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INVITATION How can we help students locate themselves in the cultural world that surrounds them? How do we motivate students to look beyond their own existence and begin to understand the cultural melting pot they live in? What approaches can we use to move students from an ethnocentric approach in life to a holistic approach to cultural diversity? |
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TASKS Students discuss and research the cultural diversity that exists in their own cultural heritage along with the multitude of cultures that exist in their surrounding environment. Students take their research and create a multimedia presentation showing the different cultures that make up their personal heritage and extend the presentation to include the different cultures in their own environment. |
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TOOLS Computers; the Internet; Sherlock. AppleWorks; Archives of History; Art Mania 12,000; HyperStudio or mPOWER; iMovie; Inspiration; Kid Pix Studio Deluxe; MovieWorks; SmartSound. Scanners (optional). |
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INTERACTIONS The teacher creates a cultural anticipatory set to motivate students to begin looking at their own culture. The class views videos, listens to speakers, and explores cultural software. They work together and with the teacher during class discussion. Following the interaction with the teacher and other classmates, students create an Inspiration document outlining what they want their multimedia presentation to encompass. Students then work together and offer simple critiques and suggestions of the presentation outlines. After students have created an outline, they move to the media center and computer labs and begin researching information necessary for their presentation. Students work with the teacher putting their presentation together and then meet as a class to show their final product. |
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STANDARDS To identify the curriculum standards for your state that correlate to this student project, select the state in the popup menu below and then click the Go button. View Detailed Standards in |
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SITUATIONS Students work in the classroom, in the computer lab, and in the community. The project, including class discussion time and research, will last three weeks. Prior student knowledge of the software used to create the presentation will significantly cut down on project time. Allow extra time for student research and editing. |
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ASSESSMENT The teacher creates a rubric that clearly outlines for the students the expectations for the project. The teacher assesses student work according the quality of research and creativity and creates a checklist for students to follow concerning the outline, the research, and the project. |
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Sir Seretse Khama, the first president of Botswana, summed up the importance of culture and heritage when he stated, "A nation without a past is a lost nation. And a people without a past is a people without a soul." With the fast-changing society our students live in, it is very difficult for anyone to move away from an ethnocentric view of the world and focus on how each one of us is an integral part of a larger society. This project asks students to move beyond their own microcosm and research their heritage to investigate how it integrates into the culture in which they live. |
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Phase 1: What is a culture? Lead students in a class discussion focusing on the concept of heritage and culture and the relationship between the two. Use music, speakers, slideshows, cultural food dishes, videos, clothing, and other items to set the mood for students, and show an example of what a cultural/heritage multimedia presentation may look like. This example can reflect your own culture and heritage or one that is represented in your community. Motivate students to begin to evaluate their own existence, by asking them questions such as these: How does the environment affect how we act? Do you act differently at school than at home? Why? What are some cultural or social behaviors that determine how we act? Why do we become very quiet when getting on an elevator full of people? Why do we raise our hands in school? Is there a difference in how people act from different cultures regarding eating in a restaurant? |
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Phase 2: Outlining and planning Students work with Inspiration and begin to create a rough outline of what they want their multimedia presentation to look like. At this point it is more important for students to determine what they want to have in the presentation, rather than choose what programs they will use. Students should list anything that will help them create their presentation. Without limiting students’ options, emphasize the importance of structure and planning for a presentation. Students should create a visual outline that covers a beginning, middle, and an end to their presentation. Once students have finished their outline, pair students up and ask them to critique each other's outlines. For additional guidance, create an outline checklist and have students check whether the outline contains the required elements. |
