Primary students need many chances to share and be proud of their family. So, the perfect place to dive in to teaching about cultural diversity activities is sharing. There are three easy ways to celebrate diversity activities for primary students.
Show-and-Tell is such a student favorite! But, today many teachers have a hard time fitting it into their schedules. If you move Show-and-Tell to Social Studies time, it can be a be great for your HGSS objectives. Asking simple questions about family and celebrations is perfect activity for comparing and contrasting the traditions that make up a culture. If the kids grow up understanding and valuing other cultures, then it becomes a part of who they are.
You could ask about veterans in the family. Your students could share what books are important to them. Students could share fire escape maps. Each of these tasks will start good class discussions. At the same time, it helps the listener gain acceptance of the cultural diversity for the listener. It’s a win-win situation.
One project you can do to teach culture is Family Album. The many HGSS objectives covered justifies the time spent. Since, in first grade Social Studies is all about the family, the objectives are woven around that. That makes this project perfect for 1st grade.
The first pages about family members and the home can be completed during the getting to know you phase in first quarter. If you wish, you can use the data collected to make charts and graphs about your class.
Other pages can depict and illustrate family celebrations. Your students could write and illustrate how they celebrate birthdays. There can be a food page, since it is so important in culture.
The end result is a beautiful book that depicts their family traditions.
Diversity Storytime
The best way to give your class a quick glimpse another culture is story time. There are hundreds of great books on differing cultures. You can search on Pinterest for the titles. Then search on Youtube for the book read aloud to make sure it fits your needs. here are many boards organized on this topic. You are welcome to take a look at mine.
If you chose a book about a culture not represented in your class, then you have perfect the chance to model diversity appreciation. The class can compare their background to the experiences to that of the child in the book. If you can’t find the book in print, you could show your class the Youtube video and then make an anchor chart for print recognition.
If you wish to read more about the vital reasons to teach more Social Studies, you can read more here.