Name___Brandi Kohne_________
Part A.
1. Course:____Introduction to Sociology___________
2. Unit Title: Culture: Why ‘normal’ doesn’t really exist.__ Grade Level:____10___
1. I would like to teach an introductory sociology class. It is an academic,
10th grade class. I intend to teach a unit on culture. I want to describe
what it is, explain its role in society, discuss various types of cultures (sub
culture, counter culture, etc), evaluate its importance in the students
daily lives, and examine some key cultural differences that exist in
societies across the globe. What I would really like for my students is for
them to understand culture not in terms of definitions but in terms of
how it affects them. I would like them to be able to make connections to
American culture and see how it differs from other cultures. I feel like
they will come to a greater sense of global awareness and open their
minds to cultural diversity if they can understand more about culture
itself. I want them to discard the word ‘normal’ and understand that it is
a transient term that means something different to everyone. They
should be able to connect the social patterns they exhibit and see every
day to overarching themes and concepts that we will discuss. I want them
to be able to appreciate the layers and differences in culture; if they can
understand culture in a different context then perhaps we can replace
value judgments with more understanding and cultivate a sense of
tolerance.
I would like to teach an introductory sociology class. It is an academic, 10th grade
class. I intend to teach a unit on culture. I will describe what culture is, explain culture’s
role in society, discuss various types of cultures (sub culture, counter culture, etc.),
evaluate the importance of culture in the students daily lives, and examine some key
cultural differences that exist in societies across the globe. The students will be able to
understand culture not only in terms of definitions, but also in terms of how it affects
them. They will be able to make connections to American culture and draw distinctions
about how it differs from other cultures. They will acquire a greater sense of global
awareness and open their minds to cultural diversity. They will understand why it is
important to discard the word ‘normal’, because it is a transient term that means
something different to everyone. They will be able to connect the social patterns they
exhibit and see every day to overarching themes and concepts that we will discuss.
Perhaps by understanding culture in a different context they will be able to replace
value judgments with more understanding and cultivate a sense of tolerance.
List all standards to be addressed in this unit. Include the number and description of
each:
2. State (3 to 5):
Standard Number
Description
7.3.12 The Human Characteristics of Places and Regions III, V
B. Analyze the significance of human activity in shaping places and regions by their
cultural characteristics
This is useful to my unit because culture is the topic of the unit. It will be important for
students to understand how that affects where people reside, how that changes from
region to region.
8.3.12 United States History III, VI
D. Identify and evaluate conflict and cooperation among social groups and organizations
in United States history from 1890 to the Present.
This will be useful in order to discuss culture in terms of social groups. This allows us to
cover class, caste, class system, social stratification, etc.
8.4.12 World History II, III, VI
D. Evaluate how conflict and cooperation among social groups and organizations
impacted world history from 1450 to Present in Africa, Americas, Asia and Europe.
This allows us to examine culture across the borders and examine how culture changes
as you change the environment, history, values and morals of the people. It will be
important for the students to understand culture in a global sense and appreciate the
differences rather than just studying American culture.
9.2.12 Historical and Cultural Contexts I, II, III, IV, V, VI
D. Analyze a work of art from its historical and cultural perspective.
F. Know and apply appropriate vocabulary used between social studies and the arts and
humanities.
9.3.12 Arts and Humanities: Critical response I, II, III, IV, V, VI
Explain and apply the critical examination processes of works in the arts and humanities.
• Compare and contrast
• Analyze
• Interpret
• Form and test hypotheses
• Evaluate/form judgments
D. Analyze and interpret works in the arts and humanities from different societies using
culturally specific vocabulary of critical response.
NCSS STANDARDS
Standard Number
Description
1. Culture: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study
of culture and cultural diversity. I, II, III, IV, V, VI
This will be critical to the study of culture in a sociological context. It will allow us to
examine all of the vocabulary terms and overarching concepts in the unit.
5. Individuals Groups and Institutions: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of interactions among individuals, groups, and
institutions. I, II, III, IV, V, VI
This will be useful in this unit because it will allow us to discuss culture in terms of the
way that culture organizes its people. We can explore social mobility, social
stratification, class systems, caste systems, primary groups, reference groups, secondary
groups, etc. We can discuss culture in terms of subculture and counterculture and the
interaction of all of this groups under this heading as well.
9. Global Connections: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide
for the study of global connections and interdependence. III, V
This is important as we discuss cultures across the globe. Culture is not defined by
borders and it is a fluid concept that changes depending on which society one finds
oneself in. The idea of culture as an overarching theme that transcends borders is
critical to discuss.
4. Individual Development and Identity: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of individual development and identity. IV, VI
Culture is not just about the society as a whole, it’s about how the individual fits into it
as well. I think this standard will allow us to explore roles, role conflict, role strain, and
most importantly, allow students to investigate how they personally fit into our culture.
This will allow us to connect the material directly to each student and solidify their
understanding of the topic by tying it in to their daily lives.
3. Essential Questions. At the end of the unit, what do you want the students to
know and be able to do? Very broad questions students should be able to
clearly address at the end of the unit:
1. Culture is a blanket term that can be subdivided into many categories.
Determine what culture means on a national scale compared to what
culture means on an extremely local scale by examining the different
subtypes of culture that are prominent at that level.
2. Assess the role culture has in social control by analyzing the ways in
which culture dictates social behavior. Decide which 6 cultural
components you think are most influential in social control, define and
rank them in order of most influential.
3. How society is structured is a large part of how we define its culture.
Justify the use of the class system or the caste system based on factors
such as social mobility and social stratification and explain why you find
the alternate system unfavorable.
4. Culture is not just about the group, but also the individual. Assess the
impact the assignment of multiple roles has on an individual and how
that affects one’s daily life.
5. American culture is a broad term that does not necessarily mean the
same thing everywhere. Culture is about the transmittance of people
and ideas. Assess the role the media the plays versus the power of other
forces to shape, package, distribute, and diffuse culture.
6. As a member of American culture, you are inherently a member of
several groups. Rate the importance of primary, secondary, and
reference groups and evaluate that importance in terms of social day to
day operations.
4. Vocabulary and definitions and descriptions of importance for the unit. List 25 to
30 names, terms, events, people, documents, etc. that are key components to
this unit:
You may change this list of vocabulary as you develop the lesson plans.
1. Culture: the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age
group I, II, III, IV
2. Sub-Culture: a group having social, economic, ethnic, or other traits distinctive
enough to distinguish it from others within the same culture or society I
3. Counter Culture: the culture and lifestyle of those people, esp. among the young, who
reject or oppose the dominant values and behavior of society. I
4. Diffusion: the transmission of elements or features of one culture to another V
5. Cultural Lag: slowness in the rate of change of one part of a culture in relation to
another part, resulting in maladjustment within society, as from the failure of the
nonmaterial culture to keep abreast of developments in the material culture V
6. Norms: a standard, model, or pattern. II
7. Mores: folkways of central importance accepted without question and embodying the
fundamental moral views of a group II
8. Sanctions: to impose a sanction on; penalize esp. by way of discipline. II
9. Laws: any written or positive rule or collection of rules prescribed under the authority
of the state or nation, as by the people in its constitution; the condition of society
brought about by their observance II
10. Deviance: the act of a person or thing deviating or departing markedly from the
accepted norm. II
11. Folkways: the ways of living, thinking, and acting in a human group, built up without
conscious design but serving as compelling guides of conduct. II
12. Mass Culture: the culture that is widely disseminated via the mass media V
13. Class: a social stratum sharing basic economic, political, or cultural characteristics,
and having the same social position III
14. Caste system: a social structure in which classes are determined by heredity III
15. Primary group: a group of individuals living in close, intimate, and personal
relationship. VI
16. Secondary group: a group of people with whom one's contacts are detached and
impersonal. VI
17. Reference group: a group with which an individual identifies and whose values the
individual accepts as guiding principles VI
18. Role: the rights, obligations, and expected behavior patterns associated with a
particular social status. IV
19. Role Conflict: emotional conflict arising when competing demands are made on an
individual in the fulfillment of his or her multiple social roles IV
20. Social mobility: The ability of individuals or groups to move upward or downward in
status based on wealth, occupation, education, or some other social variable. III
21. Conformity: Agreement between an individual's behavior and a group's standards or
expectations. A conformist is one who follows the majority's desires or standards V
22. Values: the ideals, customs, institutions, etc., of a society toward which the people
of the group have an affective regard. These values may be positive, as cleanliness,
freedom, or education, or negative, as cruelty, crime, or blasphemy II, IV
23. Morals: of, pertaining to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct
or the distinction between right and wrong; ethical II, IV
24. Social Stratification: the hierarchical structures of class and status in any society III
25. Status: The relative position of an individual within a group, or of a group within a
society. III
26. Role Strain: the stress or strain experienced by an individual when incompatible
behavior, expectations, or obligations are associated with a single social role. IV
5. Culminating project ideas. List and briefly describe three possible projects that
students could complete and that enriched the learning of this unit. At least one
project must come from the NCSS, Social Education journal (document this
project):
1. NCSS project idea and documentation: -----------------------------------------------------------CREATING A CULTURAL WATERSHED: Diagramming One’s Own Experience of Culture
By: Karen J. Hoelscher published in ©1999 National Council for the Social Studies.
Internet Link: http://publications.socialstudies.org/yl/1202/120203.html
“1. Consider the goal
We are all cultural beings, each of us made up of a rich variety of cultural attributes. The
goal of this assignment is for you to create a mural in which a watershed (its land forms
and the movement of water upon it) is used as a metaphor for your cultural identity (in
all its various aspects) and the course of your life.
2. Contemplate your cultural characteristics
Let’s define culture broadly, as including your family’s place of origin and structure,
ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation, spirituality, religion,
language, age, and abilities and handicapping conditions.2 Which characteristics are
most prominent in your life? How have they helped you become the unique person you
are today? Which cultural elements are not as fully developed or important to you right
now? Which ones are missing entirely from your personal landscape? How do your core
cultural characteristics work together in your life? How do particular elements cause
disturbances or challenges for each other? Which cultural characteristics most define
you? Think about how these elements might fit together, like a puzzle.
3. Study watersheds, in brief
What is the definition of a watershed? (It is an area of land upon which all of the water
ultimately drains into a particular river, lake, or ocean.) What is the Continental Divide in
the United States? What is the ultimate fate of rainwater that falls on this campus? How
are the cleanliness and health of a river or bay related to its watershed?
4. Study the water cycle, in brief
Define and explore the water cycle (the movement of water through air, land, and
ocean, propelled by the energy of the sun) and learn how a watershed works.3 List all
the forms that water takes (for example, glacial melt, rain, hail, snow, fog, mist, streams,
rivers, oceans, and ground water). Using the library and Internet resources, find out
about the processes of the water cycle (evaporation, condensation, precipitation,
surface runoff, infiltration, and transpiration) and how they link together.
5. Link your cultural characteristics to land forms
Integrate what you have learned by creating a mural. First, sketch a mountainous
landscape, with peaks of varying sizes and shapes. Label each peak with a major cultural
characteristic (or, if you wish, a traditional aspect of your culture) related to your
identity. Consider carefully which of the peaks should be the highest or most rugged,
which should be hidden or less visible, which should be prominently featured. Then
include other land forms, hills, plateaus, plains, and shorelines or deltas. These could be
labeled with minor (or more modern) cultural influences in your life.
6. Link changes and movement in your life to the water cycle
Illustrate the paths water takes as it flows from your mountain tops to a “river of life”
below. Use as many terms from the water cycle as possible to connect your cultural
characteristics to the watershed you have developed.
Does your spiritual identity evoke the metaphor of transpiration in your life, as your
“roots” absorb emotional water from the soil, nourishing your stem on the way to your
leaves? Does your family structure evoke the metaphor of infiltration, helping filter
impurities out as rain water passes over, soaking into the ground through layers of soil
and rock? Do aspects of your life resemble mist, fog, hail, and sleet? Do your own
abilities and activities affect your culture and society, like cascading water that
smoothes jagged rocks over the years?
7. Exhibit your work in a gallery
Create a gallery of cultural watersheds. Craft a clear, spare message to viewers to be
displayed near your mural. Try to capture the essence of your mural to share with
viewers who walk by. What will help them interpret the visual images and water activity
they see in your mural? Post your more extensive notes next to the mural. These notes
should help explain the connections among and between the cultural elements within
the watershed.
Host a gallery “opening” with your classmates. Serve refreshments if you wish. How
have the influences in your life been similar to other “landscape artists” whose works
are hanging in the gallery? How are they different? What did you learn about your
cultural identity during this assignment? How effectively did you represent this learning
through the creation of your mural? How would you revise your cultural watershed,
after participating in this activity (that is, what have you learned that would be useful or
relevant to consider adding next time)?
Conclusion
The cultural watershed activity is now a regular part of my social studies methods
course, with modifications that were suggested by my first group of cultural watershed
creators. It is always an enjoyable moment when the students (and invited guests)
browse the range of watersheds in the gallery, sipping cider, nibbling finger foods,
maybe listening to inspirational music, discussing the similarities and differences of their
cultural backgrounds and their different uses of metaphor. On the walls, the images of
land and water have names like “Tower of the Ancients,” “Volcano of Gender and
Sexuality,” “Sandbar of My Disability,” “Swamp of Uncertainty,” and “Bay of Becoming.”