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Phase 3: Researching Once the outlines have been critiqued and approved, students begin gathering as much material concerning their outline as possible. Because this presentation is asking students to focus on their own heritage and culture, they should interview their parents, grandparents, and relatives and find out as much information about their heritage as possible. Students move to the media center for research, using Sherlock and the Internet to look up information about their families, read about their cultural history, and save information and files for later use. As necessary, work with students to help them find resources, to discuss what they are reading to check for understanding, and to prompt them with questions to move them to creating questions of their own. If students have access to a server and know how to use it, they can save data and other information to the server for later use. |
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Phase 4: Synthesizing While students are in the research stage, work closely with them to check for synthesis of researched information to the actual outline developed in Phase 2. Create a research checklist for students to use as a guide for ensuring multiple resources. Have they interviewed family members? Do they have information from the media center? Did they use Sherlock to find resources on the Internet? Have they gathered any photographs? Do the students have any video footage that can be digitized in MovieWorks, HyperStudio, or mPOWER for use with the development tool? Are there any sound files that can be created from CDs or developed in SmartSound? Home movies? Personal interviews? Remind students to review their outlines and add the information they have found and will use in their presentation to their Inspiration document. For example, if one of the categories in the outline focuses on food, and the student has scanned or found images of specific cultural foods, make sure these examples are added to their Inspiration outline and marked as a graphic. Maybe the students created their own version of a home cooking show and created a video in iMovie showing how to create a specific cultural food. |
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Phase 5: Cultural fusion Students bring all of the materials they have researched and saved and begin developing their multimedia project. Much of the success of this project is dependent upon how well the students are able to work with the multimedia tools. You can determine the way the projects will be created based on your specific class environment: Do you want all of the students to create their projects in HyperStudio or mPOWER so that all projects are interactive? Do you want students to use iMovie and integrate the videos into HyperStudio or mPOWER? Do you want the students to create a graphics slideshow with voice-overs that would be best completed in MovieWorks? Do you want any original art created in Kid Pix Studio Deluxe, HyperStudio, or mPOWER? Do you want students to write all of their information in an AppleWorks document and then import it into an editing program like HyperStudio or mPOWER? Assess the knowledge of the class, estimate the length of time the project will take, and decide what is best for the students. Once you have determined which software will be used, students can assemble the project as they work. Work with students to ensure their project is developed concerning two aspects: information about the students' heritage and how this heritage is integrated into the society in which they live. If a student has a strong ethnic background, what is it and how does this student see this ethnicity in his or her own environment? Once the projects have been completed, schedule a community Heritage Fair so that students can share their projects with other classes, and community and family members. |
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PREPARATION
Depending on the software tools you decide to use, students will need to be comfortable with some or all of the following applications: AppleWorks, Archives of History, Art Mania 12,000, HyperStudio, Inspiration, iMovie, Kid Pix Studio Deluxe, MovieWorks, mPOWER, and SmartSound. Students should understand how to use a scanner and save images. Collect examples of different cultures from your community and discuss their relevance with students. Locate and bookmark relevant Internet sites to focus student work and show students how to use Sherlock to find other links. Prepare your own cultural multimedia project and sample Inspiration outline to share with students. |
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OPTIONS AND EXTENSION ACTIVITIES
Invite guest speakers of different cultures to share information with students. Prepare cultural foods and play music from cultures of students in your class. Consider using QuickTime to do video conferencing with students from another culture. Share short stories about heroes from different cultures. Invite the school board to view the finished products. Record the Heritage Fair using a digital camcorder and create a desktop movie using iMovie. If available, let students use an iBook to gather family history at home. |
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BOOKS The American Heritage Children's Dictionary by Houghton Mifflin Famous People of Hispanic Heritage by Barbara Marvis Kids Explore America's African American Heritage by Muir Publications Kids Explore America's Hispanic Heritage by Muir Publications Kids Explore America's Japanese American Heritage by Muir Publications Kids Explore America's Jewish Heritage by Muir Publications |
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INTERNET RESOURCES Ancestry.com
Kindred Konnections
Genealogy Toolbox
Ultimate Family Tree
The Genealogy Home Page
The WorldGenWeb Project
Family Tree Maker
Digital Storytelling Festival
The Center for Digital Storytelling
Digital Storytelling @ Creativity Cafe
JM Communications
Digital Clubhouse Network
AppleMasters--Dana Atchley
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CD-ROM TITLES American Heritage Children Dictionary by Houghton Mifflin American Heritage History of the U.S. For Young People by Simon and Schuster Interactive |
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