IMPLEMENTATION: UNIT PLAN For English as a Second Language (ESL) grades 9-12
Essential Question: What is intangible (invisible) culture and tangible (visible)
culture?
Can you see this evidence of this in your own culture?
Rational: 1) Students, like teachers, have their own understanding of culture.
2) Students must have an appreciation of their own cultural values to
appreciate other cultures.
3) One process to teach ELLs new ideas is to activate a student’s prior
knowledge before instruction.
Goals: ELP 2 R 9-12 1.2 Analysis and Evaluation
ELP 2 W 9-12 1.4 Narrative
ELP 2 S 9-12 1.6 Discussion
Objective: SWBAT understand and express the difference between tangible and intangible culture in their own particular culture and in Chinese culture through use of scaffolding, such as graphic organizers and visuals.
Procedure:
Day 1
Use KWL Chart throughout the Unit
Define Terms using iceberg image to initiate discussion
1) http://www.ankn.uaf.edu/IK/iceberg.html or
http://interculturalism.blogspot.com/2011/03/iceberg-model-of-culture.html
2) Discuss these visible/invisible concepts as seen in my current student
population:
Western/Eastern European cultures,
Nepalese/Indian culture,
Cuban/Mexican culture,
and Asian culture.
Product: Venn diagram filled with visible/invisible/shared evidence of each student’s particular culture.
______
Procedure:
Day 2, Day 3 and 4-Have not tried these plans YET, so unsure of time element
1) Share my pictures of Hangzhou: people, architecture, transportation, food and
places of worship.
3) Show clips from Children of Hangzhou Video (Doudou and Weicheng)
4) Discuss what students have seen of visible/invisible Chinese culture.
Discuss whether there are special words for maternal/fraternal grandparents in each culture’s language.
Discuss signs of respect for elders in each Chinese culture and own culture.
Discuss difference between philosophy and religion. Is this evident in China/your culture?
Discuss rituals of worship and places of worship, if any, in each culture.
Discuss minority/majority religions in each culture.
What can you observe about religion in China?
Discuss food commonalities among the students in class after viewing Chinese food.
Day 5
Product:
Based on student Venn diagram contents and images from Day 2 onward, students will write at least 5 interview questions to be used in an interview with at least one older family member regarding their own visible/invisible culture.
______
Day 6
Procedure:
Product: evaluate with ELL rubric
Each student will share the results of his oral history findings based on interview with elder. Discussion question: share one tangible and one intangible element from your oral history result.
______
Day 7
Visible Culture
Procedure:
Tea Across Cultures
View some of these sites
I will use Squido and Travel China Guide featuring Hangzhou Tea Museum,
as well as my own pictures/brochure of museum.
www.squido.com
http://www.squidoo.com/tea-ceremony-ritual-tradition
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/zhejiang/hangzhou/tea_museum.htm
Teaching About Asia, winter 2011
http://www.asian-studies.org/eaa/Hauf_16-3.pdf
http://www.datehookup.com/content-asian-tea-culture-ceremonies.htm
Read a slice of this article in Teaching About Asia (Chinese food)
http://www.asianstudies.org/EAA/RetrieveArchive.asp?f=%2F13%2F2%2F791%2Epdf(Chinese tea in World history fall 2008
Then students will compare tea growing, tea ceremonies and tea preparations around the world.
(Represented in my class: Germany, Russia/Belarus/Turkmenistan, Turkey, Vietnam/Thailand, Taiwan, and China)
Product: Book on tea preparation and tasting Chinese/Turkish teas
Days 8-11
Invisible (oral tales)
Procedure:
Discuss how tales are a different genre from the traditional short story.
Discuss the function within a culture for the tale.
Read a selection of these for my purposes.
Russian/Ukrainian tale (there are many) about Baba Yaga
Mexican: Lady in the Veil
Nepalese: Spirit of the Trees (hard to find)
Vietnam: Story of Tam and Cam
Then read (there are many on-line versions but I will read it TO my students from a picture book authored by Alan Sheppard which I ordered.
Share pictures/brochures of Romance of the Song Dynasty seen this summer
http://www.ladywhitesnake.com/
http://www.aaronshep.com/books/WhiteSnake.html
Discuss differences among different tales and commonalities they share.
Discuss Chinese Opera.
Product I:
Students will write a one-page dialogue of the Tale of White Snake.
(Refer to this site for instructions on how to make Chinese Shadow Puppets.
http://www.indiana.edu/~easc/outreach/documents/teamsvol3/puppet.pdf)
I had used instructions from Chinese Folk Art by Caryn White to have the wood shop teacher construct a Shadow Puppet Screen, which I keep for these purposes.
Product II:
Students will perform the dialogue using homemade puppets in a homemade shadow box.
Product III:
Completed KWL Chart
Good teacher feedback; will modify as I teach this