Finally, students participate in a debriefing session in which they discuss their
perceptions of the personal and professional value of the watershed activity.
Overwhelmingly, student remarks have been favorable, including those coming from
students who resisted the idea initially. These soon-to-be teachers have experienced
firsthand the power of cultural ownership and the freedom that comes from tolerance
of cultural differences. After examining their personal culture, they might be more
confident when leading students in the discovery and celebration of theirs. “
2. Students will complete their own social experiment with norms,
folkways, mores, laws, and sanctions. The students will divide into small
groups and devise a unique way to violate a norm, folkway, and more in a
public place. They are not to violate a law, everything must be strictly
legal, and anything illegal will not be accepted and will be considered a 0
for the assignment. An acceptable example would be dressing super
casually for a fancy event or vice a versa and dressing super formal for a
casual event. They will have two options for a final product. Option 1,
which is strongly encouraged, is for one of the group members to
covertly film the member violating the norm, folkway, or more and film
the reaction people had to it. At the end of the film they will briefly
record a group reflection which explains the sanctions they received, if
any, how they felt during the experience, as well as how they felt before
and after. During the reflection the students should also comment on
how they think the scenario they acted out would be received in another
culture – how would the sanctions differ from those given in American
culture? Be specific with which culture you are referring to. Option 2 will
be available to students who don’t have a filming capability, but must
take pictures of the experiment. The pictures should be put together in a
type of visual presentation (PowerPoint, poster board, etc) that they can
show to the class. As a reflection, each student will submit a 4 page paper
which will address all of the aforementioned questions.
3. Culture in the media: In the 21st century the term ‘mass media culture’
has truly taken on a new meaning. Despite being in separate primary,
secondary and reference groups, millions of people who will never come
in contact with one another are bound together by mass culture. Mass
culture is a unifying force that binds individuals from all classes together.
Your task is to examine a part of mass culture that you find interesting find one magazine, TV program, TV station, movie or newspaper that you
enjoy. That one form of mass media distribution will be your primary
source. You will need to comb this source for how it promotes different
facets of mass media: what values does it promote? What morals does it
promote? How are they packaging American culture? Is there a political
agenda? In what ways do you see the source promoting conformity?
Consider these questions and what you have learned about mass media
culture in class. The best way to go about doing this is to imagine you are
a foreigner to American culture – if this was the only source you were
given, what type of culture would you presume America had? You may
work individually but you may also work in pairs or small groups should
you so desire. Your final project will be to create an 8 minute
presentation to share with the class reporting your analysis of the impact
of mass media in your chosen source. You will create a PowerPoint
presentation (or a poster board if the technology capabilities are not
available to you, however, this must be extremely neat, professional,
colorful, and easily viewed from the back of the room). The focus of the
presentation should be how you think a foreigner or an alien would
perceive American culture from the way the mass media presented it in
your source. You will need to address how the following were illustrated:
morals, values, conformity, roles and symbols. Include images and cite
specific examples from your source to support your findings.
4. Roles: (In class activity) Students will create scenarios that emulate role
conflict and strain and write them on a note card. They will all be handed
to the teacher who will randomly select one and give it to a small group
of students. That group will have to improvise and act out the scenario to
the class. The class must then identify what roles were exhibited,
whether it was strain or conflict, and what sanctions would be issued for
violating which role.
Outline Unit: What will be covered each day for the 10 days?
1. What is culture?
2. What defines culture: folkways, mores and laws?
3. Violating culture: deviance, sanctions, sub culture, counter culture
4. Culture in society: How is society structured? Class and caste systems
5. Fluidity of culture: social stratification, social mobility, world examples
6. Groups within the class structure: primary, secondary, reference
7. Your place within culture: role, role conflict, role strain
8. Globalization, technology, and the impact on contemporary culture
9. How is culture packaged and how does it move and change? Mass culture,
diffusion, cultural lag.
10. Social interactions in culture: social life and the ordering of time and space;
and how the rules of social interaction affect your life.
York College of Pennsylvania
Department of Education
Lesson Plan Format
Name Brandi Kohne_______
Date Due___9-21-10____
Lesson Plan #__1__
Class/Subject:___Sociology______
Period/Time __40 minutes_____
Behavioral Objectives:
-Students will be able to define culture and explain its importance to society in
general.
-After a presentation and class discussion, students will be able to gather
shared knowledge about what they already know about culture.
-Students will develop questions about culture that they would like to explore
further.
-After a brief overview of some of the interesting hallmarks of different world
cultures, students will be able to create an outline for what they feel every
culture includes.
Assessment: List and briefly explain any assessments and goals
The goal of this lesson is for students to be introduced to the topic of culture in
the way that we will study it. Their current definition of culture may be limited to
what is on Entertainment Tonight or their favorite radio station. However, this
lesson will introduce students to culture as a concept and a worldwide phenomena
that shapes the way people live, society is structured, and ultimately, even their own
role in this world. For this lesson assessment will consist of level of participation in
class discussion, adequate completion of group work (KWL), a written reflection on
how studying culture will benefit them, and a homework assignment that involves
creating a skeletal outline of the components they think are constant to every
culture.
Standard(s): List specific standards by number and description
PDE
7.3.12 The Human Characteristics of Places and Regions
9.2.12 Historical and Cultural Contexts
NCSS
1. Culture: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the
study of culture and cultural diversity.
5. Individuals Groups and Institutions: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of interactions among individuals, groups, and
institutions.
9. Global Connections: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide
for the study of global connections and interdependence
Materials/Equipment/Resources:
-Laptop
-Classroom set of laptops for the students to use
-Projector
-online class wiki account
-www.titanpad.com
-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeEdoIwwTlw&feature=related (animoto
created 1 minute film that shows pictures of a variety of people from different
cultures).
Procedures:
1) Motivational Technique/Opening
I will begin the class with an open dialogue, class discussion. First I will show the
students a map that is color coded and divides the nation into areas that refer to soft
drinks as coke, pop, soda, etc. :
The students will share their thoughts on why they think this is, or if there are other
examples they can think of similar to this. Then I will ask them what other cultural
differences they notice in their lives. What do you see on a school level, what are
characteristics of our school culture? What are characteristics of our local culture?
What are characteristics of our national culture? After going through a few minutes
of this class discussion, I will then ask the students to define culture. After they’ve
thought about it themselves for a minute, the students will break into small groups
to generate a group definition of culture. We will have an open classroom dialogue
as all of the groups share their definitions and we will coalesce them into a single
class definition of culture.
2) Development of Lesson
1. After we have developed a class definition of culture, we need to explore a little
bit more. I need to ascertain what students already know about culture and
what they would like to know. The students will log on to their computers and
go to the titan pad website where I will have two titles: I know, and I’d like to
Know. The students will have a few minutes to list their responses under each
heading. After all of the students have weighed in, I will have their responses on
the projector at the front of the room so we can review them together. I will ask
the students if any of the statements stand out to them and we will discuss the
responses that intrigued the most students. I will remind students to keep this
information in mind as we progress through the unit so that we can incorporate
not just the material but also what they would like to know because that
certainly has value.
2. Keeping in mind the activity the class just completed on titan pad, students will
have an opportunity to explore some of those thoughts. Students will break into
small groups of 3-4. I will assign each group a country or territory from the
following list:
-Egypt, Russia, Italy, Nunavut, South Africa, Chile, Brazil, or Ireland.
The students will then have time to use the classroom resources to find a quick
overview of some cultural hallmarks of that particular country. They should be
looking into things like national holidays, prominent religions, race and
ethnicity of the population, political structure, unique characteristics and fun
facts about the people, their traditions and their lives. For example I will share
with the students a quick overview of the culture of India: regional identity and
native tongue hold stronger affiliations than a national culture, the caste system
is prominent in social organization, the Hindu religion has a dominant presence,
rice is a staple food, India is the largest democracy in the world, arranged
marriages are extremely common, etc. This information will be presented to
them in a neatly organized word document that I will post to their class wiki
account. After I share this the students will be given time to briefly research
their country. They will then put their key facts together in a word document
like the example I showed them and e-mail it to me so that I can post it on the
class wiki as well.
3. How did that exercise fit into our definition of culture? Do we need to change it,
specify, expand, modify in anyway? The class will re-evaluate our definition and
fine tune what we believe culture to be.
4. After the class has had a little experience dabbling in the depth and breadth of
culture by examining the facets of culture in one specific country, we will come
back together as a group. I will then show the students the YouTube clip from
animoto about culture. The clip has wonderful images interspersed with a few
simple questions: What is culture? How are we different? How are we alike?
Where am I from? Why study culture? Is it important to me? After viewing this
clip we will have a class discussion about the questions and how we feel they are
relevant to this unit of study. I will make sure that the students at least address
why it should be important to them. Given our class definition, the mini group
research, and the images in the clip, why would it be important for a person to
understand the concept of culture? Not only understand their own personal
culture but also to understand what culture in general is – why would that
matter? How does it affect them?
3) Closure/Outside Work
To bring class to a close the students will reflect on the information we’ve
gathered and the questions that were just posed to them in the video. As an exit slip
from class the students must write a brief reflection about why this unit is
important, how will it affect them? In order to leave the classroom at the end of the
period this reflection must be written down and handed in. The students will also
have a homework assignment for the next day. They are to draft an outline about
what they think the basic components of all cultures are. What is culture based on,
what kinds of information does that require? Students should keep in mind how
society is organized, who is in charge, what the people do, who the people are, etc.
The outline can be brief, bullet points, but it must clearly delineate what the student
thinks the important sub-topics of culture are, what components create culture?
This will be due the next class period.
Adaptations:
For students who need adaptations and have difficulty with the assignment, I
will employ the use of scaffolding. I will place those students in a group rather than
letting them pick their own. I will chose groups that I know will include the student
and foster learning rather than leaving that student behind. I will also give them a
specific topic to research rather than allowing them to struggle with the open wide
array of options on the internet. For example, that student will be in charge of
finding out the national religion, how many people are practicing in that country,
and a fun fact about food or entertainment in that country. By giving this student a
group he/she can build with and a specific task to work on, perhaps they won’t feel
so overwhelmed by the task.
(Conclusion) What do you expect will happen this period in reference to student
learning? What should the students gain from your lesson this period?
I expect that this class will expand their definition of culture. They will
understand that culture is a broad concept that reaches far beyond what they see on
MTV, how people dress, or even what language people speak. They will come to
discover the various components of culture as they gain knowledge about a specific
country’s culture. As they shape and change their working definition of culture the
students will learn to drop their preconceived notions and realize that analyzing
culture from an educational perspective is much different than simply experiencing
culture in their daily lives. The students should also have a clearer idea of what the
unit will entail as they draft what they think the components of culture are. This will
give the students a loose road map to where we will be headed with culture in the
next 2 weeks.
York College of Pennsylvania
Department of Education
Lesson Plan Format
Name Brandi Kohne_______
Date Due___9-22-10____
Lesson Plan #__2__
Class/Subject:___Sociology______
Period/Time __40 minutes_____
Behavioral Objectives:
-Students will be able to define norms and explain them in relation to their daily life
by giving examples of norms they see each day.
-Through a series of role-play activities, students will demonstrate their ability to
decipher between folkway, mores and laws.
-Students will be able to identify folkways, mores and laws that enhance norms in
American culture.
Assessment: List and briefly explain any assessments and goals
The goal of this lesson is for students to understand the types of things that
define and structure culture – what is considered ‘normal’ for that culture. The
students will be able to define ‘norms’ and they will be able to directly connect the
term to their daily life by linking it with examples of norms they see day to day. The
students will also be able to differentiate between folkways, mores and laws. They
will recognize that these three are similar in how they regulate and reinforce
cultural norms, but that they are on a spectrum that varies in intensity from folkway
being the least serious and laws being very serious. In order to ensure that the
students have developed an understanding of that hierarchy, I will assess them
through a class discussion in which students will write down a social norm and the
class will have to defend whether they believe it’s a folkway, more or law.
Standard(s): List specific standards by number and description
PDE
9.2.12 Historical and Cultural Contexts
9.3.12 Arts and Humanities: Critical response
NCSS
1. Culture: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the
study of culture and cultural diversity.
5. Individuals Groups and Institutions: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of interactions among individuals, groups, and
institutions.
Materials/Equipment/Resources:
-Laptop
-Projector
Procedures:
1) Motivational Technique/Opening
I will begin class a little unconventionally to get the students attention. I will
either come in dressed super casually in sweatpants and gym clothes, or
super formally in a formal dress or gown. I will not address my attire but
simply go on beginning class casually as I normally would. I am assuming the
ridiculous attire would elicit a response from at least one student, or some
stares and laughter. I will ask the students what is amusing or what is
bothering them – finally the issue of my attire will surface. I will ask them:
Why is this bothering you? It’s just a dress, I wanted to look nice, or it’s just
sweatpants I don’t feel well. Why can’t I wear this to teach in? Then I will
direct the conversation with other questions: how does our culture dictate
what acceptable behavior is? In what ways does society control that? How
did you understand that if I came in to class and teach in this outfit that it
would be unacceptable to most of society? I will then write three words on
the board: folkways, mores, and laws.
2) Development of Lesson
1. In order to be able to understand folkways, mores and laws the students must
first understand what a norm is. I will ask the class for several examples of
‘normal’ behavior in the school. For example, if the seniors always sit in a certain
section at the pep rallies, or something as simple as using a utensils to eat
certain foods in the cafeteria. I will explain that norms specify acceptable
behavior patterns for the environment. They aren’t always the same
everywhere, for example if our school sits at pep rallies divided by grade level,
that may not be the case at York City or Dallastown.
