Halloween traditions and cultural diversity: a first-grade collage lesson

Lesson Plan

First Grade Lesson Plans

Halloween Collage Projects: Culture and family

In this lesson, the students will learn about the traditions of Halloween, the history of the holiday, and how their families' celebration of the holiday might differ form that of their peers and in the observable culture around them.

Materials

Large pieces of butcher paper (one per each group of 4-5 students), glue, safety scissors, large supply of magazines, old Halloween decorations, and other sources of collage material.

Instructional Input

Instructor will begin by asking who is ready for Halloween, and what the people in the class are dressing up as. Then segue into discussion of the origins of Halloween (All Saint's Day) and discuss similarities between differences and similarities in modern celebrations. Other similar traditions, such as the giving of food gifts on the Jewish holiday of Purim, will also be introduced, and students will be encouraged to share other traditions and experiences with their group.

Activity

In groups of 4-5, students will take turns selecting elements to put on the collage, first choosing an image that reminds them of a specific Halloween memory from their family, then one that reminds them about what the learned regarding Halloween's history or what they see around them today that is different than the historical observance. Choices should be explained/discussed in the group. Each group will share their collage in front of the class, with each member explaining one of their elements. Each student will also write three words that signify Halloween to them personally on the collage

Closure

Comment on the great deal of similarity in everyone's celebration and any notable differences that make the holiday extra exciting. Discussion of different traditions that exist in other cultures in the classroom and how they relate to and differ from Halloween. Relate modern differences to historical differences. Have students clean up workspace before presentations to allow for a smoother transition.

Goal

The students will learn about several endangered species and the various reasons why these species have become endangered. They will develop an appreciation of the human responsibility for the problems, and develop possibilities for limiting the destruction of habitats and engaging in other behaviors that lead to further depletion of endangered species.

Materials

Video on endangered species, age-appropriate book with pictures detailing animals in their natural habitat and illustrating levels of destruction (piles of tusks, etc.). Markers, crayons, paper; writing paper and pencils.

Instructional Input

The learners will be asked if they know what an endangered species is. Discussion of the term will lead to the correct definition. Once the term is understood, learners will be asked to name any animals they think might be endangered, with instructor confirmation or careful negation as warranted. This will segue into the reading of the book, which will be punctuated with discussion and open to questions. Rates of extinction will be discussed in brief, with the use of physical object to demonstrate how quickly an endangered status can result in total extinction of the species.

Activity

Following the book, a short video (fifteen minutes max) providing an overview on endangered species will be viewed. Students will the be asked to draw a poster to make people more aware of the problems causing species depletion and ways to prevent it, and to write down two ideas for helping to stop habitat loss and/or other issues causing endangerment. Any and all ideas for presenting and addressing the issue will be encouraged to be used on the poster, while students with more advanced abilities will be instructed to develop a more focused single element/statement that directly addresses the issue.

Closure

Students who want to share their ideas and/or posters will be encouraged to do so, with explanations to the class. Reminders of the importance of taking care of our world will be used to close the lesson and encourage speedy cleaning of art supplies.

Explanation

Again, this does not require any abstract operations to be carried out, though it does call for some conjecture as to methods of persuading others to take notice of the issue. This is basically in keeping with Piaget's concepts of cognitive development at this stage, as well as with the common criticism of Piaget that he underestimated abilities in childhood (Snowman and Biehler 2008). Most of the knowledge will be obtained through instruction and discussion, as well as the visual representations in both the book and video (though these images will be pre-screened for age appropriateness, of course), and only the final part of the lesson will ask for conclusions to be drawn from the knowledge acquired. As the project is independent, there is a great deal of room for variation based on ability level; the posters can contain conglomerations of primarily visual ideas that do not require cohesion or abstract thinking for students with lower abilities, while those with advanced abilities can create a more cohesive design with a more direct and possibly abstract statement and purpose, making the project appropriate for inclusion of all students, regardless of ability (Snowman & Biehler 2008). The opportunity for each student to briefly present their poster also fosters this sense of inclusion.

This activity is fairly culturally neutral, with any method of delivering a message being acceptable, and there would be no language requirement for the words used on the poster. The sharing of such posters would again foster cultural inclusion, as messages in other languages could be explained and described for the class at large. The field independence of the activity, in this case, directly relates to the cultural neutrality and even multicultural encouragement of the project by allowing each student to draw primarily on their own experiences in the project (Snowman & Biehler 2008). This also allows for the use of each individual student's preferred form of mental self-government as described by Sternberg, as it is capable of being adjusted to organize multiple goals in a variety of ways, or to focus singular goal (snowman & Biehler 2008). Multiple intelligences, including logical (in the development of strategies used in the poster), spatial, and naturalistic are all touched on this project, and the scientific and artistic/linguistic balance also provide for gender inclusivity (Snowman & Biehler 2008).

The progression of the plan also keeps in mind the identified physical characteristics of the age group; group discussion during the reading of the book might become boisterous, and the video will provide an interlude of needed rest before the art project begins, which should lead to a more focused activity (Snowman and Biehler 2008). The writing and drawing practice will also help to improve fine motor skills, which are still developing at this age (Snowman and Biehler 2008).

The cognitive characteristic of learning and knowledge differentiation is also taken into account through the various learning methods used in the lesson. The final activity especially will let the students make a determination as to what the more effective message will be in both their drawings and their written ideas, which matches the observed tendency to rank some ways of knowing and learning above others at this age (Snowman and Biehler 2008). The lesson plan also utilizes the theories of constructivism, in providing many ways for different learning styles to become engaged in the lesson through discussion, viewing, and expression through physical media. The appreciation of individual learning styles is central to constructivism, as it is to this lesson plan (Snowman and Biehler 2008).

Reference

Snowman, J. & Biehler, R. (2008). Psychology Applied to Teaching, 12th Ed. New York: Wadsworth.