Culture

Collin Brady, Colleen Eisenmann & Krystle Smith Rychleski The social justice topic our group has chosen to complete our project on is culture. The project focuses on cultural diversity and inclusion. Our goals are to ensure that students understand and appreciate the different cultures and backgrounds around them and embrace ideas and aspects of other cultures with an open mind. They will also understand the importance of respect and appreciation for their communities, society, and the people who make up them. The grade level that we have chosen for our project was 4th grade. This age group needs to be aware and be engaged in talks involving culture, inclusion, and empathy. At the cognitive and social development levels of the typical 4th grader, these students are becoming more aware of their communities and the world around them. Since the social justice issue chosen was culture, we thought books that focused on cultural inclusivity and diversity would fit our group of students. We decided on the books "The Name Jar" by Yangsook Choi, "Ruby's Wish by Shirin Yim Bridges, and "The Last Stop on Market Street" by Matt de la Peña. All three stories allow us to examine with our students how these different children experienced and questioned various events in their lives based on their culture: Unhei questions sharing her Korean name with the new American school friends, Ruby has to persevere through her schooling and their rules; and CJ questions why everyone is so different on his way to the Soup Kitchen. These stories teach students to examine and question the various facets of different cultures, leading to open discussions on how we can appreciate and celebrate all of their originality.