Curated OER
Cinco de Mayo - What is it?
Students, after examining why the fiesta Cinco de Mayo is celebrated, plan a fiesta that includes invitations, games, music, paper flowers, flags and a menu of authentic foods. By completing this assignment, they enhance their education...
Curated OER
Spanish: La Fiesta!
Students sing a Spanish song to celebrate Latin American culture. In this fiesta lesson, students sing the words and do hand motions to the song "Que Linda Manito." They create paper bag maracas and enjoy a fiesta.
Curated OER
I Am Special and You Are Special Too #4
The students listen to a book about being different and investigate that everyone is different, but special in their own unique way. The students draw a picture of themselves using multi-cultural markers. Along with the drawing, the...
Smithsonian Institution
Black Diamond
Score a home run with this packet of information on the very first player of the Negro League to be elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame — cultural groundbreaker and sports legend Satchel Paige. These worksheets include a...
Curated OER
Global Happiness Through Music
Seventh graders discover their cultural and musical identities by collecting data and make journal entries. They create music artist booklet highlighting their musical tastes. Students perform music selection for an audience.
Curated OER
Music and Dance Celebration
Third graders demonstrate effective use of a Venn Diagram Graphic Organizer by comparing and contrasting music and dance. They discover how different cultures around the world celebrate with music and dance.
Curated OER
Have a Thai day!
Students participate in a fund raiser for the Thai Children's trust. In this sociology lesson, students prepare for a Thai Day by making puppets, having a cake sale, making fans, and performing Thai dances.
New York City Department of Education
Myself and Others
Self reflection is an important skill to reinforce in our children, and it's especially helpful to help them realize who they are in the context of their environment. A collection of lessons about self image and community encourage...
Lee & Low Books
First Come the Zebra Teacher’s Guide
Accompany a reading of First Come the Zebra written and illustrated by Lynne Barasch with a teacher's guide equipped with before reading, vocabulary, and after reading activities. Additional social studies,...
Curated OER
Generational Music Communities
Students focus on age-related generations to assess how traditional music is transmitted from one generation to another and how music functions for people within a generation. They compare/contrast and explore music in their own...
Curated OER
What is Kwanzaa?
Describe the general characteristics of Kwanzaa after reading Seven Candles of Kwanzaa. For this Kwanzaa lesson plan, learners study the principles of the Kwanzaa holiday and interpret the principles through music and dance. They...
Curated OER
Searching for a New Home
Learners investigate pilgrims. For this pilgrim lesson, students read the book If You Sailed on the Mayflower and identify the path from England to Holland on a map. Learners write in a journal about how they would feel if they were a...
Curated OER
Celebrate Kwanzaa in the United States
Explore the components of the African American celebration of Kwanzaa in the United States. Complete with learning objectives, a materials and preparation list, and eight days of lesson plans, the resource incorporates the principles of...
Curated OER
Strega Nona Lesson Plan
Students explore story characters as well as cause and effect. In this Strega Nona lesson plan, students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United...
Curated OER
"Kokoro (True Heart)" by Velina Hasu Houston
Students read and analyze a play that examines a cultural defense case. They analyze case studies, formulate an argument, write about the Japanese Festival of the Dead, and answer discussion questions about the play.
Curated OER
African Dance and Song
Students participate in a Zulu song game. They listen to African music and discover that is is a part of the culture, ceremonies, and dances. Students learn the dance/song, "Vulani Ringi Ring," and practice it after memorizing the words.
Curated OER
Birth and Early Childhood
Eighth graders read and compare creation stories of different cultures around the world. They identify and define the concept of the cycle of life and collect and analyze birth and childhood folk beliefs and stories in their families...
Penguin Books
Up Close: Ella Fitzgerald
A reading of Tanya Lee Stones' biography of Ella Fitzgerald lets middle schoolers get up close and personal with the First Lady of Jazz. Stone recounts details of Fitzgerald's life from her early days through her experiences as a teenage...
Curated OER
Incorporating Japanese Music into the Music Classroom
Fourth graders experience the music and arts of Japan as they explore the language and culture of the country in this instructional activity. A variety of musical elements from the culture are demonstrated.
Curated OER
Children in the United States and Japan
Students locate Japan on a map or globe and describe the relative location of Japan. They use the Internet to investigate cultural characteristics of children in the United States and in Japan. They use a Venn Diagram as an...
Curated OER
Making a Rainstick
Students construct a rainstick. In this music instructional activity, students investigate the history of the rainstick by reading the book Bringing the Rain to the Kapiti Plain by Verna Aardema. Students express their feelings about the...
Odyssey of the Mind
Odyssey of the Mind Curriculum Activity: Performing Arts
The classical arts have made a lasting impact on our society and your advanced learners get to find out why. The activity starts as the children create a list of the arts found in society, they discuss how these art forms impact their...
Curated OER
Getting to Know You
Learners complete an getting to know each other activity. For this personal names lesson, students play a name game, read a book about names, and then discuss why names are important. Learners design a name card on oak tag rectangles and...
Curated OER
Anatomy
Students explore the similarities and differences in human beings. They consider that all students are special, and appreciate everyone's similarities and differences.