Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Breaching the Gulf Between Cultures

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students explore the dynamics, the challenges, and the rewards of adjusting to a new culture through the reading of "Help! My Father is Coming" and "The Visit to Vijay's". For this social culture lesson, students carousel brainstorm...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Cultures Differ - Two Different Perspectives on the Same Even

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Young scholars explore the effects of culture through the story Running by Peter Hessler. For this geography and cultural lesson, students act as newspaper reporters covering the story of the race. Young scholars write newspaper articles...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Importance of Being Flexible and Open-minded as a Visitor to Another Culture: Lesson 2 For "The Train Ride Home"

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine the advantages of being flexible when visiting or living in a different culture. They read and discuss a first-hand account by a Peace Corps volunteer in Kazakhstan, and write a letter from the point of view of a...
Lesson Plan
Peace Corps

Features of Culture

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Young scholars enumerate features of their own culture and evaluate how those features have influenced their lives. They explain that many differences are related to culture-beliefs and ways of living that are handed down from one...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Cultures Differ "Two Different Perspectives on the Same Event

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students read excerpts from Peter Hessler's River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze and discuss his difficulties in learning the language, cultural clashes and how cultural perceptions shape our understanding of the world.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Culture Is Like an Iceberg

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine features of culture to determine which are visible and which are invisible, and how the invisible affect the visible. They look at both their outline drawing of the iceberg and their Features of Culture worksheet and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

East Asia Country Project

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Get your young historians thinking about East Asian culture and history during this partner research project, in which they analyze a variety of East Asian aspects to prepare for a presentation. After an initial "what do we already know"...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Breaching the Gulf Between Cultures

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners study the dynamics, the challenges, and the rewards of adjusting to a new culture, as illustrated by the author's account of his father's coming to terms with Sri Lankan customs. They reach the enduring understanding, "It is...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

South Asia

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students study South Asia. They complete various activities including answering questions following lectures, researching current events articles, viewing videos of Gandhi, South India, Pakistan, and Nepal. They select activities...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Race, Culture, And Identity in Daughter From Danang (Part 1)

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine cultural identity. They watch the PBS documentary, 'Daughter From Danang,' answer discussion questions, and write an essay regarding the characters ethnicities and stereotypes portrayed in the film.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sleuthing A Writer's Skills

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students read The Train Ride Home by Robin Solomon. For this literature response lesson, students will inspect the writing of Solomon to determine how she established a certain tone through her word choice and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson Plan on Map Skills for South Asia

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders observe and discuss an overhead transparency map of South Asia. In small groups, they label a blank map of South Asia, and listen to a lecture on the realm.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Continuing Gandhi's Legacy of Cross-Cultural Understanding: Central Asia and the Middle East

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students investigate the lifestyle of Gandhi by creating a Venn Diagram.  In this biographical lesson plan, students compare the philosophies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi while discussing their teaching methods....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Asia's Global Influence

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers explore Hong Kong. In this geography skills lesson, students watch "Asia's Global Influence," and then research the culture, landmarks, and geographic features of Hong Kong. Middle schoolers use their research findings...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Women in India: Tradition vs. Modernity

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore cultural aspects such as gender roles and their impact on Indian culture and compare and contrast issues associated with those roles in America through literature.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Encountering Very Different Ways of Life

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore the concept of crossing cultures. They examine how Americans may be viewed by people in another culture and discover that that Peace Corps Volunteers are trained to cross cultures respectfully so that they are accepted...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Confronting Two Challenges-One Physical, One Intellectual

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students examine how the author confronted the challenges of a new language and a new culture. They examine how the author's penchant for running featured in his adjustment to the culture of Fuling and in his learning of the Chinese...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Confronting Two Challenges--One Physical, One Intellectual

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners examine the challenges of a new language and culture. In this cultural lesson plan, student read Running by Peter Hessler and discuss obstacles faced, including the language barrier. Students write an essay about a time they...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Kolam: A Living Art of South Asia

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers will read the short story "Meenakshi's Magic Hands" by Santhini Govindan and view a slide show of photo images interspersed with the text to learn of the art form of Kolam. Students read and reflect upon a nonfiction...
Unit Plan
California Polytechnic State University

Australian Geography Unit

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
At the heart of this resource is a beautifully detailed PowerPoint presentation (provided in PDF form) on the overall physical geography of Australia, basic facts about the country, Aboriginal history, and Australia culture and lifestyle.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

East Asian Architecture

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders compare architecture in East Asia to North American, European, Russian/Eurasian, North African/Southwest Asian and South American architecture. They search the internet for current and historic images of East Asian...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Southeast Asian Architecture

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders search online for current and historic images of Southeast Asian architecture. They compare architecture in Southeast Asia to North American, European, Russian/Eurasian, North African/Southwest Asian and South American...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Cultural Geography of South Asia

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students gain an in-depth understanding of the issues surrounding the conflict in Kashmir. They use what they have learned to write an essay about the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

South Asia Today: India

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students use information from the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India Web site to explore the Indian economy and environment for business investment, then write a business proposal.