Multiculturalism in Tennessee

Contributor: Haily Schroeder Sample NearPod Lesson

In this unit, first grade students will learn about the different cultures and customs that are present in the state of Tennessee and how those cultures correlate with each student’s community. Students may not have a clear understanding of their cultural background or the students may not understand that different communities with different cultures reside in Tennessee. Students will have immersive learning experiences through virtual field trips to different countries, cultural food days, lectures over the topic, as well as hands-on activities. These experiences aim to demonstrate how many cultures, communities, and individuals can live and work together in one state. Knowledge about cultures and communities in Tennessee is important for students to know because it will enhance how they perceive our society of many residing and working together. Once students understand the relationship of communities and multiculturalism in Tennessee, they will have a greater appreciation for family traditions and ancestors that helped to create a culture that may or may not have already existed in the United States. In addition, students will also dive into the importance of understanding more than one culture and language that are used or demonstrated in Tennessee and the U.S.

1.01 Describe the cultural aspects of a place, including a student’s community and state.

1.02 Define multiculturalism as many different cultures living within a community and state.

1.03 Compare and contrast family traditions and customs among different cultures within a student’s community and state.

ASSURE Lesson Plan Template Cultures of Dance

Name: Haily Schroeder Subject Area(s): Social Studies Duration of Lesson: 35 minutes Grade Level: 1st

Analyze learners

In the 1st Grade classroom at Walton Ferry Elementary school, there are seventeen girls and six boys, creating a classroom of 23 students. The students range from predominantly Caucasian, to three African American students, and two Hispanic children. The ages of the students are between seven and eight years old. There are five lower level students; one student is on the spectrum but is able to focus and have a majority of inclusion within the classroom. There is one English Language Learner, however she can speak English well and can understand what is spoken to her. The remaining students are fluent with the English Language. Walton Ferry Elementary is predominantly Caucasian with a mixture of African American and Hispanic students. The school itself, has many low students, and therefore the school provides free breakfast and lunch to all students who would like to eat. The school also has its on-site officer for protection around the school.

Technology:

Students already know how to navigate around a tablet and how to find specific educational apps on the tablet. For this lesson, students will need to know how to use the Culture Music app downloaded to the tablets.

Lesson:

Students already know the definition of dance and how to move their bodies to create a dance. For this lesson, students will need to know and understand how each country has a different type of dance, and what each of those dance moves symbolize.

State & NETS*S objectives

1.Describe the cultural aspects of a place, including a student’s community and state.

Technology Standard:

7.a. Students use digital tools to connect with learners from a variety of

backgrounds and cultures, engaging with them in ways that broaden mutual understanding and learning.

Behavioral Objective:

Given access to a tablet and web-based resources, first grade students will analyze a culture festival film to expand their knowledge over different culture dances. Then, to demonstrate their understanding, students will be placed in groups of two and will be asked to display a culture dance move from the film that symbolizes an aspect of the culture.

Language Objective:

Students will be asked to identify domain specific vocabulary words that pertain to the lesson topic of culture.

Key Vocabulary:

Jig, Indian Dance, Irish, Mexican Hat dance, folk dance, samba, salsa, tango, ballet.

Select instructional methods, media, and materials •Tablet for video (teacher-centered)

•Access to the internet with YouTube available (teacher-centered)

•Dry erase board and markers (teachercentered)

Student Materials

•Writing notebook (student-centered)

•Pencils (student-centered)

•Culture Dance Film - Ryan J., Oct 9, 2018. 2018 Celebrate Nashville Cultural Festival. YouTube. Retrieved on Sept. 9, 2020 from https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=LBv5w2FamUw (student-centered)

•Culture music app - The Melody Book, 2013. Jazzy World Tour – Learn Music. App Store. Cost: $4.99. Retrieved on Sept. 9, 2020 from https://apps.apple.com/us/app/jazzy-worldtour-learn-music/id630916780 (studentcentered)

•Dance Around the world – Excellent English Teachers., May 12, 2020. Dances Around The World. YouTube. Retrieved on November 16, 2020 from https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=DNqjZ03zH-s

Utilize media and materials

•Preview culture dance film -- *previewed and approved*

•Culture music app -- *previewed and approved*

•Dances Around the World -- *previewed and approved*

•Prepare one tablet with dance film to be projected on white board.