2. I will then address the three terms on the board and ask volunteers to define
any. I am assuming at least one will be able to attempt to define law. To define
folkway and more I would draw a spectrum with three marks on it and place
law very far to the right. Laws are clearly the most severe, so we can only go
down the spectrum from there. If everyone is stumped, I will reference my
attire. Was the norm I violated serious or weak? Would I go to jail for that?
Would I receive any serious punishment for it, or just some strange looks? I will
then tell them that is was a folkway – a weak norm that is only mildly enforced
by society. Where would you place that on the spectrum? What can you infer
about mores then? After a little conjecture and class discussion, I will define
mores as strong and important norms of a society. Violation of mores will evoke
severe punishment.
3. In order to test for understanding, I will show a series of clips from TV shows
where a folkway, more or law has been violated. For a law I can clearly choose a
clip from any COPS or Law and Order episode (classroom appropriate clip). For
a folkway and mores I could choose a clip from Friends or Modern Family – any
sitcom really, as a lot of their punch lines are derived from such violations. For
example, there is an episode of Friends where Rachel has a job interview and
mistakes her would-be boss for moving in for a kiss, when really he was just
reaching to open the door behind her. She kisses him on the cheek and the
situation becomes incredibly awkward. Did Rachel violate a folkway, more, or
law by kissing her boss in an interview? Etc. These clips would be easy to come
by and make class appropriate. After each clip I will stop and randomly ask a
student folkway, mores, or law? What norm was violated? By asking these
questions, I should be able to ascertain if the class as a whole understands all
four terms.
3) Closure/Outside Work
1. To bring class to a close the students will reflect on the information we have
discussed. I will end the class by having everyone count off by 3’s. Each group
will be assigned folkways, mores, or laws. The students will have to write down
an example of their assigned term on a note card as well as an f, m, or l to
indicate the answer and hand them in. I will shuffle the cards, and then go down
the rows, and read the card and the student will be responsible for saying
whether they believe the answer to be folkway, more or law. After we have
completed this task I will assign their homework. The students are to write a
paragraph explaining how the concept of norms, folkways, mores, and laws
would be critical to culture. In what ways are these important to a culture group
or to what extent do you think they can be disregarded? They should have this
prepared for class tomorrow because they will be incorporated in tomorrow’s
discussion.
(Conclusion) What do you expect will happen this period in reference to student
learning? What should the students gain from your lesson this period?
I expect this class will add some structure to the definition and concept of
culture that we discussed yesterday. The students will be able to connect something
specific about cultural structure to their daily lives, the shows they watch, and the
interactions they see on a daily basis. I hope by my unconventional introduction that
they will see how that they already know what norms are, they have already
internalized that aspect of culture – it is simply a matter of recognizing it. I hope that
by drawing connections to the shows they watch and the things they do that they
will solidify a definition of norm, folkway, more and law. They will understand that
these are terms on a spectrum, and that they relate to the topic of culture because
they reinforce the culture’s accepted behavior.
York College of Pennsylvania
Department of Education
Lesson Plan Format
Name Brandi Kohne_______
Date Due___9-23-10____
Lesson Plan #__3__
Class/Subject:___Sociology______
Period/Time __40 minutes_____
Behavioral Objectives:
-Students will be able to define sanction, sub culture, counter culture and deviance.
-After class discussion and role play, students will be able to gauge the degree and
type of sanction that would follow the violation of a folkway, more, or law.
-Students will discuss attitudes toward different subcultures and how they perceive
cultures that they are not a part of
-Students will be able to identify types of sub culture in their own school and local
environment.
Assessment: List and briefly explain any assessments and goals
The goal of this lesson is for students to understand that culture extends far
beyond the norms we discussed yesterday. Yes, there are norms that dictate
acceptable cultural behavior; however, there are violations of those norms every
day. They will be able to gauge the severity of a sanction by placing it on the scale
we used yesterday illustrating the severity that society enforces folkways, mores
and laws. The students will be able to sub divide culture into smaller, more
manageable groups that they encounter every day: sub and counter culture. They
will first be able to do this on a school and local level so that they can relate it to
their everyday life, however, they will also be able to apply the terms in a national
context as well. They will recognize examples of sub and counter culture in
American culture and be able to differentiate between the two terms. In order to
assess them I will use discussion, spot checking, and the creation of a graphic
organizer to establish the role of counter and subcultures in their personal life.
Standard(s): List specific standards by number and description
PDE
8.3.12 United States History
9.2.12 Historical and Cultural Contexts
9.3.12 Arts and Humanities: Critical response
NCSS
1. Culture: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the
study of culture and cultural diversity.
5. Individuals Groups and Institutions: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of interactions among individuals, groups, and
institutions.
4. Individual Development and Identity: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of individual development and identity
Materials/Equipment/Resources:
-Laptop
-Projector
-Clip of Mean Girls film
Procedures:
2) Motivational Technique/Opening
I will open the class by asking students to recall how I introduced class
yesterday. Now that they know what norms, folkways, mores, and laws are
it’s time to take a look into what happens when those things are violated.
What kind of repercussions did they think should’ve happened for wearing
that attire yesterday? What repercussions should I have gotten from
students, my colleagues, and my boss? What if I wore a fancy dress to
McDonalds, how would the patrons react? What kind of repercussions would
there be if I wore sweatpants to a five star restaurant? I will have a student
come up to the board and draft a list of repercussions that the class
generates. When we have finished, I will go up to the board and write
‘sanctions’ at the top of the list. I will explain to the students that they have
just defined sanctions, and more specifically sanctions that would come as a
result of violating a folkway.
2) Development of Lesson
1. I will ask students to get out their notes from yesterday as I draw the same
spectrum I drew on the board the day before. I will ask a student to come up place
folkways, mores, and laws in the correct place on the spectrum. Then I will explain
that just as there are degrees of severity that we enforce norms with, there are
degrees of severity that we punish their violation with. I will ask a random student
to tell me what deviate means. Once one of the students can define that deviate
means to stray from, be marginally different than, etc. we can discuss how deviation
from norms would elicit sanctions from society.
2. To build on the exercise we did in class yesterday, I will pull out the note cards
they created with folkways, mores and laws. I will randomly select a few, ensuring
that there is at least one example of each, and ask the class to come up with an
acceptable sanction for deviation from that norm considering whether it is a
folkway, more or law. Acceptable sanctions for folkways are generally slight social
punishments like odd looks, laughter, isolation, etc. whereas the sanctions for folk
mores and laws are stricter and more serious. Once students have demonstrated a
grasp of appropriate sanctions, we will move on to how culture is sub divided.
3. I will build on their knowledge of sanctions and ask them if they think sanctions
are the same for everyone and every norm. For example, if a young man their age
was wearing his pants sagged below his boxers, would that elicit a sanction from
everyone? Or would his peers be more accepting of his behavior than say an
employer or his grandmother? These differences exist because culture is not a
blanket term, but it is sub divided into different groups. The two types of sub
divisions we will discuss include subcultures and counter cultures.
4. I will show a brief, 2 minute clip from the film Mean Girls. It’s the lunchroom
scene where Cady’s new friends are giving her a map of the cafeteria and showing
her where everyone sits. After the clip I will explain that the cliques illustrated in
this clip could be examples of subculture at the school level. On a national scale,
however, teenagers are considered their own subculture. There are levels of
subculture and you can a part of many, not just one. For example, what subcultures
is Cady part of? The students will get together with a partner and briefly discuss
what subcultures either Cady or they see themselves as being a part of – they should
think on a local and national scale. After this brief discussion, I will ask if anyone
thinks they can define counter culture. Infer from the word counter – what could it
possibly mean? We will arrive at the definition of counter culture and I will provide
them with a few examples: Aryan Nation, Dead Heads, Vegans, PETA, Amish, Goths,
etc. I will then ask the students to get into their pairs again and discuss what other
countercultures they have seen in school, the news, or on TV.
3) Closure/Outside Work
2. To end class I will ask each student to get out a piece of paper and draw a large
circle. Inside that circle, they are to include the different sub cultures they think
they belong to. Outside of the circle they should write any counter cultures they
are a part of or any behavior they exhibit that would constitute deviation. I will
not collect this because it is a little personal, but I will spot check to be sure that
students are doing it. They should finish this graphic organizer for homework.
Adaptations: For students that are struggling with identifying and defining the
vocabulary words in the group work and class discussions, I will have a worksheet
for them. The worksheet will define the vocabulary words at the top and provide an
example of each. Then it will have a section that lists different kinds of counter and
subcultures, and they will have to write S or C next to each. They may work in pairs
on this segment, and they will check each other’s answers. Then I will give them a
graphic organizer that accompanies the Mean Girl’s clip so they can have a tangible
visual in their hand rather than trying to keep up with the rapid film segment. It will
also serve as a study guide and reminder of the kinds of subcultures they can see in
school. They will be able to work in pairs to get started on the graphic organizer for
homework and at this time, I will go over the original worksheet with them to
ensure they have the correct answers.
(Conclusion) What do you expect will happen this period in reference to student
learning? What should the students gain from your lesson this period?
In this lesson, the students will be able to define deviate, sanction, counter
culture and subculture. They will be able to make connections between yesterday’s
lessons about the rules society imposes upon itself and how society regulates the
implementation of those folkways, mores, and laws. They will understand that just
because norms exist does not mean they typify the entire culture, people deviate all
the time. They will also come to a better understanding of how they personally fit
into culture with the idea of subculture and counter culture. They will be able to
personally relate to the material because the initial examples provided will be about
their local and school environment. Once they understand these terms on a
personal, school, and local level then they will be able to make connections to these
terms on a larger, national scale as well.
York College of Pennsylvania
Department of Education
Lesson Plan Format
Name Brandi Kohne_______
Date Due___9-23-10____
Lesson Plan #__4__
Class/Subject:___Sociology______
Period/Time __40 minutes_____
Behavioral Objectives:
-During a role-play experience, students will be able to describe the caste system
and assess how it affects the lives of those who live in caste system societies.
-Students will be able to differentiate between caste and class systems by
identifying the major characterizations of each system.
-Students will be able to judge which system structures society in a more beneficial
way and they will be able to support their judgment with facts and their own
personal opinion.
-Students will be able to debate the merits of each system and propose a new “classcaste” system, which includes the positive aspects of each, or generates something
new entirely.
Assessment: List and briefly explain any assessments and goals
The goal of this lesson is for students to experience how different societal
structures will impact that society. A great deal of understanding culture is to
understand how the people who live in that culture experience it. If you are an
untouchable your perception of culture and norms, everything we have discussed in
this unit prior to this lesson, is vastly different than someone who is an elite but yet
lives in that same culture. The students will understand how the structure of society
is an integral part of that society’s culture. They will be able to draw parallels
between their own school social climate, the American class system, and the caste
system in India. After discussions, role-play, and debates they will be able to
evaluate the importance of social structure in culture. In order to assess their
understanding the students will have to get into groups and create a new class/caste
system that they would propose implementing if they were given a chance to remodel society. If the students are able to propose a new system that includes the
best parts of class/caste societies and eliminates the negative, or even if they
discover that there would never be an ideal solution – it will demonstrate an
understanding of the terms and concepts.
Standard(s): List specific standards by number and description
PDE
8.3.12 United States History
8.4.12 World History
9.2.12 Historical and Cultural Contexts
9.3.12 Arts and Humanities: Critical response
NCSS
1. Culture: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the
study of culture and cultural diversity.
5. Individuals Groups and Institutions: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of interactions among individuals, groups, and
institutions.
4. Individual Development and Identity: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of individual development and identity
9. Global Connections: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide
for the study of global connections and interdependence
Materials/Equipment/Resources:
-Laptop
-Projector
-Class set of laptops for the students – at least 5.
Procedures:
Motivational Technique/Opening
Before class starts, I will begin by moving the room around a little bit. I will have the
desks split up into five different tables or groupings. Each table will have a colored
index card on it. When the students walk into the classroom, I will meet them at the
door and give them a colored index card. There will be instructions on the board
that tell them they are not to talk to anyone that is not sitting at their table. Once the
students have all randomly been assigned to a table, I will announce a task – they
are to build a structure out of the materials I give them. They cannot trade materials
and they cannot talk to anyone that is not at their table. The structure can be
anything architectural, something like a building or a bridge. Each table will have
different materials – the best will have legos and other clear building materials, the
worst will have toothpicks and a few mini marshmallows. The students will be given
a very short period of time – maybe two minutes.
2) Development of Lesson
1. To build on the anticipatory set, each group will share their structure with the
class and tell us whether they had a difficult, easy, or mediocre time with the
task. It will be evident which groups had the hardest times and which had it
easier. Would it have been easier if they could have traded or shared materials?
Would it have been easier even if they could have shared ideas? How did you
feel about the materials you were allotted – was it fair? I will then pull up an
image of pyramid that lists the hierarchy of the Indian caste system. Where do
you think your group would have belonged?
2. As the students are copying the pyramid and information into their notebooks, I
will share some information about the caste system – it is decided from birth,
you are born into a caste and you cannot change that caste, you will die within
that caste. The classification of families into castes was originally based upon
your degree of racial purity – the more pure your blood was, the higher the caste
you were allotted. After this brief lecture, I will have the students remain in their
original groups and discuss the caste system in a group sharing exercise. As a
group, they are to come up with a list: two positive and two negative aspects of
the caste system. Each group has a laptop; they are to make this list in a word
document with all of their names at the top.
