understanding Chinese Culture Through Reading
Students examine the Chinese culture. They discuss the Chinese zodiac, identify their animal on the zodiac, listen to a Chinese folktale, and write an essay reflection on the Chinese zodiac or Chinese culture.
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Understanding Cultural Diversity
First graders examine different types of art to help them explain the idea of cultural diversity. This is a unit focusing on works of art.
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Children's Literature Across the Curriculum Ideas-Sahara, Vanishing Cultures
Students read Sahara, Vanishing Cultures by Jan Reynolds. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the study nomadic cultures. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing, social studies, and library...
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Food Choices: A Socio-Cultural Decision
Students discuss their food preferences. Using a flannel board and food models students describe what they would like to eat for dinner. Students compare their selections with their classmates. Students identify the nationality of ethnic...
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Around the World in 180 Days
Where did I come from? How did I come to be in this classroom? Using curriculum from Kidspiration, class members research the homelands of their ancestors, as well as the journeys that began from many parts of the world and ended with...
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Chinese New Year
Students investigate the celebration of Chinese New Year. In this Chinese New Year lesson, students discuss their favorite holiday before listening to a read aloud about Chinese New Year. They make red envelopes that are filled with play...
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Ways we are Alike/ Ways we are Different
Young scholars complete a chart comparing and contrasting African villages with their own communities. The lesson focuses on the Mbuti and Fulani people. They explore their style of living, their traditions and everyday life in these...
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Countries, Food, and Culture
Students examine foods from other countries. In this multicultural lesson, students write down names of different restaurants and categorize pictures of foods according to the specific restaurant. For example, Won Ton Soup would be...
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It's a Wrap!
Students investigate symbols and colors on the Osage blanket. In this visual arts lesson, students examine a blanket from the Osage culture and identify symbols on the blanket. Students create a class blanket, including symbols which are...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Suki's Kimono
In the story Suki's Kimono drums are used to show mood. Learners discuss mood in the story after they practice playing a simple 4/4 rhythm on their drums. Each group plays the rhythm using a different tempo. They listen to each other...
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Dreamcatchers
After reading a Native American legend about dreamcatchers, why not make some. This resource provides several good links that explain the legend of the dreamcatcher and step-by-step instructions for making them with the class. Tip: If...
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An Introduction to Counting in Swahili
Create and illustrate individual books that aid young learners in learning to count 1-10 in Swahili. They discuss and appreciate a different culture, and find out about Africa through illustrating individual books.
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Around the World, A Multicultural Unit
Students investigate Native American tribes through their stories. In this cultural lesson, students read stories of the Inuit tribe and discuss the themes, people, and customs. Students illustrate a picture of the Inuit tribe...
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Exploring Diversity: What We Share and How We Differ
Young scholars discuss the amount of diversity at their school. They examine a culture other than their own and share it with their classmates. They discuss the importance of diversity to end the lesson.
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Wales: An Interdisciplinary Unit
Students practice basic map and geographic skills as they compare Oregon to Wales. Students color map of Wales and Oregon using color codes to distinguish between land, water, and bordering nations or states, listen to stories and...
Penguin Books
Folklore and Fairytales: A Guide to Using Traditional Tales and Reimagined Classics
Every culture has its own stories to tell. An interesting educator's guide shares a large collection of fairytales and folktales, some from different cultures and some re-creations of classics. A summary and brief teaching ideas...
Curated OER
Artifacts
Students examine different artifacts and determine the difference between personal and cultural objects. They collect items from their home of cultural importance as well. They identify all they can from artifacts they are given to analyze.