Promoting Awareness of Cultural
Diversity in the Classroom
Margaret Smith
Kaitlyn Wilbur
Ed 200 Curriculum Project
Fall 2006
Context
The following lesson plan is meant for a
sixth grade classroom and will be
carried out over the course of five days.
 It incorporates lessons in history,
geography, and writing pertaining to
immigration and cultural diversity.

Objectives


Students will learn about the history
of immigration to the United States
and apply this knowledge to the
specific reading assignments.
Students will evaluate multiple
stories about immigration to the
United States by comparing and
contrasting them and assessing
each story based on guidelines
given to them.
Objectives


Students will analyze their own individual
background, culture, and experiences in comparison
to each other, looking for patterns among their
cultural stories and backgrounds.
In doing so, students will gain awareness that all
people are unique due to differences in their
background, culture, and experiences.
Objectives

Students will reevaluate their assumptions about the
spatial representation of the world through a mapping
activity.

Students will develop their own opinions and be able
to cooperate with classmates, who hold both different
and similar views.
Justification

The Connecticut State Department of Education
states that schools should be promoting the following
for students in grades 5-8:
– An understanding of major events and trends of United States
history and local history (e.g. immigration)
– Identification of various causes and effects of movements of groups
of people
– A demonstration of how personal experiences influence an
individual’s perception of places
– The development of written narratives from investigations of source
materials
– The use of maps to analyze distributions and patterns
– Recognition of the ideas of others and the validity of differing views.
– The ability to persuade listeners of their judgments and opinions.
Weekly Plan

Monday
– Begins with a classroom lecture on the history of
immigration to the United States as well as the current issue
centered on the opposing metaphors of America as a
“melting pot” or “salad bowl”
– Using Slavin’s Jigsaw II cooperative learning technique,
students will form 4 groups, in which they will learn and
answer the questions provided to them about their group’s
particular immigration story
Weekly Plan

Tuesday
– Continuing with the Jigsaw II activity from Monday,
students will form new groups and learn the other
3 immigration stories from their peers
– The students will be evaluated on their knowledge
of all four immigrant stories in the form of a short
objective quiz
– For the following day, the students should come to
class prepared with stories and/or memorabilia
about their families’ cultural background attained
by interviewing family members
Weekly Plan

Wednesday
– Students will write narratives on their families’
background and culture based on the information
they retrieved and in accordance with their
knowledge about immigration
– Students will share their narratives with the class
in order to seek similarities and differences among
one another, as well as become more
understanding of their peers’ lives
Weekly Plan

Thursday
– The teacher will assist the class
in labeling a world map
– Students will use pushpins to
represent their family’s country or
countries of origin, as well as
those of the immigrants from the
stories they studied earlier in the
week
– The teacher will prompt the
students to view the world in
perspective
Weekly Plan

Friday
– Students will be reintroduced to the
opposing metaphors of the United States
– They will develop their own opinions on
which metaphor is most appropriate using
the knowledge and insights they have
gained throughout the week’s lessons
– The teacher will allow the students to have
an open-forum discussion, in which they will
debate their views
– Through persuasion and collaboration,
students will try to convince their peers of
their viewpoints regardless of whether the
class reaches a conclusive decision
Evaluation
Written narrative about his or her
personal background, culture, and
experiences
 Participation and level of rich thinking in
Friday’s debate

The End