3. After each group had a few minutes to complete their list, we will discuss class
systems. I will use the Socratic Method: what is class? Is there a hierarchy? How
many tiers exist? Are there sub-levels? What would be an example of each class?
I will write upper, middle, lower and on the board. I will ask each group to come
up with a celebrity or stereotype of person that would occupy each level in the
American class system and one person will come up to the board and write their
groups answers. We will read the board together as a class and discuss to see if
we all agree with the answers up there. I will ask them a few more questions:
how did each of these people find themselves in that class? Is it written on their
birth certificate? Did they have to be an actor, lawyer, high school dropout, etc?
When we have to come to the consensus that classes are not assigned at birth
but rather can be climbed up or fallen down based on individual life choices or
circumstances – not assigned at birth. The students will then pull up the
document they started at the beginning of class and they will list two positive
and two negative aspects of class structure as well.
4. In order to assess student understanding of the concepts, they are to remain in
their groups and generate a new class structure. Would it be possible to take the
best aspects of caste and class, and eliminate the worst, to create a new social
order? If you find that you cannot eliminate certain negative aspects, why is
that? What would your ideal social structure be? The students are to work
together in their groups and compose their information in a document. They will
have the rest of the period to do this, and e-mail their conclusions to me. The
answers will be shared on the class wiki.
3) Closure/Outside Work
To end class I will ask each student to write a brief reflection on the
anticipatory set activity – how did you feel when you were assigned to that
group? How did you feel about the materials? How did you feel during the
process? This can be a brief paragraph, 3-5 sentences that they will hand in to
me before leaving the class. For homework, the students are to read an article,
Social Immobility: Climbing The Economic Ladder Is Harder In The U.S.
Than In Most European Countries, to prepare for tomorrow’s class.
Adaptations: In order to differentiate instruction, I will have another option for
students who are struggling and cannot keep up with the group work. I will provide
them with the pyramid that illustrates the caste system as well as a chart that
represents the class system. They will then be given an additional worksheet that
guides them to the same conclusion the other students will reach through group
work, but is more structured and tailored to their level. It will have statements
about the class and caste system, such as “Born into” or “Opportunity for class
improvement.” The student will have to write whether they like or dislike this
attribute and a sentence saying why. After they have completed this for each
statement they will then assimilate those sentences into two paragraphs, one saying
what they liked and why and the other saying what they disliked and why. This will
enable them to determine how they would like to structure a new society. They will
then generate a graphic organizer that illustrates how their societal hierarchy would
function.
(Conclusion) What do you expect will happen this period in reference to student
learning? What should the students gain from your lesson this period?
In this lesson, I expect students will understand how the structure of a
society plays an important role in shaping culture itself, but also in shaping how
individuals experience that culture. They will be able to create graphic organizers
that represent the class and caste system and be able to differentiate between the
two. They will develop an opinion about these social structures and determine
which aspects they like and dislike of each. After becoming informed and
opinionated about the systems, they will be able to synthesize the information and
propose a new societal structure. Even if they cannot find a better solution, then
they will at least understand why society operates the way it does. There will always
be a spectrum, upper and lower class, different castes, it is how society treats those
groups and forms those groups that is a key component of their culture.
York College of Pennsylvania
Department of Education
Lesson Plan Format
Name Brandi Kohne_______
Date Due___9-23-10____
Lesson Plan #__5__
Class/Subject:___Sociology______
Period/Time __40 minutes_____
Behavioral Objectives:
-Students will be able to identify different types of social stratification and define
social mobility.
-Students will be able to recognize how social stratification is organized and list the
factors it can be based on.
-Students will be able to predict social mobility patterns based on social and
economic factors.
-Students will be able to compare and contrast social mobility in the class vs. caste
system.
Assessment: List and briefly explain any assessments and goals
The goal of this lesson is for students to build on the information presented
yesterday. They will take the knowledge of class vs. caste system and expand on it
by being able to analyze social stratification and social mobility. They will assess the
role various social and economic factors have on social stratification and social
mobility, and they will be able to analyze how this is different for both the caste and
class systems. The students will engage in a number of activities including an
internet game, ranking exercise, group work and class discussion. I will assess their
understanding of the material through the class discussion as well as a worksheet
that they will complete and hand in at the end of class for a grade.
Standard(s): List specific standards by number and description
PDE
8.3.12 United States History
8.4.12 World History
9.2.12 Historical and Cultural Contexts
9.3.12 Arts and Humanities: Critical response
NCSS
1. Culture: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the
study of culture and cultural diversity.
5. Individuals Groups and Institutions: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of interactions among individuals, groups, and
institutions.
4. Individual Development and Identity: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of individual development and identity
9. Global Connections: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide
for the study of global connections and interdependence
Materials/Equipment/Resources:
-Laptop
-Projector
-Class set of laptops for the students.
-Titan pad website
Procedures:
Motivational Technique/Opening
To open class, the students will each retrieve a laptop and log into a website that I
will have written on the board, http://www.pbs.org/peoplelikeus/games/. They
will see three options on the screen and choose the option for “Chintz or Shag?” The
students will read the instructions and have a few minutes to complete the game.
The game will place them in a category based on their choices: Nouveau Rich, Old
Money, Middle Class, Working Class, etc. We will have a show of hands for who fell
into what class category. I will ask the students who would like to change their class
after seeing the results. I will ask those students how – how would one change their
current class status? Would it be different in a Caste system? Would you even be
able to in a Caste system? What vocabulary term do you think would describe how
one would change their current class status? Once we have arrived at the term social
mobility – I will write the terms Social Stratification and Social Mobility on the
board.
2) Development of Lesson
1. There are two types of social mobility: upward mobility and downward
mobility. Downward mobility can be further classified into short-range
downward mobility. I will define these at the board after several students have
attempted at guessing. The students will refer to their handouts from yesterday
– do you think social mobility is possible in a caste system? If there is social
mobility is it upward, downward, both or none at all. If there is no opportunity
for social mobility, why is that? Once we have established that social mobility is
not an option in a caste system because you are born into your class based on
race or family status, we will delve into the issue of social mobility in a class
system.
2. Students are to get into pairs so they can have a pair-share discussion. I will
pose a question: what social or economic factors affect the class one finds
oneself in? The pair is to draft a list on Titan pad and when they have had
several minutes to think about it, I will pull the Titan pad screen up on the
projector and the class will pick out the top four factors. After we have made our
best conjecture at what the most significant contributing factors are, I will pull
up a PowerPoint slide listing the top four that we will focus on: income, wealth,
education, occupation. The PowerPoint slide will also have a working definition
of each of these terms with a brief, one or two sentence explanation of how
these terms fit into our unit. In order to understand the concept of prestige, a
term that is often associated with an occupation making it a higher or lower
class status regardless of income and transcending class boundaries, the
students will participate in a ranking exercise. I will give each pair a list of 16
occupations: accountant, cab driver, carpenter, classical musician, engineer,
physician, garbage collector, journalist, police officer, real estate agent,
registered nurse, secretary, shoe shiner, social worker, sociologist and waiter.
They will rank these in order of most prestigious to least prestigious. I will post
the answers on the board when they have had a couple of minutes to work on
this.
3. In order to understand social mobility, we must first understand the social
classes that exist in American culture: upper class, middle class, upper middle
class, lower middle class, working class, lower class and the underclass. The
students will count off by seven’s and each will be assigned a social class to
investigate. I will have a Google document prepared listing each of the seven
classes and the students will work together using their book and any
supplemental internet materials they feel the desire to use to explain the
characteristics of their particular class. The students will have several minutes
to work on this. When it is finished, I will post it to the class wiki so that
students can have access to the chart.
4. Once this chart has been established students will remain in their group and
make a list of things one could do to improve one’s social class. They should
consider the four important factors that exist for determining class: wealth,
income, occupation and education. They are to come up with at least two
suggestions for improving each of the four categories.
3) Closure/Outside Work
To end class I will give each student a worksheet. On the worksheet will be
three brief scenarios that will include an individual’s name, gender, occupation,
income, education level, etc. From this scenario the students will have to
ascertain information about the individual’s placement on the social class scale
as well as infer information about their potential for social mobility. They will
respond below each paragraph with answers to the following: the individual’s
current social class, how the individual could attempt upward mobility, what
specific improvements could this individual realistically make to improve their
social class, or what potential misfortune could befall them that would result in
downward mobility. This worksheet will be their exit ticket from class, and for
homework they are to design their own scenario and post it on the class wiki.
The students will choose one of the other scenario’s to respond to attempt to
answer – it is in their best interest to complete this assignment as one of the
scenario’s may be selected to include in the unit test or as extra credit.
(Conclusion) What do you expect will happen this period in reference to student
learning? What should the students gain from your lesson this period?
I expect that students will be able to expand on their knowledge of social
caste and class systems by elaborating on the degree of social stratification in each,
and the opportunity for social mobility that each system presents. The students will
be able to work effectively in groups in order to investigate the components of a
particular social class. They will be able to analyze those components and generate a
list of characteristics that would affect social class. They will be able to group those
characteristics under the four headings discussed: wealth, income, occupation and
education. They will be able to analyze scenarios and predict the social mobility
opportunities for that individual based on those aforementioned headings and
characteristics. The students should gain a better-rounded view of social
stratification. The information will build on what we did last lesson, but it will
elaborate on the specifics of how a society groups its people, based on what criteria,
and the opportunity those people have to change their lot in life based on various
social and economic factors. They will be able to make connections to previous
material and use old and new vocabulary words to describe a culture’s social
structure.
York College of Pennsylvania
Department of Education
Lesson Plan Format
Name Brandi Kohne_______
Date Due___9-23-10____
Lesson Plan #__6__
Class/Subject:___Sociology______
Period/Time __40 minutes_____
Behavioral Objectives:
-Students will be able to differentiate between social group, social aggregate and
social category by providing examples of each term’s role in their personal lives.
-Students will be able to distinguish between in-groups and out-groups by
identifying examples of each in popular culture.
-Students will be able to define primary, secondary, and reference group.
-Students will be able to identify primary, secondary and reference groups in their
own lives by analyzing the people they interact with on a daily basis and
categorizing them into a group based on the nature of their relationship.
-Students will be able to create a chart or graphic organizer of all of the groups they
belong to: in-groups, primary groups, secondary groups, and reference groups, as
well as identifying out-groups they interact with regularly.
Assessment: List and briefly explain any assessments and goals
The goal of this lesson is for students to dissect class structure and social
stratification on a smaller scale. This will be a micro-level analysis of how culture
organizes its people as opposed to the macro-level analysis of the classification of
people within society at the class or caste level. This will bring the focus down to a
personal level, its information students can connect to because it directly correlates
with their friendships and personal lives. The students will be able to make
connections between the terms and the tangible social situations they currently find
themselves in. They will be able to assimilate this information into a single graphic
representation of their own social lives. In order to assess student learning I will
evaluate their graphic organizers which will represent their understanding of
definitions, the inter-relatedness of the terms and how the words apply to real life
relationships.
Standard(s): List specific standards by number and description
PDE
9.2.12 Historical and Cultural Contexts
9.3.12 Arts and Humanities: Critical response
NCSS
1. Culture: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the
study of culture and cultural diversity.
5. Individuals Groups and Institutions: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of interactions among individuals, groups, and
institutions.
4. Individual Development and Identity: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of individual development and identity
Materials/Equipment/Resources:
-Laptop
-Projector
-Class set of laptops
Procedures:
Motivational Technique/Opening
To open the class, I will begin by having a slide that illustrates two pictures up on
the projector. One will be an image of a group of people randomly gathered at a bus
stop, and one of the students attending an assembly, school dance, or last year’s
graduation. Under each will be a phrase. The line under the bus stop will read “9:12
am 10-20-09, waiting for the bus,” and the other will read “ ‘current school district’
class of 2011.” I will ask the students to brainstorm a list of characteristics of each
photo. They should consider the group, how well would they know one another? Is
there something they all have in common? Do they have many or few things in
common, if any? They should consider the level of interaction amongst the people.
Once they have listed several characteristics, they are to log onto
http://www.sparknotes.com/sociology/social-groups-andorganizations/section1.rhtml, which will be a Sparknotes page on the information
about social groups, social aggregates and social categories. The students will read
the site page, which defines social group, social aggregate and social category with
examples of each. They are then to decide which picture represents which term. One
term will not be matched with a picture, the students are to come up with an
original example of this term and pull up a picture online. They should be prepared
to share their results with the class.
2) Development of Lesson
1. I will ask a few students to share their results with the class. While the students
were doing their opening online activity, I will have written the three terms on
the board in a chart style. The students will engage in a think-pair-share
discussion about the terms. For each term (social group, social aggregate, social
category) they are to determine the strength of the group’s connection, how
frequently the group interacts, and what types of things the group members
may have in common. They will be given a few minutes to think about this on
their own, then they will collaborate up and share their answers. I will circulate
around the room and listen to the discussions to ensure that the students are on
track with the information. After the students have had a few minutes to share
their conclusions and ideas, I will ask if anyone has any questions. Next, the
students will get out a piece of paper and brainstorm at least three examples of
social groups, social aggregates, and social categories that they belong to
personally.