•Access to projector and Wi-Fi.

•Make sure tablets are charged.

•Download app to each tablet.

•Have app ready for each student on tablet.

Classroom:

•Clear a space at front of classroom for students to demonstrate their desired culture dance move.

•Have access to students writing notebooks.

•Make sure pencils are sharpened and ready for students.

•Dry erase markers for white board.

•Writing space on board for vocabulary words.

Learner:

•Introduce the lesson by having the students watch the culture dance film. Play the film a second time for students to analyze dance moves.

•Introduce “dances around the world” film and have students analyze deeper the different styles of dance.

•Have students get into pairs of two and demonstrate, one at a time, the culture dance they enjoyed from the video most.

•Write vocabulary words on board for students to use while writing their sentence frame responses.

Require learner participation After students watch the Culture Dance Film twice, I will ask the students what they noticed throughout the film, or even what they wondered about the film. To expand more on the culture of dance, I will play a second film Dance Across the World and have each student offer a response of what they noticed in the film. Then after a brief discussion over each dance move, students will group up in pairs of two or three and demonstrate their understanding of a dance move from one of the films. These dances can range from Ballet, Indian Dance, Irish Jig, and Mexican folk dances. Once students have demonstrated their specified dance move, students will be asked to return to their seats. Each student will need to grab their writing notebook and a pencil. After materials are in hand, I will explain that using the knowledge of dance culture and the vocabulary words written on the board, students will need to complete the sentence frame written on the board. Students need to respond in a cohesive sentence that makes sense and must use one of the vocabulary words written on the board. After the class has finished the writing prompts, I will choose three students to explain what they wrote and why. To complete the lesson, students will each be given a tablet that already is prepared with the Culture Music App. This allowance of the app will close the lesson and add background knowledge to the following day’s lesson over music.

Evaluate and revise

The formative assessments used throughout this lesson will be gathered from the student’s discussions as well as demonstrations. As I am having my students demonstrate their favorite culture dance moves, the formative assessment will be used to evaluate how well each of my students can accurately model a different type of dance. Although there is not a correct way to dance, students will be evaluated by a performance rubric on accuracy of the dance culture. During discussions over each dance move from the films, I am expecting students to provide thoughtful and interesting answers to what they noticed and wondered about the dances. For my students who do not want to participate in the dance demonstration, I would have them draw their favorite dance culture from the video. The evidence collected by my formative assessment, will be to display how well each student was analyzing the films and how well they understand the type of dance to demonstrate it to the class.

Summative Assessment:

The summative assessment for this lesson, will be evaluated through the students written responses of the sentence frame. Students will be asked to use not only the vocabulary words on the board, but also use familiar sight words to write a cohesive sentence. The written responses I expect to see must have correct punctuation and capitalization. This portion of the lesson will be completed individually in each student’s writing notebooks. The student’s will be expected to write two sentence responses based on the sentence frame. After each student has completed their sentence prompts, I will choose three students who will reveal their written work to the class. This summative assessment will allow students to develop ideas on their own and to focus on a writing opportunity. These notebooks will be graded based on a rubric following the guidelines of writing, such as Punctuation, Use of Vocabulary, and Accuracy to the topic. If a student has difficulty during this writing portion of the lesson, I will assist the student in the letter/sound combination of the word.

Cultures of the World | A fun overview of the world cultures for kids

This video is a great informative way for students to not only understand the meaning of culture, but to also dive into vocabulary. The video adds to the Tennessee Social Studies State Standard 1.SS 1.03.) Compare and contrast family traditions and customs among different cultures within a student’s community and state. Made just for kids, the Cultures of the World YouTube video, is a great addition to a classroom lesson. This video discusses popular vocabulary words for a culture lesson such as: Society, Community, and Culture. In addition, the video displays vivid and personal examples of culture in a child's everyday life.

