Curated OER
Breaching the Gulf Between Cultures
Students explore the dynamics, the challenges, and the rewards of adjusting to a new culture through the reading of "Help! My Father is Coming" and "The Visit to Vijay's". In this social culture instructional activity, students carousel...
Curated OER
How Cultures Differ - Two Different Perspectives on the Same Even
Students explore the effects of culture through the story Running by Peter Hessler. For this geography and cultural lesson, students act as newspaper reporters covering the story of the race. Students write newspaper articles as...
Curated OER
Coming to Terms With Cultural Differences
Learners consider cultural differences. In this Peace Corps lesson, students read "Help, My Father is Coming," by Jim Toner and then write journal entries about the culture of Sri Lanka.
Peace Corps
Features of Culture
Young scholars enumerate features of their own culture and evaluate how those features have influenced their lives. They explain that many differences are related to culture-beliefs and ways of living that are handed down from one...
Curated OER
Mastering the Mighty Melville
“Bartleby the Scrivner” as an existential forerunner to The Office? Dense and often dark, Herman Melville’s stories abound with Biblical allusions and complex symbols. If you are considering using Melville’s novels or short stories with...
Curated OER
Breaching the Gulf Between Cultures
Learners study the dynamics, the challenges, and the rewards of adjusting to a new culture, as illustrated by the author's account of his father's coming to terms with Sri Lankan customs. They reach the enduring understanding, "It is...
Curated OER
How Cultures Differ-Two Different Perspectives on the Same Event
Students examine the author's running race from two different cultural perspectives to see just how different the effects of culture can be. They practice thinking about an issue from different perspectives and create a script that can...
Curated OER
How Cultures Differ "Two Different Perspectives on the Same Event
Students read excerpts from Peter Hessler's River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze and discuss his difficulties in learning the language, cultural clashes and how cultural perceptions shape our understanding of the world.
Curated OER
Window Into Another Culture
Learners examine cultural conflict issues. In this global studies lesson, students read the Robert W. Soderstrom essay " A Single Lucid Moment." Learners discuss the essay and confrontation that may occur between cultures.
Curated OER
Culture Is Like an Iceberg
Young scholars examine features of culture to determine which are visible and which are invisible, and how the invisible affect the visible. They look at both their outline drawing of the iceberg and their Features of Culture worksheet...
Curated OER
Coming to Terms With Cultural Differences
Learners discover that it is possible to be challenged and "culture-shocked" by the norms of one's own culture when returning home from having been away and living in another culture. They examine and compare the customs of modern...
Curated OER
Window Into Another Culture
Students read "A Single Lucid Moment" as a class. In groups, they identify the aspects of the United States that might allow for homelessness to happen and compare it with the culture of New Guinea. They write a journal entry about how...
Curated OER
A Single Lucid Moment
Students examine a case study of contrasting values between cultures. They read and discuss a story of a family of Peace Corps volunteers in Papua New Guinea, write a response to the story, and write a script for a dramatization of the...
Curated OER
Waking Up, Stepping Out
Students examine cultural differences. In this Peace Corps lesson, students compare their culture to Nepali culture as they read and discuss Waking Up, Stepping Out by Steve Iams.
Curated OER
Where There's Smoke
Students explore technology and how it can be used to bring about change in other cultures. In this investigative instructional activity students complete several activities using technology.
Curated OER
East Timor: The World's Newest Country
This isn't just a hand-out or a reading passage; it's more like a mini book on the history, colonization, independence, and culture of the South East Asian country of Timor. There are extensive readings and discussion questions for...
Curated OER
Encountering Very Different Ways of Life
Students explore the concept of crossing cultures. They examine how Americans may be viewed by people in another culture and discover that that Peace Corps Volunteers are trained to cross cultures respectfully so that they are accepted...
Curated OER
Confronting Two Challenges-One Physical, One Intellectual
Students examine how the author confronted the challenges of a new language and a new culture. They examine how the author's penchant for running featured in his adjustment to the culture of Fuling and in his learning of the Chinese...
Curated OER
Out With the Old, In With the New
Learners study China's cultural and economic complexities through a slide show that is written, read, and photographed by a Peace Corps Volunteer. They answer the questions: What does SARS stand for? [Severe acute respiratory syndrome]...
Curated OER
Breaching the Gulf Between Cultures
Students read excerpts from Jim Toner's memoir Serendib which chronicles his experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer in Sri Lanka. They work in small groups to analyze the excerpts and discuss how the author came to terms with Sri Lankan...
Curated OER
Encountering Very Different Ways of Life
Students explore the concept of crossing cultures through reading the stories "Help! My Father is Coming!" and "The Visit to Vijay's." In this culture lesson, students predict what will happen next in the stories. Students discuss the...
Curated OER
Confronting Two Challenges--One Physical, One Intellectual
Students examine the challenges of a new language and culture. In this cultural lesson, student read Running by Peter Hessler and discuss obstacles faced, including the language barrier. Students write an essay about a time they...
Curated OER
Jive Foil Puppets
Students engage in a instructional activity that is about the creation and use of Jive Foil Puppets. They conduct research using a variety of resources to gather information for differences in use by different cultures. Students create...
Curated OER
Expressions of Culture, History and Politics Through Art and Music
Learners analyze a piece of music to identify its political, cultural, and historical messages. They discuss relationships between art, history, culture and aesthetics and examine how Hawaiian artists transmit cultural traditions,...