2. We will then examine in-groups and out-groups. (Assuming I was teaching in
Pittsburgh) I would ask the students how they would feel about a group of
people walking by them decked out in black and gold. If you were both wearing
Steelers stuff, would you nod or maybe say hi? What if a group of people in
Ravens or Browns jerseys walked by – how would that interaction be different?
It could be the same thing at the school level. I will call on several students that I
know are athletes and I will ask which school is their rival for that sport – how
do they feel about those students when they come in wearing a rival jersey or
rival colors? These are examples of in-groups and out-groups, they create a
feeling loyalty and respect, a ‘we belong’ mentality or it’s a group one feels
antagonism for ‘those people’ rather than us. I will ask the students to break up
into small groups of three. In their groups they are to draft a document in Google
docs with examples of in-groups and out-groups. To get them started I will have
a few examples: Hitler considered the Aryan race his in-group and the Jews and
everyone else to be a serious out-group. Someone who is homophobic might
consider anyone else who is homophobic to be their in-group whereas anyone
who is gay would be an out group. Etc. They should consider examples in their
own school, pop culture, and historically.
3. Once the students have been given several minutes to complete this task they
will e-mail me their documents and I will assimilate their responses into one
document and post it on the class wiki. The next topic we will cover is primary,
secondary and reference groups. The students will remain in their groups of
three. Within that group the students will either be a 1, 2, or 3. The students will
then leave their original groups and get with the other 1’s, 2’s or 3’s. Each group
will be assigned a term: primary group, secondary group, or reference group.
Each group will be given one term. They are to use their book and any other
internet resources to define this term, list the group’s characteristics and
provide two examples. Once the three large groups have had a few minutes to
complete this investigation, the students will return to their original group of
three. They will each be experts on a term and share their information with the
other two members of their group so that they each have the information for all
three terms. To further illustrate this point I will show them clips from popular
TV shows. One example will be a clip from a family, like Full House interacting.
Another could be a snippet of a reality show like Jersey Shore. I will have a few
brief, 30 second – one minute clips of shows that I think will be familiar to
students and they can easily recognize. I will then ask for a show of hands for if
the clip illustrated a primary group or a secondary group. Could this group also
be considered a reference group – for whom? This will enable me to assess their
understanding of the intimacy levels and degree of permanence of primary vs.
secondary groups.
4. The students will then pull out the paper they originally brainstormed the list of
in groups, out groups, social categories, etc that they belong to personally. To
that list they will add primary groups, secondary groups, and reference groups
that they belong to personally, at least two examples of each term. After the
students have been given a few minutes to write I will ask them to get out of
their seats. What type of reference group influences you most? I will designate
three sides of the room: the front will be the media, the right will be family, and
the left will be peers. I will call out a category that students could be influenced
by: how to dress, where to shop, what places to eat, what movies to see, what
sports team to support, what music to listen to, etc. After each question the
students will move to the side of the room that represents the reference group
they feel most strongly influences their decisions on that matter. I will ask a
representative from each side to share why they feel that. I will share one
example with the class: I would say my peers have the strongest effect on where
I go out to eat because where we go always depends what the majority of the
group is in the mood for. However, it could be argued that the media is the
greatest influence because someone might be in the mood for burgers after they
see a Red Robin commercial. It could also be said that family is the biggest
influence because when my family goes out my Dad always has final say on
where we go out. We will do this for several questions so that students have a
chance to analyze the influence reference groups personally have on them even
if they hadn’t considered it prior to this lesson.
3) Closure/Outside Work
To end class, I will ask students to take the list of groups they’ve been
brainstorming and adding to since the beginning of class. They will begin to
assimilate these groups into some sort of graphic organizer that would literally
map out their social life. They should be creative – use colorful markers,
different shapes, pictures, etc – whatever they want. They can create it
electronically or by hand. Their homework assignment will be to complete this
graphic organizer.
(Conclusion) What do you expect will happen this period in reference to student
learning? What should the students gain from your lesson this period?
In this lesson I expect that students will be able to make connections
between the way culture and societies group and organize people, and the groups in
their own lives. They will recognize that permanence and intimacy level of a group
influences it’s category, as well as the frequency you see that group and how deep
the connection is. . Through class exercises they will also be able to apply these
terms to popular culture references – this will require that they analyze the dynamic
of the group presented by the popular culture and determine which definition fits
the scene best. The students will also be able to connect these groups to their
personal lives by constructing a graphic organizer that includes not only the terms,
but real life examples of how those terms are prevalent in their personal life. By
organizing these terms in relation to their life students will develop a practical
understanding of the definition and synthesis the information into one succinct
document.
York College of Pennsylvania
Department of Education
Lesson Plan Format
Name Brandi Kohne_______
Date Due___9-23-10____
Lesson Plan #__7__
Class/Subject:___Sociology______
Period/Time __40 minutes_____
Behavioral Objectives:
-Students will be able to define social role, role conflict, and role strain.
-Students will be able to identify roles in their school setting, personal lives, and pop
culture.
-Students will be able to analyze a case study about women’s roles and predict the
results based on their knowledge of roles.
-Students will engage in a fishbowl debate about gender roles and in doing so will be
able to analyze and assess pervading gender roles in American culture.
Assessment: List and briefly explain any assessments and goals
The goal of this lesson is for students to assess the role of the individual in
culture. Cultures set certain standards for people and professions to abide by and
people must fulfill that expected role. The students will engage in a number of
thought provoking activities that challenge their understanding of societal roles.
They will have to predict the effects multiple roles would have on a woman in our
society as well as decide how they feel about generic gender roles in America. The
goal is that students will understand their place within society – they will recognize
the kinds of roles they are or will be expected to fulfill. They will be able to make
connections to the material and their own lives, as well as discover their own
opinions on volatile topics like gender roles. As a means of assessment, I will survey
student participation in the fishbowl debate – if they try to contribute an intelligent
comment they will receive full credit, half credit for a tepid response, and they will
not receive any credit if they do not participate.
Standard(s): List specific standards by number and description
PDE
9.2.12 Historical and Cultural Contexts
9.3.12 Arts and Humanities: Critical response
NCSS
1. Culture: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the
study of culture and cultural diversity.
5. Individuals Groups and Institutions: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of interactions among individuals, groups, and
institutions.
4. Individual Development and Identity: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of individual development and identity
Materials/Equipment/Resources:
-Laptop
-Projector
-Class set of laptops
-Access to a case study via the following website
http://people.umass.edu/monaco/pietromonaco_manis_frohardtlane1986.pdf
-Two YouTube videos: Children on Gender Roles and Gender Roles in Media.
Procedures:
Motivational Technique/Opening
In order to open the class I will have a couple of extra props in the room: one of the
computerized babies from the child development course, a recipe card for chocolate
chip cookies, a question about my car, and a question about either about the score of
the last football game or the match up for the next game. I will come into class and
the baby will be crying. I will ask the class what I should try to get the doll to stop –
what would probably work? Then I will explain that I had a tough evening – I
messed up a batch of cookies for my niece’s bake sale and my car was not working
correctly. I would ask if anyone is particularly good at baking and could maybe tell
me what I left out of the recipe when I wrote it on the index card. Then I will ask if
anyone knows what I should try to get the problem fixed with my car. As the
students answer my questions I will thank them and tell them we can finally move
on – but oh wait, what was the score of the last Steelers game and who do they play
on Sunday? I hope that it will turn out that girls answered my questions about the
cookies and the baby and boys answered my questions about the car and the sports
game. If not, hopefully at least one girl answered the ‘girly’ questions and one boy
answered the ‘boyish’ questions. If it does not turn out that way we can discuss why
they did not conform to traditional gender roles, however, more than likely we can
discuss why they did. I will tell the class that this was a staged conversation: why did
girls answer my questions about the baby and the cookies, and why did boys answer
my questions about the car and sports? What do you think this says about American
culture? Why would girls be more likely to answer those questions than boys, and
vice a versa? We will come at the conclusion that that is what we are used to – that
these are expectations of gender – gender roles.
2) Development of Lesson
1. In order to be able to discuss roles, we must be able to define roles. The students
will be given a few minutes to read the brief section in the chapter on roles –
they will see the definitions for role, role strain, and role conflict. After they have
had a few minutes, no more than five, to look over the material, I will give the
students a worksheet. The worksheet will be a sample timeline that describes an
individual’s day from going to work, getting the kids from the bus stop, taking
dinner to an elderly neighbor, or coaching a little league team, etc. I will ask the
students to get into pairs and discuss what roles, role strain and role conflict
that individual experienced throughout the day. Once they have discussed it
with their partner they should hook up with another pair and discuss their
findings as a small group to compare their results.
2. After the class has a handle on the definitions and can identify them in a real life
scenario, we will turn to a case study. The students are to log onto their class
wiki where I will have a document posted. The document will be an abbreviated
version of a case study that details how multiple roles affect the life and quality
of life of a woman. I will divide the class into groups of five. They will each
individually read the case study and then predict the results as a group. How the
following areas would be affected by multiple roles: self-esteem, job satisfaction,
satisfaction of marriage or partnership with children, perceptions of life stress
and pleasure. How do you think the women would have responded to each
category, positively or negatively, depending on the number of roles they
occupied. When they have had about 10 minutes to complete this activity I will
bring the class all together again. Then a representative from each group will
share their predictions with the class. After each group has shared their
predictions I will post the actual results on the projector screen. This will enable
students contemplate the effect roles, role strain and role conflict have on the
individual based on the pressure and inability to fulfill all roles completely.
3. After the students have had a chance to view the results and comment if they
should so choose, I will announce to the class that we are going to get specific
with our analysis of roles and we will discuss gender roles in particular. I will
play a short YouTube clip, it’s about two minutes long, that has young children
answering questions about gender roles – indicating what boys or girls wear
and whether they think Barbie or Ken would perform a certain task like taking
care of a baby or going to work. I will pose a question to the class: how did these
children learn these responses? Did someone coach them and give them the
‘right’ answers? Did they learn from watching Mom and Dad? Did they learn
from TV? Did they see examples in the media? How did these very young
children know how to arrive at the answer for questions about gender roles.
4. After this brief class discussion, we will further narrow our study of gender
roles and look at examples of how the media portrays, promotes, or defies
gender roles in its representation. I will play another YouTube clip – it portrays
examples of gender roles in commercials and popular television shows.
3) Closure/Outside Work
To end class, I will have students participate in a fishbowl debate activity. We
will move five desks into the center of the room and I will ask for four
volunteers – the fifth seat will remain open should a different student feel the
need to jump into the debate. Four students will randomly be selected to open
the fishbowl discussion. They are to debate the validity of gender roles in
American society today – what kinds of stereotypes exist, how prevalent are
they, how strongly does society support these gender roles. These are just
examples, the students may bring up role, role conflict and role strain but their
focus is to be on gender roles in society. Every student must participate in the
fishbowl in order to receive participation points for that day. After we have
finished the fishbowl debate/activity, I will assign the homework. For
homework the students are to read the next chapter of their text regarding
social institutions – the students should write that definition in their notebooks
for tomorrow. They are also to include a list of roles they think applies to them
as well as any examples of role conflict or role strain – they must include at least
five.
(Conclusion) What do you expect will happen this period in reference to student
learning? What should the students gain from your lesson this period?
In this lesson I expect that students will be able to understand their place
within the huge context of Culture. Roles will bring their personal world into
connection with the terms we are studying. They will also be able to analyze and
interpret documents and videos in order to arrive at opinions and conclusions about
gender roles. The students will understand how roles fit into the larger context of
society, and they will be able to identify how multiple roles can impact an individual.
Ultimately they will be able to debate and defend their position on the prevalence of
gender roles in American culture.
York College of Pennsylvania
Department of Education
Lesson Plan Format
Name Brandi Kohne_______
Date Due___9-30-10____
Lesson Plan #__8__
Class/Subject:___Sociology______
Period/Time __40 minutes_____
Behavioral Objectives:
-Students will be able to define globalization.
-Students will be able to identify ways in which technology has affected
contemporary culture.
-Students will be able to determine how both national culture and local culture are
affected by globalization.
-Students will be able to analyze the effects of globalization on the individual, social
groups and social classes.
-Students will be able to predict how globalization and technology will continue to
develop and the future impact that holds for contemporary culture.
Assessment: List and briefly explain any assessments and goals
The goal of this lesson is for students to understand how the concept of culture
is changing in today’s world. In the 1900’s social groups were comprised of families
and close neighbors because that was who you associated with and had the
opportunity to communicate with. Today the world is a different place – culture
extends beyond our hometowns and radiates out through our cell phones, e-mails,
social networking websites, and so much more. This is the information that students
find relevant to themselves and to today. Their generation was born into a world
immersed in technology and they will continue to see developments on that front –
it is important that they understand how culture will change, as we become a more
global world. The students will be able to list the five main venues through which
globalization disseminates and they will be able to apply this on a global and
national scale. They will also understand how globalization affects local culture and
impacts nationalism. They will also probe their own thoughts and opinions to
discern how they feel this affects them – what impact does globalization have to
them on a personal level. For assessment, I will have the students engage in a post-it
debate. They will be assigned a different role: CEO of Google, middle class blue collar
worker, American teenager, member of the United Nations, and a producer for MTV.
They will discuss what trends their persona sees in globalization, whether it is
positive or negative, and how they see globalization of culture progressing in the
future.
