CULTURE A Unit Plan Integrating Social Studies & the

Arts

By

Featured Cultures:Hopi Indians

Maasai Tribe of KenyaAncient Mayans

Grade Level: 3-5Length: 6-9 weeks

What is culture?What is culture? NCSS’s definition of culture has been used

as a framework for creating this unit:

The study of culture examines the socially transmitted beliefs, values, institutions, behaviors, traditions and way of life of a group of people; it also encompasses other cultural attributes and products, such as language, literature, music, arts and artifacts, and foods.

Rational for creating Rational for creating this unit…this unit…

The arts encompass all subjects of study, and especially lend themselves to the study of history and people.

As a classroom teacher, I see a strong need for curriculum that will engage my students and allow them to participate more in their own learning.

In a single classroom there are a variety of learning styles among the students – thus their teacher should teach in a variety of ways thereby maximizing the success of all students.

Due to the pressure for pubic school students to be “proficient” on standardized tests in reading and math, social studies and the arts (as well as science), are being taught less than math and reading.

I believe that the current trend in American education is focusing far too much on passing these two-subject standardized tests - thus our students are not receiving a comprehensive education which includes untested subjects.

Why should we teach culture?

By understanding the lives of others we can more readily empathize with their needs as well as become more in touch with our own. By studying how others live within our world we can gain a broader understanding of what it means to be human.

Cultures in this unit…

Hopi Indians

Ancient Mayans

Maasai

These cultures were These cultures were chosen For their…chosen For their…

Varied geographical locations

Unique characteristics

Relevance to ancient history, recent history and current events

Differences when compared to one another

Potential for broad application to New Mexico state standards in social studies and the arts

Part i: the hopi indians10-12 days

Students will begin by critiquing and analyzing images of the Hopi people and aspects of their life. During this process students will make observations and generate questions about the Hopi culture. Questions will be categorized based on student specified criteria.

For the remainder of this portion of the unit students will…

-Work in small groups, researching and discovering answers to their own questions.

- Record their findings in research notebooks

- Create timelines on Hopi history

- Make pop-up model houses in the style of the Hopi

- Work as a group to create a presentation covering their groups’ questions

- Present their findings to their classmates

Hopi Assessments

Group Presentation Rubric (Teacher created and evaluated)

Groups will be assessed together by the teacher on their overall presentation, accuracy of the facts and their overall presentation display.

Pop-up House Rubric (Teacher created, student evaluated)

Students will individually self assess their pop-up Hopi houses based on the accurate style of the house, their quality of work and the elements of art

Part ii: maasai tribe Part ii: maasai tribe 10-12 days10-12 days

As an introduction to the Maasai, the class will be read a book called 14 cows for America. This is a true story of the Maasai offering the U.S. a generous gift of 14 cows, upon hearing of the September 11, 2011 terrorist attacks.

This book serves as the introduction to the Maasai and their way of life. The book closes by saying, “No nation is so powerful it cannot be wounded, nor a people so small they cannot offer mighty comfort.”

For the remainder of this portion of the unit students will…

- Create a rhythmic chant using hand held musical instruments, their voices, and words from 14 Cows for America

- Interact with a guest speaker who has spent time with the Maasai in Kenya

- Read part of Facing the Lion – an autobiography by a Maasai man about growing up Maasai

- Apply their knowledge about the Maasai and the coming-of-age lion hunt to create and draw story boards based on Facing the Lion

Maasai assessements

Informal assessments on rhythmic chants

Teacher will collaborate with students to create a rubric to assess storyboards

Part iii: Ancient MayansPart iii: Ancient Mayans10-20 days10-20 days

Students begin this final section of the unit by analyzing and critiquing images of Mayan art, artifacts and architecture.

Students move on to discover the Maya for themselves through images, video and books, while also generating questions about the Maya.

Before starting this section students should acquire background about what historical museum exhibits looks like

For the remainder of this portion of the unit students will…

- Implement their knowledge of the Maya by creating replicas of artifacts or models of Mayan structures

- Invent ways to create artifacts or models out of everyday materials

- Apply prior knowledge about historical museum exhibits and create a museum style exhibit with their artifacts and models

- Install their exhibit in a predetermined space and open it to the public

Teacher will collaborate with students to create two rubrics: One for teacher to

assess each student’s research

One for student groups to self-assess their process of creating the exhibit and their final presentation in their section of the exhibit

Mayan assessments

Possible lesson extensions

- Invite a local Hopi person to speak with the class, or go on a field trip to see a showing of Hopi art

- Contact the board of directors at theMaasai American Organization (MAO) http://www.maasaiamerican.org/links.htmThe class could work with this non-profit organization and decide on a project or fundraiser that the class could do to support the work of MAO.

- Students could display their Mayan museum exhibit in a public location, such as the public library, a local bank or local art gallery.

Final ThoughtsFinal Thoughts- I need to learn more about differentiating instruction in

order to better meet the needs of students with varying learning styles and multiple intelligences.

- I need to go into more detail about the art lessons in the unit.

- The unit will likely take longer than 6-9 weeks to teach.

- Change museum exhibit assignment to include entire unit.

- Make clay Mayan masks as the art assignment for the third section on the Ancient Maya.

Resources 

Deedy, C.A., Naiyomah, W.K., (2009). 14 cows for America. Atlanta: Peachtree Publishers. Lekuton, J.L., (2003). Facing the lion. National Geographic Society. Levstik, L.S., Barton, K.C., (2005). Doing history: third edition. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Obenchain, K.M., Morris, R. V. (2007). 50 social studies strategies for K-8 classrooms: second edition. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc.  http://www.maasaiamerican.org http://www.socialstudies.org http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maasai http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayans