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Culminating Activity
Vermont Standards
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UNIT SUMMARY

Unit Title:   Getting to Know You

Unit Author:    Brent Sclafani, Champlain Elementary School

Grade Level:  4-5

Unit Overview:
This unit is about why it's important to learn about people who are different from ourselves.  Culture is one kind of difference and that is what this unit mostly focuses on.  Any culture could be used to make the point that, by learning about people who are different from outselves, we learn to overcome our fears and our lack of understanding, which are the roots of prejudice.  Therefore, by getting to know people who seem different, we discover all that we have in common and we also have the opportunity to develop an appreciation for the difference.  This unit's theme integrates all of the Burlington School District's writing portfolio requirements, which includes response to literature, narratives, reports, poetry and a persuasive essay.
Essential Questions:
  • Why is it important to learn about people who are culturally different from us?

Culminating Tasks:
  • Write a report teaching others about one expression of Japanese culture that you think is particularly interesting or important for others to learn about.  In your concluding ("so what") paragraph, explain why it is important to get to know and learn about people who are different from us.  Include what you have learned about the prejudice: what it is, what causes it and how it can be overcome.
  • Answer these questions about prejudice
    • What is prejudice?
    • What effect does it have on people?
    • How can it be overcome?
  • Acts of Prejudice sheet:  apply what you have learned about prejudice to a situation where you have witnessed somebody being prejudiced.
  • In a response to literature essay, analyze and interpret The Three Astronauts by Umberto Eco in order to answer the following questions:
    • What are the main characters afraid of?
    • How do they overcome their fear?
  • In a narrative, write a fable that teaches a lesson about the importance of getting to know people who are different from you.
  • In a poem, write about the importance of getting to know people who are different from you.
  • In a persuasive essay, convince people of the importance of getting to know people who are different from you and why prejudice is wrong.

 

Vermont Standards

Vital Results
3.3 Respect: Students demonstrate respect for themselves and others
4.3 Cultural Expressions: Students demonstrate understanding of the cultural expressions that are characteristic of a particular group
4.4 Effect of Prejudice: Student demonstrate understanding of the concept of prejudice and its effect on various groups
1.7 Response to Literature: Students show understanding of reading; connect what has been read to the broader world of ideas, concetps, and issues; and make judgements about the text.
1.8 Reports: Students convey information and ideas accurately and effectively.
1.1 Reading: Students use a variety of strategies to help them read.
1.2 Reading: Students read for meaning, demonstrating both initial understanding and personal response to what is read.
1.9 Narratives  
1.11 Persuasive Essays  

 

Learning Opportunities
Instruction:
  • Strategies that help students link new learning to previous knowledge and experiences
  • Collaboration in both small and large groups
  • Pursuit of individual concerns, learning interests, and projects
  • Opportunities for independent learning, work in pairs, and work in larger groups
  • Extended investigations through which students address essential questions
Assessment and Reporting:
  • Assessments clearly define student performances or products and judge with observable criteria based on standards
Connections:
  • Direct experience with real world questions, problems, issues and solutions that are complex and cross discpline boundaries
  • Thematic studies that allow students to draw connections between their lives and the world beyond the classroom
Best Practices:
  • Writing used as a tool for learning across the curriculum
  • Emphasis on multiple reading stretegies and comprehension

 

Time to complete unit: 15 one-hour sessions

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