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    Two Sides to a Story

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    Subject: World Languages

    Lesson Length: 45 mins - 1 hour

    Topic: Culture, Communication, Comparisons, Expression, Perspectives

    Grade Level: 10, 11, 12, 6, 7, 8, 9

    Standards / Framework:

    Brief Description: Students will make connections to emerging global themes, e.g., poverty, economy, environment, etc. by examining diverse perspectives as they relate to the language and culture being studied.

    Know Before You Start:

    • Students should be able to identify aspects of culture, including a general understanding of social issues in cultures where the target language is spoken.
    • Students should know basic facts about different cultures, including cultures where the target language is spoken.
    • Students should have a basic understanding of global themes such as poverty, environmental issues, or economics.

    Hook:

    • Ask students:
      • “Why is it important to view global issues from different perspectives?”
      • “How can a person’s cultural background affect how they view certain issues?”
      • “What tools can we use to understand a group’s perspective on issues?”

    Activity:

    • As a class, have students share what they know about global themes such as poverty and the environment and discuss how these themes appear in cultures that speak the target language.
    • Have students will then choose one theme to discuss.
    • Using the sample comic as a guide, have students create a comic that looks at different perspectives in the target culture.

    Closure:

    • Have students share their comics with the class or in small groups.
    • Have students explain why they chose the perspectives featured in their comic.
    • Discuss why it’s important to understand global themes through the lens of a different culture.
    • Emphasize that learning about global themes from other perspectives helps make students more thoughtful and informed global citizens.

    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 need help choosing themes that are approachable with their current language ability.
    • Allow students to use digital dictionaries/translators as appropriate for your class policy.

    Resources:

    Suggested Content Packs:

    Related Ideas

    Conserve to Preserve

    Students will identify a current global issue affecting our environment and determine a method for resolving the issue.

    Cultural Products

    Students will focus on understanding one product (books, art, food, clothing, music, etc.) of a culture related to the language being studied and the perspectives (attitudes, meanings, values, etc.) that are revealed through the use of the product chosen.

    Analyzing Authors’ Work

    Students will create a comic to demonstrate how two authors present different information about the same topic.