Encountering+Your+Culture

__Encountering Your Culture!__


 * Snapshot:**

The purpose of this unit is for students to explore their own cultures while also learning about the cultures of their peers. We will begin this unit by defining the 12 elements of culture. This section will be heavily focused on vocabulary and academic language. We will then explore the 12 elements of culture in regards to the Marshall islands. We will go through each element and discuss the history of the Marshall Islands. The students will then research their own cultures and will apply the 12 elements to their cultures. The students will be given the opportunity to talk to their family members as well as do academic research into how their culture has been shaped. After we have finished the background history of the Marshall Islands, students will read different folktales from the Marshall island. I will have 4 different Marshallese folktales for the students which we will read and analyze together in class. I plan to have them read the folktale and then together we will point out elements of the folktale such as magical beings, oral tradition, trickster characters, and protagonists.Students will then be assigned to write their own folktales using these same elements. Students can write folktales regarding their own families and culture using the elements of folktales that we addressed and identified. Students will explore the Marshallese traditions of dance to explore how the movements came out of the daily island life on the atolls. The students will learn choreography by exploring their origins from the movements of fishing and boating from Marshallese culture. After learning the choreography, students will develop the dance into a performance that reflects Marshallese culture using performance techniques of movement. Targeted Students:


 * Anticipated time to complete the modules:** One week per module
 * Curriculum Designers:**

Nathan Patrick Nelson is a Theatre Educator from Denver, Colorado. Nathan is currently studying at Gonzaga University in Spokane Washington. He has previously served as Director of Education for The Modern Theatre in Spokane, and has taught Musical Theatre at Grandstreet Theater in Helena, Montana.

Antonio Fraga is currently a junior at Gonzaga University, majoring in Physical Education and working towards becoming a P.E teacher at an elementary school. Antonio is also a baseball coach at St. Aloysius Gonzaga Catholic School for the 7th/8th grade team. In the future Antonio hopes to work in an administration role at a school.

Laura Peters: Laura is in her third year of her Bachelor's degree in English Literature as well as pursuing her secondary teacher certification in English Language Arts at Gonzaga University. . Emmalee McNeil: Emmalee is in her third year of the Teacher Certification program at Gonzaga University. She is working towards her B.A. in history and an endorsement in Social Studies in Secondary Education.


 * Target Students:** 9th/10th grade English Language Arts, Social Studies, Theatre, and Physical Education,

**Module 1: Exploring Your History!**
__Content Objectives__ > SS: Students will be able to identify and explain the twelve aspects of culture and apply them to their own cultures. > ELA: Students will be able to identify the the elements of a folktale as well as using these elements to create their own narrative based on their culture.

__Language/Literacy Objectives__ > SS: Students will be able to understand the discourse of a cultural history as well as the vocabulary associated with Culture. > ELA: Students will be able to understand the discourse of folktale elements as well as being able to format their own folktales in proper syntax outlines by the teacher. Vocabulary that students will learn will include fables, trickster tales, fairy tales, and pourqoui stories, and themes of right vs wrong and good and evil.

__Standards__ > Social Studies: 3.2.3 Understands the causes and effects of voluntary and involuntary migration in the world in the past or present. > English Language Arts: [|CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3] > Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences

__Resources and Preparation__ > Folk Tales for class > [|__http://spiritoftrees.org/demon-girls-of-ujae-2__] > > ===== Inon in Majol : a collection of Marshallese folktales / compiled and edited by Kinuko Kowata ... [et al.] ; with illustrations by Paul Kingsbury, Amram Enos, and Donna K. Stone, Print. =====

__From Theory to Practice__
 * This module draws off of practices listed in chapter 7 of Zwiers, language for complex texts. In this lesson the students will be doing a lot of research which is its own discourse. The module will focus the students on how the authors choose to communicate their information and will scaffold each activity. The instructor will give the student guided notes for their research and different websites they can use to obtain the information. The module leader will help the students decipher what information is important and how to interpret that information. Many discussions will be used to scaffold the texts the students read, especially because we want the students to become familiar with each others cultures. The lesson will be focused on vocabulary of culture and of folktales, the syntax of a folktale, and the discourse of research and of folktales. There is a lot covered in this unit, so scaffolding will be important.

__Instructional Plan__
 * [[file:Encountering Cultures-Folk Tales.docx]]

**Module 2: Island Life**
__Content Objectives__ > Students will be able to:
 * Prepare and produce a dance based on choreography
 * Construct a dance performance reflecting a culture using the tools of a performer

__Language/Literacy Objectives__
 * Students will be able to use language that clearly communicates dance and comprehend and implement choreographic instructions as well as recontextualizing cultural information into artistic performances

__Standards__ > GLE: 4.4.1 > Analyzes and evaluates how a work of theatre reflects and/or influences culture, place, and history.
 * · Determines how specific works of theatre have shaped or reflected culture and history.
 * · Distinguishes between specific attributes of works of theatre from different time periods.
 * · Critiques the ways that theatre can shape and reflect culture and history over time.

__Resources and Preparation__ > [|__http://www.rmihpo.com/wp-content/uploads/Traditional-fishing.pdf__] (Pages 32-69) Links of Dances: [] [] []
 * Resource for fishing information:

-For music, and dances also consult the local Marshallese community leaders, and also the students in your class. Rubrics and movement guides: __From Theory to Practice__

One element that this lesson clearly draws on is movement to engage learning. With this module students can use their body rather than staying stationary in desks learning about the island life, this engages both the body and the mind, making richer connections to the content. The instruction of dance also allows multiple pathways of instruction for ideas on the culture of the Marshall Islands because ideas can be connected to narrative or movement, and text or demonstration. This also allows students to synthesize their understanding into a performance that emcompasses what they have learned about a culture.

__Instructional Plan__
 * [[file:Island Life Through Dance.docx]]

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