Cathryn+Johnson

=Cathryn Johnson=

Hello, I have been asked to describe a problem based activity that I have planned for my students. I hope you enjoy!

The problem based activity: How can we raise awareness and/or keep the cultural history of diverse populations alive within our community? This is a third grade lesson. Subject areas are reading, technology, and social studies. Standards that it will address include: ELD: Listening and speaking. Reading: 2.1 Comprehend important ideas and details. Social Studies: 1.1.3 Examine the influence of culture on U.S, world, andWashingtonStatehistory. Indicator - Describe the contributions of people of various cultural groups to the development of the local community andWashingtonState.

The unit includes several lessons of learning and researching the history and facts of Pacific Northwest Native American traditional culture. Students are now familiar with the history of this population, and the problem has been introduced. I plan to elaborate on the importance of finding solutions that will result in building more respect and strength within our community. The problem is relevant to my students because our school district is located on the Yakama Nations Reservation. Although there is an Indian school, we still have a significant number of students who represent that group. My plan is to begin earlier next year to incorporate the other diverse groups. These include Filipino, Mexican, and Migrant. Technology has assisted in several ways since we started this unit. We have used it for research via a Webquest we explored. It also provided access to pictures and examples to deepen student understanding, concern, and awareness about our topic. They have had access to word document in order to include a paper trail, citations, and to save images for the future performance task. It will also help in the future for students to collaboratively create a picture story using power points. Technology has also assisted in addressing various needs of diverse learners as they locate pictures, sounds, examples, and further history and facts concerning the topic. The activity is further customized to diverse needs as students make choices concerning grouping, interests, navigating the web, and in making their own decisions as they seek solutions. As an assessment, I have started with a classroom response system to evaluate over all understanding of history and facts. I will give the same assessment towards the end of the unit. I will be using student journals and a rubric as well to assess understanding and performance.

 I like that you are developing a problem based learning activity that raises awareness and creates acceptance amongst peers. This would be a wonderful activity to implement at the beginning of the year and practice throughout.  Are students creating a product for this problem based activity? I am under the impression that all problem based activities have to result in a product, but not all product based learning need to revolve around a problem. If your students are developing a product, it would be great to share with the school so that they could increase awareness and acceptance in the building.
 * < Cathryn,

 Keri || Thank you Keri,  I believe that you are right. Yes, the product would be suggestions or ideas for activities or something that would perpetuate community involvement or awareness of cultural history for the represented groups. It is too late in the year to go further than the one cultural group that we are focusing on. I agree with your suggestion, and next year I plan to begin much sooner in order to allow for more practice and give attention to other cultural groups.  Have a happy day!  Cathryn

Cathryn, I also really love that you are using this activity to help your students grasp a better understanding of different cultures. All too often I feel that student just think of them as "different" but do not have a real idea of why they are different. Because they do not know why they are different they often form stereotypes about these groups and do not fully learn about others. I think that is great that you are helping the students work harder to learn about other cultures. Thanks for posting this idea.

Erinn