CULTURAL UNIT

Anticipation Guide  What is culture?  Why should we study different cultures?  How are cultures similar and different?  What characteristics can we study about cultures?  How do beliefs and values of individuals affect society?  How do geography, climate, and natural resources affect the way people live and work?

Country to Choose from  American Samoa  Mauritius  Palau  East Timor  Maldives  Sri Lanka  Trinidad and Tobago  Dominican Republic  Costa Rica  Panama  Cape Verde  Guam  Grenada  Paraguay  Solomon Islands  Marshall Islands  Andorra  Seychelles  Bermuda  Cuba  Papa New Guinea  Vanuatu  New Caledonia  Fiji  Tonga  Nicaragua  Panama  Tokelau  Tasmania

Culture includes  Art, music, literature, and related intellectual activities  Beliefs, customs, practices, and social behavior of a particular nation or people  A group of people whose shared beliefs and practices identify the particular place, class, or time to which they belong  A particular set of attitudes that characterizes a group of people  Enlightenment and sophistication acquired through education and exposure to the arts

Journal  write down different traditions, holidays and customs you have in your family

Journal  How were the different holidays and traditions different from YOURS? (at least 4 sentences)

Journal  What did you learn from yesterday’s class? (at least 5 sentences)

Journal  From yesterday’s research, write down everything you remember about research

Country Research  Country:  Capital:  Government:  Languages:  Religion(s)  Geograhy:  Customs:  Traditions:  Holidays:  Food:  Additional Facts:  Similarities:  Differences:  Landmarks:

Country Research II  On which continent is the country?  What are its neighboring countries?  What is the population of the country?  What currency is used in the country?  Who is the current leader in the country?  Describe and draw the flag of the country. Does it have a story?

Research Sites  Wikipedia  Yahoo help, ask, anything remotely in the direction…  Typing in the question from the worksheet  Typing in a phrase  The country’s website  CIA Factbook  Lonely Planet  Britannica  Fromers  Fodors  World Travel Guide  News sites NO YES

Journal  “If you could visit any country, which country would you visit and why?”

Journal  Compare and contrast your researched country with the country you are from  Venn Diagram is fine or at least 5 sentences

Around the World Fair  We will invite the younger classes and present our information in a World Fair!  Brochure (39-40 handout example)  Poster (take from brochure)

BUT before the fair…  You will have a 2-3 minutes presentation to give the class about your country  Facts  Where located  Things you learned  Explain one picture

Writing Prompt  After learning about your country, write a personal narrative describing what your life would be like if you lived in that country. Talk about where you live, your school, and what you like to do for fun. Include interesting facts that will help explain life for individuals your age in that country.  At least a page (remember to double space)

What is paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing  middle school students love to copy answers from their books to take shortcuts.  must credit the author who wrote the answers.  However, copying answers all the time is not good scholarship, so write the facts in own words.  For example:  "World War I was sparked by Gavrilo Princip's assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914."  paraphrase this sentence as follows: "The assassination of Franz Ferdinand by Serbian Gavrilo Princip set off World War I."

Research  MLA Works Cited

Writing Reflection  What have you learned from this unit? What did you like or dislike? What was something you learned about researching? What was something you learned about note-taking?  If I need to change something for next year in this unit, what would it be?

Turn in:  Poster  Brochure  All notes about the country  All notes from presentation days  MLA Works Cited

Help  resources/ ukraine-countries-cultures.pdf resources/ ukraine-countries-cultures.pdf  research-reports-middle-school-students html research-reports-middle-school-students html