Cultural Exchange

Instructor: You

Grade Level: 4-6

Standard: 2B.2a. Identify differences among and contributions of various social and cultural groups,
Cultures - Interact with cultural competence and understanding, Present-PK-5 Presentation Formats,
Roles & Reactions. Critique Presentations.

Lesson Length: 60-80 minutes depending on class size. Over the span of 2-3 class days.

Materials (Use Bullet Points) :

-Colored Construction Paper
-Glue
-Markers, Crayons, and/or Colored Pencils
-Adequate space to sit in a circle.
-Whiteboards (optional, for potential game)

Objective Assessment

Students will be able to:
-Appreciate their culture and the cultures of their
classmates
-Understand what ‘culture’ means
-Connect with family and classmates around the topic of
culture and traditions
-Learn about different cultures around them
-Create a tangible representation of what ‘culture’ means to
them
-Teachers will be able to assess students based on
participation in the creation of personal culture guides,
the engagement in the circle time activities, and the
presentation of each project by the students.
-Students will be able to give feedback on the activity
during their presentation time in the circle.

Procedure
I. Day One - Introduction to Culture Circle Time. 20-30 minutes (Suggested on a Friday to allow
time for students to get information from their parents)
A. Begin by having your students sit on the floor or in chairs in a large circle, adjusting so
that each student can see you and all of their classmates.
1. An alternative arrangement for limited space would be to arrange the desks in a
horseshoe shape, and stand in the center where all students can see you and each
other.
B. Start Circle Time with a connection activity for students to prepare for discussion: One
choice is the Telephone Game. Begin by whispering a phrase to your neighbor, and have
that be passed all the way around the room. For this lesson, use the phrase: Cultural
Exchange, or anything your students would enjoy.
 C. Ask: “Does anyone know what the word ​Culture ​means?”
1. Value their answers, and then provide your definition: Culture is what a group
shares with each other: what they do, what they believe, and any traditions they
take part in.
D. Ask: Does anyone have any examples of culture or a cultural activity?
E. Announce and explain the assignment, the Personal Culture Guides
1. “We are each going to be exploring our own cultures this weekend with our
families. I’m going to be passing a worksheet out for everyone, so please take
one and pass the stack to your neighbor on your right!”
a) Worksheet is the last page on this document
2. “We are each going to get a piece of construction paper and create our own
picture of what culture means to us, here is what mine looks like after I got it
finished”
a) Present a final product of your Culture Guide, this will give the students
some ideas of how some of the prompts can be answered
F. End your Circle Time with an activity to get your students back to their seats in an
orderly fashion. One game to play would be rock, paper, scissors, and each student goes
to their desk after they lose a round. Begin with one student and go in a clockwise order.
1. Make sure to tell your students to pick up their supplies for their projects as they
walk to their desks.
2. Provide an incentive for the winner such as a point towards a prize
G. Conclude your Circle Time, remind your students at the end of the day about their
upcoming assignment. Set the due date as Monday.
II. Day Two - Project Check-in, 5 minutes (Monday)
A. With students at their desks, ask them about how they are feeling about their project and
if they were able to get it done. Have students put their heads down to answer if they are
prepared to present by raising their hands. If students are prepared, move to the next step.
If not, use the time reserved for Circle Time as student work time to finish their projects
and ask questions.
III. Day Two/Three- Presentations and Discussion, 30-40 minutes, depending on class size
(Monday/Tuesday)
A. Begin by having your students sit on the floor or in chairs in a large circle, adjusting so
that each student can see you and all of their classmates.
1. An alternative arrangement for limited space would be to arrange the desks in a
horseshoe shape, and stand in the center where all students can see you and each
other.
B. Start Circle Time with a connection activity for students to prepare for discussion: One
choice is the Drawing Game. Have each student get a whiteboard and dry-erase marker.
Each student should write their name on the top of their board and begin a drawing. Now,
the boards will be passed around the circle, and each student is given 10 seconds to add to
their board. The game ends when everyone gets their boards back and sees the final
picture.
C. Student Presentations
 1. Go in a clockwise direction, beginning with a volunteer or the student directly to
your right. Each presenter should stand and show the class their Culture Guides,
reading off what culture means to them and a few things that they do that are
cultural activities.
a) Have two students comment or ask a question for each presentation.
Incentivise participation with points towards prizes if necessary.
D. End your Circle Time with an activity to get your students back to their seats in an
orderly fashion. Since this is a longer Circle Time, cut time by going around the circle
and having the students each name one thing they like about themselves/their classmates
and be dismissed individually.
E. Have students glue their projects into their journals at their desks and write two sentences
about the activity and how it made them feel and if they liked it or not. Alternatively,
hang all of the guides up in your classroom.

Introduction Introduction to the topic of culture and the directions for the Personal Culture Guides.
Culture: ​Culture is what a group shares with each other: what they do, what they believe, and
any traditions they take part in.
Personal Culture Guide: W ​ orksheet provided as last page of lesson plan. The guide should
reflect what each student believes Culture is and how they participate in cultural activities.

Main Activity Personal Culture Guide Presentations and Discussion.

Each student is able to present to the whole class and get thoughts and questions from fellow
students.
Students should be assessed on engagement and participation. Speech and Presentation skills
and tips should be mentioned and praised, but not assessed formally.

Conclusion Students journal their thoughts about the activity, and Personal Culture Guides are either glued
into journals or hung on the wall. This will provide students with a representation of the
different ways that culture can present itself in life, as well as connect them with classmates
who share traditions and activities.

Modifications
Challenge students, if they are achieving their
targets by​:
Focusing more on presentation skills as well as
formatting, grammar, and spelling on the Personal
Culture Guides. Encourage additional creativity
such as using paint, glitter, or pictures to add to
their Guides.
Make things easier, for students having difficulties
by:
Eliminate the creative aspect of the Personal
Culture Guide, in lieu of this, students only need
to provide a filled out worksheet to discuss
together.
To partially adjust to an online environment:
Create Personal Culture Guides in Google Slides.
Circle time games and format will need to be
adjusted based on resources.
Name: ___________________________________________________ Date:______________

Personal Culture Guide

Directions: You will be making a visual representation of what ​Culture​ means to you. Using the
construction paper and markers provided for you (as well as any additional materials such as
pictures, magazine clippings, paint, and whatever else you), answer the following questions and
prepare to present your final product during Circle Time.

This assignment is due _______________.

Guiding Questions:

1) How do you define the word ​Culture ​in your own words?

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

2) What does your culture mean to you?

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

3) What are some traditions or cultural activities that your family does that you would like

to share with the class? Is there anything that you talked about with your family about

culture?

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________
Example:

What Is Culture? By ​Your Name​! 

 
Culture Is:
​Your answer for Number One

This is what Culture means to me:

​Your answer for Number Two

This is what Culture means to my family:

Your answer for Number Three

Get as creative as possible, draw pictures, and have fun!