Sample Technology Integrated Unit-

Learning About a Culture

Standards

4th grade

• 4.2- Students describe the social, political, cultural, and economic life and interactions among people of California from the pre-Columbian societies to the Spanish mission and Mexican rancho periods.
• 4.2.5- Describe the daily lives of people, native and nonnative, who occupied the presidios, missions, ranchos, and pueblos.
• 4.3.3- Analyze the effect of the Gold Rush on settlements, daily life, politics, and the physical environment 

5th grade

• 5.1- Students describe the major pre-Columbian settlements, including the cliff dwellers and pueblo people of the desert Southwest, the American Indians of the Pacific Northwest, the nomadic nations of the Great Plains, and the woodland peoples east of the Mississippi.
• 5.4- Students understand the political, religious, social, and economic institutions that evolved in the colonial era.

6th grade

• 6.2- Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt and Kush.
• 6.3- Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of Ancient Hebrews.
• 6.4- Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of Ancient Greece.
• 6.5- Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of India.
• 6.6- Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of China.
• Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of Rome.

7th grade

• 7.2- Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of Islam of the Middle Ages.
• 7.3- Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of China in the Middle Ages.
• 7.4- Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of the sub-Saharan civilizations of Ghana and Mali in Medieval Africa.
• 7.5-Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of Medieval Japan.
• 7.6- Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of Medieval Europe.
• 7.7- Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of the Meso-American and Andean civilizations.

Introduction

The goal of these standards is to understand different cultures. Since most of these cultures will be unfamiliar to students, try starting with a streaming video to activate any background knowledge and/or introduce the topic to students.

Streaming Videos at Discovery Streaming

4th grade

• California Up Close: Native Americans and European Explorers
• Living History: Living in Spanish Colonial America
• California Up-Close: Spanish California
• Trail to Riches: The California Gold Rush and Settlement of the Pacific Northwest

5th grade

• Native Americans: The First Peoples
• Native Americans: People of the Forest
• Native Americans: People of the Desert
• Native Americans: People of the Plains
• Native Americans: People of the Northwest Coast
• Early Settlers: The Era of Colonization
• Exploring the World: The English Come to America: Jamestown and Plymouth

6th grade

• Mesopotamia: From Nomads to Farmers
• Mesopotamia: Trade Routes and Transportation
• World of Ancient Rome (753 B.C. - 476 A.D.),
• What the Ancients Knew: Chinese
• Ancient Civilizations: On the Town- Segments on Greece, India, China, and the Maya

7th grade

• Islam: A Challenge to Christianity
• China: From Past to Present: The Silk Road, the Great Wall, Changes in Government- Segments in the middle are focused on Middle Ages
• Africa: Shaped by the Past
• Japan's Samurai Warriors (Segment within World History: The Medieval Era)
• Living History: Living in Medieval Europe
• World History: The Medieval Era

Questioning

Get students thinking about studying a culture. Pose a question- if you are going to learn about life in another time or place, what would you want to know about it? For younger students, you may need to be more concrete: What do you want to know about how the California Indians lived? For older students, see if you can elicit general questions that could be applied to almost any culture.

During this class questioning discussion, record ideas in Inspiration. Then ask students to group similar questions. For example, all questions about clothing can be grouped together, all questions about food can be grouped together... This can be done whole class, or make the Inspiration file available to students on computers where they can work with a partner to discuss why certain questions belong together. This should lead to an outline for researching a new culture, with several main topics. Those topics will depend on grade level and your focus. 

Learning Along the Way

Primary Sources

Primary sources allow students to experience the culture and draw conclusions, ask questions, and make abstract concepts concrete.

Teacher Created Materials, accessible through ed1stop, has many primary sources. 

4th Grade

• California (includes Native Californians, Missions, and the Gold Rush)

5th Grade

• Native Americans
• Colonial America
• The Pilgrims

6th Grade

• Ancient Mesopotamia
• Ancient Rome
• Ancient Greece
• Ancient Egypt

7th Grade

• Medieval Times 

Discovery Education Streaming has many primary source photos and maps. Search for your topic and choose "Images" for photos and drawings or "Audio" for myths or other audio clips.

Artifacts and Document Cameras

You probably have artifacts to go with these units. Instead of passing them around the class or holding them up in front of the class, you can place them under the document camera and allow everyone to see the items.

Podcasts and Music

Podcasts are a great way to bring in information from experts or outside resources.

4th Grade

5th Grade

• Smithsonian Global Sound- examples of Native American dance and music (iTunes)
• National Museum of the American Indian Podcast- includes videos on how to tan a deerhide and other examples of native life

6th Grade

7th Grade

• Silk Road Storytelling- legends from along the Silk Road (iTunes)
• Sounds of China- "designed with classrooms in mind," has examples of traditional Chinese music

Incorporate a blog

Use a blog as a place to post assignments, discussion starters, links students may need, and to get updates from students about their projects.

Wrapping it Up

Culture Wiki

Have students create a wiki that describes living in this new culture. The questions from the beginning of the project can guide the pages within the wiki, with a page for food, clothing, government, religion, etc.  

Interactive PowerPoint

Depending on the grade level, choose one of the interactive PowerPoint projects as a way for students to show what they know- an interactive alphabet, map, diagram, or calendar would work as a way for students to show that they understand the important information and can organize it.