Lesson Two

Distribute the Student Handout, Discovering Someone's Cultural Identity.

Assign students to work in pairs and to interview each other.

There may be some sensitive cultural issues in your classroom, so try to be aware of them in advance.

Give the students at least 30 minutes to interview each other so that they will have a good base of information from which to construct their first draft.

Allow the student to begin composing a first draft about their partner's cultural with the time left. Make it clear that they are expected to finish a draft about their partner's cultural identity for homework.

The draft should be at least the back and front of a page!

Submitting a draft of this length will lead to no more than an average grade, although quality, not quantity, must be emphasized.

Nothing under one page should be accepted.

If students find that they do not have enough information to write the desired amount, it is because they have not given enough serious attention to the interviewing process.

Let the students know what your expectations are before they begin the interviewing process today. At the end of the class, make certain that they understand that the amount of time they put into this draft will indicate the respect that they hold for their classmate and his or her culture. Try to make this a group discovery process, where all will learn about a variety of cultures. You might prepare by talking about some things that are very similar in many cultures and some things that are very different. For instance, almost all cultures have a tradition of storytelling, but the stories themselves may vary regarding creation, death, birth, etc. Advise students to do their best for their classmates. Tell them that the draft will be due at the beginning of the class after next. (Lesson 4)