Traditions Around the World

Traditions Around the World
Warrensburg-Latham Elementary School

Learning Context
Students are learning how to conduct research, organize information and construct a presentation.

Learner Characteristics
Audio: Students who are auditory learners will be able to hear the presentation that has been prepared for each country through a podcast.

Visual: During the discussion section of the lesson, visual learners will be able to look at digital photos of holiday traditions.

Kinesthetic: Kinesthetic learners will receive a “hands on/minds on” approach to learning, as they are able to participate in a tour of the countries. Also, students will prepare murals using various mediums.

Learner Objectives
A. The learner will be able to research their given country.
B. The learner will be able to organize information into a presentation.
C. The learner will be able to deliver a performance of the country’s holiday tradition.

Standards
IL.5.A. Locate, organize, and use infor¬ma¬tion from various sources to answer questions, solve problems and communicate ideas.

IL.5. B. Analyze and evaluate information acquired from various sources.

IL. 5. C. Apply acquired information, concepts and ideas to communicate in a variety of formats.

Materials
• reference materials
• digital cameras
• digital voice recorders
• headsets
• mics
• video camera
• butcher paper
• costumes/various props




Process

Introduction
Students will be introduced to the lesson by brainstorming their own holiday traditions. These traditions will be charted.


Activity
1. Students will be divided into cooperative learning groups and given a country to research.
2. Students will use the internet, encyclopedias and other research sources. A brief discussion/mini-lesson will be given on credible resources.
3. Once students have researched their particular country, students will compare/contrast American traditions using a Venn Diagram.
4. Sudents must organize information into a presentation.
5. Sudents must collect props, costumes, design a backdrop and prepare an oral presentation explaining the country’s tradition. (Traditions Museum)
6. Students will use podcasting to record and share their presentation on the school website.
7. Students will document their performances using digital cameras and video. Students will share their pictures on the school website.


Closing
Students will review their presentations and will share them with the class through a PowerPoint presentation using pictures from the digital cameras along with the podcast.


Assessment:
Students will be assessed in the following ways:
Orally-Students performance and participation will be assessed by putting a country’s tradition on their back. Students must go around and guess the tradition they have through clues from peers.
Written-Students will be assessed based upon their performance in the “Traditions Museum”