Clarendon Learning, Jan 27, 2020. Cultures of the World | A fun overview of the world cultures for kids. YouTube. Retrieved on Sept. 9, 2020 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwSYrsjTiW4&t=66s

How to Explore Native American Culture in Tennessee

This article can be found on the Culture Trip website, and it allows the students as well as the teacher, to read a detailed summery over the different cultures presented in multiple cities of TN. The article correlates with the Tennessee State Social Studies Standard 1.SS: 1.01) Describe the cultural aspects of a place, including a student’s community and state. The website shows specific culture headdress for each of the cities mentioned. Students will be able to view a small glimpse into the wide variety of cultures that surround the Nashville area. In addition, this site is a great resource for teachers to use if they would like to have a more specific and detailed approach in explaining the many cultures surrounding the mid-Tennessee area.

Culture Trip. (2017, July 3) How to Explore Native American Culture in Tennessee. Retrieved September 23, 2020, from https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/tennessee/articles/how-to-explore-nativeamerican-culture-in-tennessee/

Jazzy World Tour Learn Music

The app allows students to play educational games that focus on different parts of the world and the communities in those countries. Jazzy World Tour is specific to teaching children about the instruments used in many countries, even countries that are not often discussed. The app correlates to the Tennessee Social Studies State Standard 1.SS 1.02.) Define multiculturalism as many different cultures living within a community and state. Through the app, students are taken on a journey to countries many children are not familiar with. For that reason, this app truly enhances the culture experience and opens the door to a fun learning environment.

The Melody Book, 2013. Jazzy World Tour – Learn Music. App Store. Cost: $4.99. Retrieved on Sept. 9, 2020 from https://apps.apple.com/us/app/jazzy-world-tour-learn-music/id630916780

Kids World Cultures – educational games for travel

Kid World Cultures gives students the opportunity and privilege to interact with music and culture of a specific state or country. This app perfectly aligns to the Tennessee Social Studies State Standard 1.SS 1.02.) Define multiculturalism as many different cultures living within a community and state. Not only are kids interacting with an app that is designed around culture, they are also traveling the world discovering new cultures. A major component in my unit rationale was to discuss how cultures vary across the world, and this app gave students the ability to travel virtually and on the go. Kid World Cultures is also free!

Planet Factory Interactive, 2016. Kids World Cultures – educational games for travel. App Store. Free. Retrieved on Sept. 9, 2020 from https://apps.apple.com/us/app/kids-world-cultures-educational-gamesfor-travel/id988799879

Nashville Cultural Festival in 2018

This video demonstrates an accurate presentation of the multiple types of dance and art from many cultures around the Nashville area. The video does a great job connecting with the Tennessee Social Studies State Standard 1.SS 1.03.) Compare and contrast family traditions and customs among different cultures within a student’s community and state. The Nashville Cultural Festival embraces many different cultures and their version of dance around the middle Tennessee area. Throughout the video, students can see Indian tribal dances, the Irish jig, custom Indian dances, as well as mariachi singers, Italian singers, and Mexican tribal dances. This is an informative and fun way to visually understand cultures in a student’s state and community.

Ryan J., Oct 9, 2018. 2018 Celebrate Nashville Cultural Festival. YouTube. Retrieved on Sept. 9, 2020 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBv5w2FamUw

Tennessee – History and Culture

This article can be found online at iExplore, and it displays information regarding Tennessee’s culture and how multiple cultures developed in and throughout Tennessee. This article connects with Tennessee State Social Studies Standard 1.SS: 1.01) Describe the cultural aspects of a place, including a student’s community and state. Teachers can use this article to become better familiarized with the different cultures around Tennessee. In addition, the website can be used for instructional purposes or for more information about the topic.

iExplore. Tennessee – History and Culture. Retrieved September 23, 2020, from https:// www.iexplore.com/articles/travel-guides/north-america/united-states/tennessee/history-and-culture