Standard(s): List specific standards by number and description
PDE
9.2.12 Historical and Cultural Contexts
9.3.12 Arts and Humanities: Critical response
NCSS
1. Culture: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the
study of culture and cultural diversity.
5. Individuals Groups and Institutions: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of interactions among individuals, groups, and
institutions.
4. Individual Development and Identity: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of individual development and identity
9. Global Connections: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide
for the study of global connections and interdependence
Materials/Equipment/Resources:
-Laptop
-Projector
-Class set of Laptops
-Titan pad website.
Procedures:
Motivational Technique/Opening
To start class I will have the desks in the room set up into 5 different tables. On each
table I will place a picture: one of these 5 –
Each of the images is currently a popular TV show: Jersey Shore, Real Housewives of
Atlanta, The Biggest Loser, Man v. Food, and Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Each
of these says something different about American culture – I will ask the students to
discuss the image and determine what it says about American culture. They should
imagine they are teenagers living in a foreign country with no impressions of
Americans – if these show were the only show you have seen about Americans, what
inferences would you make about their culture? (7 minutes).
2) Development of Lesson
1. When the students have finished their group discussions I will ask each group to
elect a speaker who will share with the class the consensus they reached. When
they’ve established their views I will ask them if that’s how they would want to
be perceived. Would they be okay if that show was the standard foreigners had
of American culture? I will then tell them that this is one of the impacts of
globalization, television presents an image of culture that may or may not be
indicative of the actual culture. (5 minutes)
2. Before we engage further, I will ask each student to look at the post it note
under his/her desk, it will read one of five things: CEO of Google, middle class
blue collar worker, teenager of a foreign country, member of the United Nations,
and a producer for MTV. This will be important later in the class and there are to
consider this persona their role for the class period. We will learn about culture
from all sides, but they should particularly note this position, as they will have
to take on that persona later. I will have five titles written on titan pad:
Television, Global Economy, Global Citizens, International Organizations like the
United Nations, Electronic Communications. The students are to remain at the
five tables and I will assign each table one of the headings. They are to use their
book, the internet, each other, and their personal opinions to construct an
argument for why this particular heading would be the lead agent in promoting
a unified, global culture. Would there be a vested interest in your title? What
kinds of people are affected by this? How do they unify world cultures
currently? Do you see potential for this title to grow in importance in the future?
After each group has assembled their case, they will leave their original group
and assemble new groups – one with a member from each of the different
groups. They will share their findings, and their main points will be listed on
Titan pad so they can all see everyone’s notes. I will copy and paste this into a
document to post to their class wiki. (12 minutes).
3. As everyone still has their computers out, I will ask them to log onto this website
http://gaz.sagepub.com/content/63/2-3/187.abstract and read an article that
describes the effect the internet has had on the social culture of Kuwait.
Essentially, young people engage in internet chats and conversations with
members of the opposite sex that their strict culture and gender roles would not
allow otherwise. After the students read this article, the students should post
their answers to the following questions on the titan pad site: How does social
networking affect the individual? What positive and negative affects do you see
to social networking? Does social networking connect people or discourage
group dynamics by limiting the time people physically spend together? After the
students have completed this we will discuss the last question as a class. What
role does technology play in social groups? Is there a positive or negative impact
– or could you argue both? How do you think this could affect the social classes,
are there certain classes more affected by social networking than others? What
about the future of social networking – how would you feel if your employer
demanded to be included in all of your internet social networks? (12 minutes)
3) Closure/Outside Work
To end class, I will have students participate in a post-it debate. Toward the
beginning of class each student was assigned a post-it note with a specific
persona, a specific role to play. I will have the five categories we discussed
earlier posted on the board: television, global economy, global citizens,
international organizations, and electronic communications. The students will
go up to the board and place their sticky note under whichever category they
think holds the most promise for future development. Before they place their
post it note I will tell the students that they should not only embody their
persona, but also to consider the future developments this area could hold in the
coming decades. How do you see technology progressing? How will this impact
the globalization of culture? Once the students place their post it notes the
students will have a chance to debate why their category holds the most
promise in the future. After the debate, the students will have a chance to move
their post-it note to a different category if they were swayed by the debate (12
minutes).
(Conclusion) What do you expect will happen this period in reference to student
learning? What should the students gain from your lesson this period?
I expect that students will be able to define globalization. They will be able to
list and describe the agents of globalization. They will connect overarching themes
of globalization and the improvement of technology to the subsequent impact on
global, national and local culture. They will understand how the media they see
everyday could shape an entire nation’s view of our nation simply on what
American reality television shows they happen to get. They will relate the concept of
social networking, something that most of them are probably very familiar with,
with the idea that it could have serious impacts on social groups. They will evaluate
the impact of technology in depersonalizing group interactions and changing group
dynamics – an integral part of what shapes a culture. The students will predict what
society will look like in the future based on the advances that technology and
globalization could bring, and what subsequent impact that would have on global,
national, or local culture.
York College of Pennsylvania
Department of Education
Lesson Plan Format
Class/Subject:___Sociology______
Name Brandi Kohne_______
Date Due___10-3-10____
Lesson Plan #__9__
Period/Time __40 minutes_____
Behavioral Objectives:
-Students will be able to define cultural diffusion and cultural lag.
-Students will be able to list examples of cultural diffusion and lag on the global,
national, and local level.
-Students will be able to describe mass culture using specific examples from foreign
and American culture.
-Students will be able to describe the role of the media in disseminating mass
culture and either defend or prosecute such means.
Assessment: List and briefly explain any assessments and goals
In this lesson, students will be able to define cultural lag and cultural diffusion.
How culture is packaged, spread, and moved is a critical part to understanding the
broader concept of culture. The goal is for students to understand that culture is not
stagnant or permanent; it is fluid and constantly mixing, evolving. By understanding
how cultural ideas, traits, and even people move and mingle throughout other
cultures is critical to understanding the concept of globalization as well. This will
add to yesterday’s discussion about globalization and technology in culture by
adding the concept of the increased rapidity of cultural diffusion, and the
subsequent effect on cultural lag. Students will also be able to describe mass culture,
or the culture that is presented through the media. They will be able to compare
commercials from the 1950s to today and discuss the role of the media then and
now. This will also tie into yesterday’s discussion of globalization and technology
while at the same time introducing a new aspect to the concept. The students will
gain a greater sense of what American culture means to those who are not
American, and comparatively how our views of other cultures might be skewed
from the presentation of mass media culture. In order to assess students they will
participate in
Standard(s): List specific standards by number and description
PDE
9.2.12 Historical and Cultural Contexts
9.3.12 Arts and Humanities: Critical response
8.3.12 United States History
NCSS
1. Culture: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the
study of culture and cultural diversity.
9. Global Connections: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide
for the study of global connections and interdependence
Materials/Equipment/Resources:
-Laptop
-Projector
-Class set of Laptops
-Access to YouTube videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOoWWqDqT54&feature=related (Food and
Drug PSA) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IwDwmTXaAE (Family Dinner
Etiquette PSA) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN_UqvcynYw (1950’s coca cola
commercial), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK-xB2IBxfo (1950’s anti-drug
PSA). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nByQRFhaPj8 (current anti-drug
commercial). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEJWUbt8vmY (current family
dinner and technology commercial).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqT_dPApj9U&feature=channel (current coca
cola commercial).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr1UByDNDPw&feature=related (current food
and drug administration report).
Procedures:
Motivational Technique/Opening
To open today’s lesson I will start the class by having a picture on each student’s
desk. It will be one of three things:
They each depict fast food, movie tickets, and
an amusement park. Once all of the students have arrived at class, I will ask them to
evaluate their picture. They should consider the following questions: Is this image
an important part of American culture, what message does it imply about Americans
and American culture? After they’ve considered their image, I will ask them to get
into groups based on who has the same image. Once they’re in groups I will ask
them to defend why or why not their image is the epitome of American culture –
why should/shouldn’t people from foreign countries associate this symbol with
American culture? They will discuss this in their groups and be prepared to share an
answer with the class. Each group will give a 30 second synopsis about their
discussions and I will then tell the class that 16 million people visit Disney World
each year, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" opened in 3,682 theatres
alone, and I will show them this graph on the projector:
Rank Countries
Amount
12,804 McDonald's
#1
United States:
restaurants
3,598 McDonald's
#2
Japan:
restaurants
1,154 McDonald's
#3
Canada:
restaurants
1,115 McDonald's
#4
United Kingdom:
restaurants
1,091 McDonald's
#5
Germany:
restaurants
857 McDonald's
#6
France:
restaurants
701 McDonald's
#7
Australia:
restaurants
338 McDonald's
#8
Taiwan:
restaurants
326 McDonald's
#9
China:
restaurants
290 McDonald's
# 10 Italy:
restaurants
These are the most often the top three things that foreigners associate with
‘American Culture’. I will explain that today’s lesson will be about how culture is
packaged and presented as well as how it changes and moves. They should consider
yesterday’s discussion about globalization and technology today because that will
give them insight into how culture is presented as well as how it can spread. (8
minutes).
2) Development of Lesson
1. After this introduction to mass culture, I will ask the students get into groups of
five. I will give each group a slip of paper with a quote from a website,
http://www.essortment.com/all/americanculture_rtjl.htm.
*”First and foremost, Americans are punctual, if not absolutely ruled by the
clock. If the theater show you are to attend starts at 7:30pm, expect the majority
of Americans to be in their seats twenty minutes prior. Crawling in the dark over
other patrons to reach your seat even five minutes after the curtain has risen
will cause grumbles. You might even be forbidden to enter by the theater ushers
who will force you to wait in the wings until a suitable break in the show. Time
sensitivity extends to dinner reservations at local restaurants, as well, whether
or not you are meeting any Americans. A mere thirty-minute delay will push you
to the end of the reservation list at bustling, popular eateries. Dining with
Americans at their home is only slightly less restrictive. The hostess will fret
over her perfectly timed meal when you don’t arrive at the appointed hour, but
you are allowed (and almost expected) a fifteen minute leeway – which is
considered ‘fashionably late’.”
*”A popular American phrase is that “all men are created equal” and Americans
quite literally practice what they preach here. The average American will not
take kindly to bullying, condescension, line jumping, or downright pushiness all
of which might be acceptable practices among the well-to-do of other countries.
Service for almost anything is on a first-come, first-served basis, and attempts to
breach the protocol will be vocally resisted. Expect to be regarded as arrogant
and pompous if you dare to sweep past other patrons to reach the head of the
line whether at the clothing store or at the theme park. Bribery to receive any
special treatment is not recommended and will most likely be met with scorn by
those to whom you are offering the money (or jail time if you dare bribe any
official). Note, however, that there is a difference between bribes and tips (if
only in connotation), and the maitre d’ at your upscale restaurant would not
hesitate to seat you at a preferred table for a little delicate compensation. Be
sure to be well skilled in this game of favors, however, or you might come off as
gauche to even the maitre d’.”
*”Most visitors will notice right away that ‘proper’ dress is not a concern with
most Americans. Short skirts and bare arms can be a shock for the visitor
coming from more traditional countries, but negative comments will never be
appreciated. Americans are known for their uniform of jeans and T-shirts and a
good number will not find it necessary to deviate from the dress code for even
more formal events. Opera lovers visiting the States should not be shocked then
when they are seated next to an American patron in shorts and flip-flops. Many
opera houses aim to appeal to the broadest range of American society, and feel a
strict dress code might inhibit some from enjoying a night of entertainment.”
*”American women are liberated in just about every sense of the word, and
visitors should tread carefully if discussing feminism in any form. Insisting that
a woman’s place is only in the home will guarantee that you never seen the
inside of any home in the States. Most American women take pride in the fact
that they have a choice between the office or the home (or both), and will
vehemently deny that the social problems of the nation’s children stem from
such empty households. Unless you know your hosts can openly discuss the
issue without offense, it is best to stick to more neutral topics. Subsequently,
issues such as gun control (or lack thereof), abortion rights, and racial issues
should be avoided. However, Americans -- who have grown up with the luxury
of free speech -- will openly discuss politics. Americans are always eager to
explain the workings of their government, but again you should avoid specifics.
National defense and international affairs might ruffle a few feathers.”
*”Finally, visitors should keep in mind that Americans pride efficiency above all
else. Utilitarian by nature, Americans think of almost everything in terms of
units to be produced in the most time and cost-efficient manner. Although the
mentality has served Americans well in the business realm, the attitude might
transfer to the social, as well. Visitors might find the strict American timetable
too confining, or perhaps downright rude when a causal lunch abruptly ends so
the American can rush back to work. For the foreigner from a country where
special emphasis is placed on social encounters, the standard “Hi and Bye” can
appear superficial and fake; an image reinforced by the insatiable American
appetite for consumer goods. Keep in mind, however, that Americans are firm
believers that they must work to earn money so they may buy consumer goods
that will pump money into the economy and create jobs. The result will be that
Americans will keep working and earning money, and will maintain the cycle
that has allowed the American standard of living to be the envy of most of the
world. Most Americans see little wrong with their priorities.”
These quotes are published on a website that is intended for foreign travelers to
the United States to consider some of our cultural hallmarks before visiting here.
Each group will have to summarize their quote and state what mass media trait
or characteristics of American culture is being described. In order to think
outside the box a little, each group must also come up with a way that they think
this stereotype of American culture has been disseminated through the media.
