TITLE: WHAT IS CULTURE?

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Grade Level 4-12

Subject Areas Language Arts, Social Studies

California State Standards

Grade 4
Language Arts
2.1 Write narratives:
a. Relate ideas, observations, or recollections of an event or experience.
b. Provide a context to enable the reader to imagine the world of the event or experience.
c. Use concrete sensory details.

Grade 6
Language Arts
2.3 Write research reports:
a. Pose relevant questions with a scope narrow enough to be thoroughly covered.

Grade 7
Language Arts

2.3 Write research reports:
a. Pose relevant and tightly drawn questions about the topic.
b. Convey clear and accurate perspectives on the subject.

Comprehension
1.1 Ask probing questions to elicit information, including evidence to support the speaker's claims and conclusions.
1.2 Determine the speaker's attitude toward the subject.
1.3 Respond to persuasive messages with questions, challenges, or affirmations.

Organization and Delivery of Oral Communication
1.4 Organize information to achieve particular purposes and to appeal to the background and interests of the audience.
1.5 Arrange supporting details, reasons, descriptions, and examples effectively and persuasively in relation to the audience.

Grade 8 Language Arts
2.3 Deliver research presentations:
a. Define a thesis.
b. Record important ideas, concepts, and direct quotations from significant information sources and paraphrase and summarize all relevant perspectives on the topic, as appropriate.
c. Use a variety of primary and secondary sources and distinguish the nature and value of each.
d. Organize and record information on charts, maps, and graphs.

Grades 9 and 10
Language Arts
2.6 Deliver descriptive presentations:
a. Establish clearly the speaker's point of view on the subject of the presentation.
b. Establish clearly the speaker's relationship with that subject (e.g., dispassionate observation, personal involvement).
c. Use effective, factual descriptions of appearance, concrete images, shifting perspectives and vantage points, and sensory details.

Learning Objectives:
Students will

• observe customs and behaviors.
• develop awareness of groups they identify with.
• learn about themselves and other students in their class.

Materials:
Addendum for teacher reference -- Aspects of Culture
Handouts for students:

• Handout 1 -- Culture Flower
• Handout 2 -- Culture Flower Debriefing Questions
• Handout 3 -- Classroom Culture Observation Form
• Handout 4 -- Family Culture Observation Form

Activity One: What Is Culture?
The purpose of this activity is to start students thinking about the various groups to which they belong.

1. Ask students what they think culture is. Record their ideas on a large sheet of paper. Use the Addendum "Aspects of Culture" to spur additional ideas.

2. Give students the Definition of Culture and then solicit additional ideas for the brainstorm list.

Definition of Culture
Culture consists of all the different things that identify you and where you come from. These include race, ethnicity, religion, country or city, languages, age and financial status.

Culture means all these things - all the ways people live together and define themselves.

We each participate in family, community, economic, linguistic and religious cultures based on who we are and the people with whom we associate.

Culture is learned and transmitted from one generation to another. Children learn their culture from their families and their various communities.

3. Distribute copies of the Culture Flower (Handout 1). Have students fill them out, listing on each petal the name of a group they identify with or an aspect of culture that makes them who they are. Tell students to refer to the brainstorm list for ideas.

Discuss with students the concept that we all belong to various groups and that each one has its own set of values, customs and beliefs that is referred to as that group's "culture." Therefore, our identities are made up of aspects of several different cultures.

Students may wish to decorate their Culture Flowers. After the lesson, the flowers can be posted around the classroom.

4. Have students share their Culture Flowers in pairs or small groups, using Culture Flower debriefing questions.

5. Have students report general impressions gained from their discussions to the whole class.

Activity Two: Observe Classroom Culture
The purpose of this activity is to help students become observers of their own classroom culture.

1. For homework, have students complete the Classroom Culture Observation Form (Handout 3). Talk with them about the things on which they might report. Some questions to start with are on the handout. An option is to report on the culture of the school instead of the culture of the classroom. Stress the importance of an attitude of curiosity and a heightened attention to details that we automatically ignore in our day-to-day lives.

2. List the students' observations on the board or a large piece of paper.

3. Point out similarities and differences in their observations and discuss possible reasons for the differences.

Activity Three: Observe Family Culture
The purpose of this activity is to help students become observers of their family cultures.

1. Have students write out a report answering the questions on Handout 4 in an interesting story-telling fashion. Encourage them to attach family photos if available.

2. Students can make their reports into books or photo albums to be posted around the room or placed in a display case. The reports can also be shared with family members during Open House.

Extension Activity: Autobiographical Art Project or Family History Books
Have students make small handmade books including photos (or copies of photos) and other memorabilia relating to their family tree, stories about their ancestors' youth and/or conditions for immigrants to this country.

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