Subject: World Languages
Lesson Length: 45 mins - 1 hour
Topic: Culture, Communication, Comparisons, Expression
Brief Description: Students will compare the cultures studied and their own.
Know Before You Start: Students should be able to identify aspects of culture and know basic facts about different cultures, including cultures where the target language is spoken.
Hook:
- Ask students:
- “What are some interesting things you’ve learned about the countries where (insert language) is spoken?”
- “Why is it important to compare different cultures?”
- “How does learning about culture help us respect customs in other countries?”
Activity:
- As a class, have students share what they’ve learned about the cultures that speak the target language.
- Have students share their favorite cultural traditions or elements from their own culture or where the target language is spoken.
- Using the sample comic as a guide, have students create a comic comparing and contrasting several aspects of culture.
Closure:
- Have students share their comics with the class or in small groups.
- Have students explain why they chose the cultural elements featured in their comic.
- Discuss why it’s important to be able to talk about and compare different cultures.
- Emphasize that part of learning a language is learning about culture to help create respect and appreciation for people from different backgrounds.
Differentiation:
- Allow students to use the speech-to-text feature.
- Allow students to work in pairs or groups as needed.
- Allow students to use the voiceover feature to read their comics aloud.
- Students may not strongly identify with a culture; help them brainstorm a culture or community to which they belong.
- Allow students to use digital dictionaries/translators as appropriate for your class policy.
Resources:
- Comic to print or display: Comic.
- T-Chart
- Venn-Diagram
Native American Heritage
Filipino-American Heritage
Hispanic Heritage
Asian Pacific American Heritage
Italian-American Heritage
Shabbat