After each group has had time to analyze their quote and come up with a
response to those questions, I will ask the students to raise their hand if they
think their quote was accurate about American culture. I will ask them to raise
their hand again if they think this is a perception of American culture that is
played up in the media. I will pose a question to the class and ask students to
merely think about it for now – we’ll come back to it later: what role does
technology and media play in the way other cultures view American culture? (7
minutes).
2. In order to understand mass media culture, we will compare public service
announcements and advertisements in the 1950’s to those created today. The
students will reamin in their groups and one group member should retrieve one
laptop for their group to share and an index card from the front table. Each
index card will have a topic head written as well as two links for the students to
follow. The topics will include: Anti-Drug campaigns, FDA announcements,
Family Dinner, and Coca Cola advertisement. The students are to watch the
1950’s advertisement first. They are to answer the following questions on Titan
pad under their index card heading: What was the purpose of this commercial?
Who produced it? What type of mass culture was promoted? What do you think
this says about American culture at the time? Do you see traces of globalization
or nationalism in the ad? They are to discuss these questions, answer them
together, and post their responses on the titan pad page. They are then to watch
the current advertisement and answer the very same questions. Once they have
posted those responses, as a group, they must then conclude what has changed
about the way American culture is presented in the media. (15 minutes)
3. I will then ask the groups to discuss the following questions: was the message
stronger then or now? Would more people than just Americans have seen this
advertisement? Do you think today’s advertisement would be different if they
were marketing to another culture? What does that say about mass culture or
the process of globalization? They are to discuss these in their small groups.
Once they have reached, a consensus they will write a brief couple of sentences
that serves as a ‘press release’ to the class about their group’s findings. They will
also post these sentences on titan pad. The students will then have a few
moments to read the other groups responses and share comments or questions
aloud with the class. (7 minutes)
4. I will have two words posted on the board: Cultural diffusion and Cultural lag. I
will ask the students to define these terms in their notebooks using their text
books or the laptop they have in their group. Once they have the definitions I
will ask the students to consider technology again. How many of you have access
to computers (all should raise their hands because they do at school). I will ask
how long computers have been around, and then I will ask how many kids in
Africa they think have computers. This is an example of cultural lag. However,
the kids that do have computers in Africa, it’s a result of cultural diffusion. It is
also the same reason you see trends start in California and end up here a year or
so later: think fashion and entertainment. I will ask each student to write down
their own personal example of cultural diffusion and cultural lag in their
notebooks underneath each definition.
3) Closure/Outside Work
For our closure activity, I will show the class a commercial they will most likely
be familiar with: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftPxQ2hrrjE, a Save the
Children ad about the orphans in Africa who have no clothes, water, shoes, or
hope. I will ask each student to consider how this ad makes us think of African
culture. How has the media influenced our perceptions? I will ask the students
to go around the room and answer a question. The first five students will say
how the commercial made them feel about African culture. I will ask the next
five students to share information about how other commercials they have seen
or lack of other commercials is contributing to the image we hold of African
culture. The next five students will share how they feel about the media as a
contributing factor to shaping other societies views of cultures that are not their
own. The next five will then offer their opinion on whether is an example of
cultural diffusion or simply mass media distribution. Each student must also
complete an exit slip before they leave class that provides one example of
cultural diffusion, culture lag, and an example of mass media culture. For
homework the students are to write a paragraph that entwines the lesson about
globalization and technology with today’s lesson about mass media culture and
diffusion. They are to write a paragraph that illustrates their prediction for
global culture 50 years from now. Will there be national cultures? Will diffusion
and globalization become so swift with technology that we have a world
monoculture, or will countries still maintain cultural traits? Which cultural traits
would remain and which would be the first to go? What role would technology
play in such a world? The paragraph(s) will be due by the next class period.
*Provided I run out of time and can’t have each student share their question out
loud, I will ask each student to write down how they felt the mass media
contributes to other societies’ views of cultures that are not their own.
(7 minutes).
(Conclusion) What do you expect will happen this period in reference to student
learning? What should the students gain from your lesson this period?
I expect that the students will be able to define cultural lag and cultural
diffusion. They will recognize that culture is a fluid concept that changes with time,
the movement of people and ideas, and the advent of new technology. However, not
all societies progress at the same rate and thus we have cultural lag as a result. The
students will be able to connect yesterday’s lesson about globalization and
technology and apply that information to the new concept of mass media culture.
They will use authentic commercials from the past and present to understand the
role of the media in disseminating that culture. They will be able to assess the role of
technology and mass media efforts in the way societies view cultures that are not
their own, and they will be able to see this in real life examples from American
culture.
York College of Pennsylvania
Department of Education
Lesson Plan Format
Name Brandi Kohne_______
Date Due___9-21-10____
Lesson Plan #__10__
Class/Subject:___Sociology______
Period/Time __40 minutes_____
Behavioral Objectives:
-Students will be able to analyze the ways in which society is regimented by
clock time, and identify which avenues clock time may not apply to.
-Students will be able to define ‘compulsion of proximity’ and provide real life
examples of the phenomena from their daily lives.
-Students will be able to predict how ‘compulsion of proximity’ would be
applicable in different cultures or scenarios.
-Students will be able to analyze the cultural perceptions of men and women
by analyzing different gender responses to various cultural stimuli or
scenarios.
-Students will be able to imagine a culture where technology is almost solely
the means of communication and they will describe how this changes current
cultural roles.
Assessment: List and briefly explain any assessments and goals
The goal of this lesson is for students to further understand cultural exchange
and social interactions on a micro-level analysis. They will be able to predict how
the nature of time and proximity social interactions are being altered with the
advent of widespread technological communication. They will be able to imagine a
culture that relies more on electronic communication rather than face-to-face
interaction and they will predict the changes this will have on time and proximity
social interactions. The goal of this lesson is also for students to be able to identify
the ways in which culture will differ for an individual based on race or gender
identity. Women and men, as well as black or white, individuals will respond
differently to cultural stimuli or scenarios and thus their perception of culture is
different from their main counterpart. Students will be able to apply this
information to their daily lives by connecting it to the news, television programs,
and their actual experiences.
Standard(s): List specific standards by number and description
PDE
9.2.12 Historical and Cultural Contexts
9.3.12 Arts and Humanities: Critical response
NCSS
1. Culture: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the
study of culture and cultural diversity.
5. Individuals Groups and Institutions: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of interactions among individuals, groups, and
institutions.
9. Global Connections: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide
for the study of global connections and interdependence
4. Individual Development and Identity: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of individual development and identity
Materials/Equipment/Resources:
-Laptop
-Classroom set of laptops for the students to use
-Projector
Procedures:
1) Motivational Technique/Opening
In order to understand time and proximity, I will cover the clock in the classroom. I
will tell the students that they will not be able to tell what time it is for the duration
of class. I will have each student get out a piece of paper and write down their
schedule for the day in 30-minute increments. I will then have them do the same
thing for their weekend plans. Randomly I will stop the students throughout the task
and ask several students how much time they think has passed since we began the
activity. After the students have had a few moments to complete their charts, I will
ask the class how long they think that exercise took. I will reveal the answer and ask
any of the students if it is bothering them that they have no concept of time without
the clock. I am assuming at least one student will be bothered by this, and I will tell
them that is because we have become a society obsessed with clock time. This will
introduce the next stage of the lesson as we analyze how cultures segment time. (6
minutes).
2) Development of Lesson
1. In order to understand clock time, we will analyze how social institutions
organize clock time. To do this I will have the students create a mock timetable
for an event. They will pretend that they are the head chef at a 4 star hotel that
has been called upon to cater a dinner. They will need to organize the dining
room layout, decorate, shop for the food, instruct the wait staff, prepare the
food, serve the food, clean up the food, What would you need to do in order to
prepare? What kind of time would this take? What people would need to be
available when? Who would need to know the time chart? The students will
create the timetable for the mock event in pairs or small groups. Once they have
come close to finishing the activity I will ask them – how could you do this
without using hours or minutes? I will ask the students to attempt it, but they
will find it exceedingly difficult to get people on the same schedule in the same
place without clock time. (8 minutes).
2. After we have discussed clock time, the students will remain in their groups to
complete a task about ‘devoicing’ society. Considering clock time and the need
to hyper-plan and organize the day into time in order to organize one’s life and
schedule, students are to consider how the advent of widespread technology
affects clock time and social interaction. I will tell the group that they are not to
speak for this next exercise. They will not be given pencil and paper. They will
still be given a task: to plan a menu for their mock catering party. They will need
an appetizer, main course, and dessert. They will need a list of ingredients as
well as recipes. The students will have to communicate with one another
without speaking and get the menu into one cohesive document. They are
permitted to use any technology they have access to in the room (laptops, I’m
torn about including cell phones and suspending the rules for the purpose of
learning…) and they are to convey this document to me and the rest of the class.
I will give the students some time to complete this task and I will watch what
internet tools they use to talk to one another: Facebook, twitter, e-mail, the class
wiki, Google docs, titan pad, etc. Once the students have had some time to work
on this they will have a group discussion: how did you feel about not speaking?
Was it easier to use the internet and technology to interact than it would be if
they had simply discussed aloud? What issues did they run into with the
technology? Was there any breakdown in communication? I will ask the
students to give a thumb up if they think that for this task using technology was
better than speaking face to face. I will ask the students to give a thumbs up if
they thought they would’ve preferred to be able to speak aloud. (8 minutes).
3. I will pose a discussion question to the class: will technology ever replace faceto-face interaction. Once I have elicited preliminary responses from students I
will ask them to return to their groups. As a group they are to research the
compulsion of proximity. They will draft a list of at least 10 situations in which
people will interact simply because they are close to each other. My example
will be talking to the person in front of you in grocery line, “these lines always
take forever, it’s ridiculous” etc. The students are to list their 10 situations on
the titan pad website so the class can have a comprehensive list of incidents that
would incorporate compulsion of proximity. When students have had time to
complete the task as well as read the other class results, I will pose the question
again: will technology ever replace face-to-face interaction. If they say yes, what
will become of the compulsion of proximity? From this students will ascertain
that face-to-face interaction is a necessity for humans and cannot be replaced in
its entirety. (8 minutes).
4. After the activity, I will ask the students to leave their groups and separate by
sex: men on one side of the room and women on the other. I will have a line of
duct tape taped down on the floor in the middle of the room. I will ask students
for a show of hands if they think that men and women will view culture
experiences the same. I will pose a few scenarios: for example, a woman walking
down the street receiving cat calls from construction men. I will ask who thinks
this whistling is harassment, to come out and step onto the duct tape. I will have
several more discussion scenarios: who would walk down a dark street alone at
night? Who would fear getting a pill slipped in their drink at a party? Who would
feel vulnerable and fear attack when they are alone in a room with a member of
the opposite sex? Etc. As each question is raised, often it will be obvious if there
are more men on the line than women, etc. They will have demonstrated how
men and women experience culture differently based on the socialization and
gender spheres of their gender. (12 minutes).
3) Closure/Outside Work
To end class, I will ask students what time they think it is. Did it bother anyone
not knowing how many minutes they had left in the class, or during an activity? This
will drive home the point about our modern society relying on clock time. For
closure, I will ask each student to complete an exit slip, a 3-2-1 activity. They will list
3 important facts they learned, 2 interesting things and 1 question they still have.
They will complete this and give it to me as they leave the room. For homework they
are to interview family members about clock time, differences in how the two
genders view culture or situations based on the nature of their gender, or the
compulsion of proximity. They should interview at least 3 people and get their
responses – they can be anything from a simple quote, summarizing an experience
the individual had with that topic, or merely the person’s thoughts or examples on
the topic. They are to comment below each response and share their personal
opinions on what the interviewee had to say. This should be completed by the next
class session. (3 minutes)
Adaptations:
For students who are above and beyond the material, I will have a
supplemental activity. They are to use the computers to further research one of the
assignments that they seem to fully grasp: clock time, compulsion of proximity, or
the experiences of women vs. men in cultural scenarios. They are to produce their
own examples or find some online. They will then get together as a group and
formulate a skit to perform for the class – the class will identify which topic is being
covered, how they knew that, and how that skit fits into the larger context of our
unit on culture.
(Conclusion) What do you expect will happen this period in reference to student
learning? What should the students gain from your lesson this period?
I expect that students will make connections to how society organizes people
and ideas and translate that into how societies organize time as well. Students will
recognize that culture is not something experienced uniformally by all people –
there is no cookie cutter way to experience culture or scenarios that arise in such a
culture. Women and men in particular experience things differently due to the
nature of their sex as well as the socialization of their sex to certain scenarios. The
students will be able to make connections with the previous material of
globalization and social interaction – they will be able to illustrate how they feel
social interactions and responses will change or to what degree they will stay the
same, based upon the material from the unit as a whole.
Culminating Project Form
Your name: Brandi Kohne
Unit Title: Culture...’Defining Normal’
Project title and description narrative – Breaking the Mold: Challenging
Norms
Students will complete their own social experiment with norms, folkways, mores,
laws, and sanctions. The students will divide into small groups and devise a unique
way to violate a norm, folkway, and more in a public place. They will have to violate
this norm in a public place in either film or take pictures of the event as it is
happening. Through this activity, they will not only have to generate American
norms to violate, but also experience deviance and sanctions. They will also have to
create a reflective portion where they record their feelings before, during, and after
they violate the norm. They will also have to explain the sanctions they received,
whether there was a pattern in the age, gender, or race as to who gave the harshest
sanctions or the least. They will also have to give a brief analysis of how this norm
would have been received in another culture. This will be in the form of a
multimedia presentation (film, animoto, PowerPoint) or for students who do not
have the means, a poster accompanied by a written reflection.
What specific core learning should the students reflect by completing the
project? Explain:
Completing this project will require the students to implement a number of
key concepts covered in this unit. They will test norms, folkways, mores, and laws
that they think are prevalent in American culture. Developing the norm they are
choosing to violate, as well as selecting the appropriate setting to defy this norm in,
they are already applying their knowledge of the terms to American culture. It
requires that they assess the vocabulary terms but also assess values and norms in
American culture. As they violate the norm, they will undoubtedly receive sanctions.
This will reinforce that the norm they selected is indeed a true American norm, and
they will experience for themselves that sanctions do follow the defiance of norms.
They will see to what degree the following sanctions are, as well as perhaps view
that the sanctions given differed by age, race, or gender of the person delivering
them. The reflection will allow them to express how they felt about the experience,
thus further challenging their own perceptions of norms, American culture,
deviance, sanctions, etc. The project will reinforce not only terms and concepts, but
allows the students to apply the information in a real life context and to see and feel
the results of such concepts in real life.
1. Standards to meet-list
9.2.12 Historical and Cultural Contexts
9.3.12 Arts and Humanities: Critical response
8.3.12 United States History
1. Culture: Social studies programs should include experiences that provide for the
study of culture and cultural diversity
5. Individuals Groups and Institutions: Social studies programs should include
experiences that provide for the study of interactions among individuals, groups,
and institutions
2. Objectives to meet-list
-Assess the role culture has in social control by analyzing the ways in which culture
dictates social behavior. Decide which six cultural components you think are most
influential in social control, define and rank them in order of most influential.
1. Activity
The students will be given the assignment in class. I will ask them if they have ever
seen someone doing something extremely strange (and class appropriate) in public.
I will share the example of when I saw a mother spoon-feeding avocado to her
newborn baby straight from the avocado. I thought this was strange since babies
usually only eat formula at that age, and if they do eat baby food, it is typically from
a jar and not a straight from a vegetable. If the class has some examples to share, I
will then tell them that they are about to become that person. I will explain that they
are to violate a social norm in public and film the results. They are to select a group
of students to work with; if they do not have a group they may ask me to place them
with another group. I will then further explain the assignment and give them the
handout and rubrics.
2. Resources needed
Option 1: Video camera or recording device, computer with internet capabilities,
class animoto password.
Option 2: Digital or Disposable camera, Computer if using PowerPoint, Poster board,
and Computer to type paper.
3. Complete explanation of the project
a. Students will complete their own social experiment with norms,
folkways, mores, laws, and sanctions. The students will divide into
small groups and devise a unique way to violate a norm, folkway, and
more in a public place. They are not to violate a law, everything must
be strictly legal, and anything illegal will not be accepted and will be
considered a zero for the assignment. An acceptable example would
be dressing super casually for a fancy event or vice a versa and
dressing super formal for a casual event. They will have two options
for a final product. Option 1, which is strongly encouraged, is for one
of the group members to covertly film the member violating the norm,
folkway, or more and film the reaction people had to it. Students will
assimilate this video into a multimedia presentation using Animoto. At
the end of the film, they will briefly record a group reflection, which
explains the sanctions they received, if any, how they felt during the
experience, as well as how they felt before and after the experience.
During the reflection the students should also comment on how they
think the scenario they acted out would be received in another culture
– how would the sanctions differ from those given in American
culture? Be specific with which culture you are referencing. Option 2
will be available to students who do not have a filming capability, but
must take pictures of the experiment. The pictures must be put
together in a type of visual presentation (PowerPoint, Animoto film,
poster board, etc) that they can show to the class. If they choose to do
an animoto, their reflection can be voiced over at the end of the
presentation. However, if the students do a PowerPoint or a poster, as
a reflection, each student will submit a 4-page paper, which will
address all of the aforementioned questions.
4. Handout for students to use (attached at the end of this packet)
5. Rubric
Collaborative Work Skills : Group Work
Teacher Name: Brandi Kohne
*This Rubric will be for student use. I will ask them to number the names of their
group members and evaluate their performance.
Student Name: ________________________________________
List your group members names below:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
In each of the categories on the rubric indicate with your partners number which
column you think they belong in, 1, 2, 3, or 4. This will help me evaluate your
teamwork abilities and contributions to the assignment.
COLLABORATIVE GROUP WORK: GROUP MEMBER EVALUATIONS
CATEGORY
4
3
Quality of
Work
Provides work of
Provides high
the highest quality. quality work.
2
1
Provides work that
occasionally needs
to be
checked/redone by
other group
members to ensure
quality.
Provides work that
usually needs to be
checked/redone by
others to ensure
quality.
Monitors
Routinely monitors
Group
the effectiveness of
Effectiveness the group, and
makes suggestions
to make it more
effective.
Routinely monitors
the effectiveness of
the group and
works to make the
group more
effective.
Occasionally
monitors the
effectiveness of the
group and works to
make the group
more effective.
Rarely monitors the
effectiveness of the
group and does not
work to make it
more effective.
Focus on the Consistently stays
task
focused on the task
and what needs to
be done. Very selfdirected.
Focuses on the task
and what needs to
be done most of the
time. Other group
members can count
on this person.
Focuses on the task
and what needs to
be done some of the
time. Other group
members must
sometimes nag,
prod, and remind to
keep this
person on-task.
Rarely focuses on
the task and what
needs to be done.
Lets others do the
work.
Working
with Others
Almost always
listens to, shares
with, and supports
the efforts of
others. Tries to
keep people
working well
together.
Usually listens to,
shares, with, and
supports the efforts
of others. Does not
cause "waves" in
the group.
Often listens to,
shares with, and
supports the efforts
of others, but
sometimes is not a
good team member.
Rarely listens to,
shares with, and
supports the efforts
of others. Often is
not a good team
player.
Partner
Evaluation
List the names of
your partners that
were helpful,
fulfilled obligations,
and did a superior
job:
List the names of
your partners that
were reasonably
helpful, almost
always fulfilled
obligations, and did
an overall good job:
List the names of
your partners that
were rarely helpful
and were very
inconsistent with
fulfilling
obligations, overall
contributed little.
List the names of
your partners that
were a hindrance to
the group and were
of no help
throughout the
project:
OPTION 1 RUBRIC:
Student Name:
CATEGORY
4
________________________________________
3
2
1
Attractiveness Makes excellent use
of font, color,
graphics, effects, etc.
to enhance the
presentation.
Makes good use of
font, color, graphics,
effects, etc. to
enhance to
presentation.
Makes use of
font, color,
graphics,
effects, etc. but
occasionally
these detract
from the
presentation
content.
Content
Covers topic in-depth
with details and
examples. Subject
knowledge is
excellent.
Includes essential
knowledge about
the topic. Subject
knowledge appears
to be good.
Includes
Content is minimal
essential
OR there are several
information
factual errors.
about the topic
but there are 12 factual errors.
Originality
Product shows a
large amount of
original thought.
Ideas are creative
and inventive.
Product shows
some original
thought. Work
shows new ideas
and insights.
Uses other
people's ideas
(giving them
credit), but
there is little
evidence of
original
thinking.
Mechanics
No misspellings or
grammatical errors.
Three or fewer
Four
misspellings and/or misspellings
mechanical errors. and/or
grammatical
errors.
More than 4 errors in
spelling or grammar.
Oral
Presentation
Interesting, wellrehearsed with
smooth delivery that
holds audience
attention.
Relatively
interesting,
rehearsed with a
fairly smooth
delivery that
usually holds
audience attention.
Delivery not smooth
and audience
attention lost.
Delivery not
smooth, but
able to hold
audience
attention most
of the time.
Use of font, color,
graphics, effects etc.
but these often
distract from the
presentaion content.
Uses other people's
ideas, but does not
give them credit.
Clear
Demonstration
of the Norms
and Sanctions
Images capture the
norm being violated
as well as the
sanctions of those
viewing it.
Images capture
either the violation
or the sanction, but
not both.
Images of the
norm being
violated and the
sanctions are
unclear or
poorly
illustrated.
Neither the norm
violation or the
sanction is clearly
demonstrated
Professional
Product looks
professional and is
well edited
Product looks
reasonably
professional and
editing is decent.
Product does
Product is sloppy and
not look
there is little or no
professional
evidence of editing.
and the editing
is not done very
well.
OPTION 2 RUBRIC:
Student Name:
CATEGORY
________________________________________
4
3
2
1
Graphics -Clarity Graphics are all
in focus and the
content easily
viewed and
identified from
6 ft. away.
Most graphics
are in focus and
the content
easily viewed
and identified
from 6 ft. away.
Most graphics Many graphics
are in focus and are not clear or
the content is
are too small.
easily viewed
and identified
from 4 ft. away.
Labels
All items of
importance on
the poster are
clearly labeled
with labels that
can be read
from at least 3
ft. away.
Almost all items
of importance
on the poster
are clearly
labeled with
labels that can
be read from at
least 3 ft. away.
Several items of
importance on
the poster are
clearly labeled
with labels that
can be read
from at least 3
ft. away.
Required
Elements
The poster
includes all
required
elements as well
as additional
information.
All required
elements are
included on the
poster.
All but 1 of the Several required
required
elements were
elements are
missing.
included on the
poster.
Labels are too
small to view OR
no important
items were
labeled.
Attractiveness
The poster is
exceptionally
attractive in
terms of design,
layout, and
neatness.
The poster is
attractive in
terms of design,
layout and
neatness.
The poster is
acceptably
attractive
though it may
be a bit messy.
The poster is
distractingly
messy or very
poorly designed.
It is not
attractive.
Title
Title can be read
from 6 ft. away
and is quite
creative.
Title can be
read from 6 ft.
away and
describes
content well.
Title can be
read from 4 ft.
away and
describes the
content well.
The title is too
small and/or
does not describe
the content of the
poster well.
Mechanics
Capitalization
There is 1 error
and punctuation in capitalization
are correct
or punctuation.
throughout the
poster.
There are 2
errors in
capitalization or
punctuation.
There are more
than 2 errors in
capitalization or
punctuation.
Grammar
There are no
grammatical
mistakes on the
poster.
There is 1
grammatical
mistake on the
poster.
There are 2
grammatical
mistakes on the
poster.
There are more
than 2
grammatical
mistakes on the
poster.
Knowledge
Gained
Student can
accurately
answer all
questions
related to facts
in the poster
and processes
used to create
the poster.
Student can
accurately
answer most
questions
related to facts
in the poster
and processes
used to create
the poster.
Student can
accurately
answer about
75% of
questions
related to facts
in the poster
and processes
used to create
the poster.
Student appears
to have
insufficient
knowledge about
the facts or
processes used in
the poster.
Images
Images capture
the norm being
violated as well
as the sanctions
of those viewing
it.
Images capture
either the
violation or the
sanction, but
not both.
Images of the
norm being
violated and the
sanctions are
unclear or
poorly
illustrated.
Neither the norm
violation or the
sanction is clearly
demonstrated
Paper Length:
Paper is 4 Pages Paper is 3 Pages Paper is 2 Pages Paper is 1 page.
Paper Quality:
Well written,
free of
mechanical and
grammatical
errors,
addresses all
required
reflection
elements.
Reasonably well
written, only a
few mechanical
and
grammatical
errors,
addresses most
of the required
reflection
elements.
Decently
written, some
mechanical and
grammatical
errors,
addresses some
of the required
reflection
elements.
Poorly written,
many mechanical
and grammatical
errors, and does
not address the
majority of the
required
reflection
elements.
Breaking the Mold:
Challenging Norms
Folkways, mores, and laws exist to reinforce norms, or the acceptable patterns of
behavior for individuals in that culture. When a norm is broken, sanctions will more than
likely follow. Keeping this information in mind, you are all about to become deviants….
Your Task: Violate a social norm (folkway or more, NOT LAW!) in a public setting. You
will work in a group, however, each member of the group must violate a different norm,
however you may stay in the same setting or change locations if you wish. You will have
to record your deviant behavior, and the reactions of the people who witness the
behavior. You will capture this on film, preferably motion picture but still pictures may
be accepted for students without video capability, however, the film will be more
entertaining and likely easier for your group to work with.
This is a project that you can take in a lot of different ways. I’m encouraging you to have
fun with it, and to be creative. This may be difficult for some of you, and even mildly
embarrassing, however, just keep in mind that everyone else will be doing it too. The
more creative you are, the more fun you will have and the stronger sanctions you will
receive, which will mean a stronger product for your group. Choose your settings and
norms wisely – don’t pick anything that will get you in trouble with security, the law, or
your parents. There are rubrics attached for each option, however, if you choose option
1 you will need a video camera, access to the internet for the animoto reflection if you
choose that option, and a means of editing your film. If you choose option 2 there may
be a little extra work required to make a neat and concise poster – it will also be harder
to capture the norms and sanctions clearly on film, which is one of the grading criteria.
If you have serious objections to this project, I can offer you an alternative assignment.
We can discuss your points of contention and find a suitable alternative. Please take this
home and have your parent or guardian sign to signify they understand and accept the
project. If they do not, please have the sign the appropriate line and we will discuss
alternatives together.
My child will complete the project as it is outlined on this form: x ______________________
I would like an alternate project for my child x____________________________________________