Teachers First - Thinking Teachers Teaching Thinkers

Scroll down the landing to learn about gestures from other cultures and share the discussion through the infographic on this site.Use as part of your language class or as an activity to help students communicate with ENL/ESL peers. Gestures can have VERY differnet meanings in other cultures, so this site is a must before any foreign language trips abroad!

tag(s): communication (130), cultures (211), infographics (57)

This lesson plan provides a way to encourage cultural awareness and make your ENL/ESL students' knowledge of their home culture a classroom asset. The lesson can be done in an all-ENL/ESL class or in a regular class as part of an investigation of cultures, part of a unit on research, or as an art lesson. It can also be adapted for use in a high school level world cultures class.

tag(s): holidays (194)

This site is a much-expanded remake of the Peace Corps collection of lesson plans and activities for cross-cultural understanding around the world. Teachers can search for lesson plans by topic, region of the world, grade level, or academic subject. All readings and materials are included (many as PDF - Acrobat Reader files). Many lessons include readings that would also work well for teaching reading comprehension, espceially for your less-than-proficient readers. Simply choose the area of the world, subject, and/or grade level for which you want a lesson plan, and you will see quite a list.

tag(s): cultures (211)

This site accompanies an exhibition of 4,000 rare books, maps, documents, paintings, prints, and ojects focused on the early Americas from the time of the indigenous people of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean through the period of European contact, exploration, and settlement. There is a nice picture gallery of exhibits and a comprehensive bibliography.This site provides some nice visuals for a unit on indiginous peoples of the Americas. The picture gallery has some lovely maps from the Francis Drake expedition, and the information about buccaneers would provide a nice balance to the "Pirates of the Carribean" fantasy depiction of pirates.

tag(s): aztecs (10), explorers (64), mayans (32), spanish (112)

This information-packed site focuses on calendars through the ages. It includes sections on the astronomy of calendars (e.g. moon cycles), the history of calendars, differences among various international calendars, derivation of the names of the months, and loads of other trivia about calendars.

tag(s): calendars (37)

See annotated details of ancient and more recent weavings from many cultures using the interactive "exhibits" of the museum. See work from Egypt, Kashmir, Persia, and many more. Decode some of the iconography in Asian carpets. Some exhibits are text-heavy, while others offer many plates and details for your art students to study and use as references. World cultures classes will be able to envision ancient times by looking at the beautiful images on this site.

tag(s): archeology (30)

Take virtual tour of the famous cave paintings of Lascaux in France, read about their discovery, learn to interpret the drawings, and find out fragile environment of the caves. The site itself is beautiful to explore, letting you experience the caves with a virtual "flashlight" as you enter.

tag(s): archeology (30), painting (54)

The tragic story of the lost princess Anastasia is often of interest to students and can serve as an introduction to the story of the Russian Revolution. The Alexander Palace site certainly illustrates the extreme wealth and extravagance of the Romanov court and how this brought about the Russian Revolution and the rise of communism. This site includes everything: diaries and letters, photographs of the palace pets, and information about the life of Tsar Alexander, the last tsar of Russia. Although the level of detail would be very useful for someone doing research into Russian history, the chief benefit of this site for classroom teachers is its photographs of the palace and its treasures. There are photo tours of the palace and each of its rooms. Of particular interest are zoom-able photos of eleven jeweled and decorated Faberge eggs. The site would also be useful for art teachers in illustrating the craftsmanship and beauty of the Faberge eggs, perhaps before asking students to design their own.

tag(s): eggs (5), evolution (88), russia (35), russian (26)

The CIA's Factbook is pretty dry reading, but this site does provide some of the history of Korea, including the post-World War II division into North and South. There are other facts about culture, government, and economy, but North Korea remains one of the world's least-known and least-understood nations. Could be a useful reference for discussion of current events or a research source for projects on countries.

tag(s): korea (21)

With such poor results as a nation on geography testing, we all should try these geography games to build student knowledge of U.S. and world geography. Students can click on the region of the world and practice at different levels of difficulty. Even adults can find a challenge. Offered in a "dial up version" for those accessing the sites from a slower connection.

tag(s): capitals (15), continents (33), countries (73), maps (224)

Listen to and learn about traditional music from cultures around the world and through the ages. Browse this amazing collection of downloadable tunes to find musical enrichment to enhance a unit of study. Full downloads in MP3 or FLAC format are available for purchase but each offering is accompanied by a free audio sample. Note: this site opens rather slowly.Be patient, especially if you are on a dial-up connection.

tag(s): songs (46)

Find out about the history, heroes, and patterns behind the epic poem, with this middle-school level lesson. Students can learn to recognize the epic hero cycle, and the patterns and events characteristic of this genre. The lesson also introduces students to the mnemonic devices used by generations of storytellers to help with recall of long and often complicated tales. Includes downloadable worksheets, a glossary of literary terms, and ideas for lesson extensions. Aligned to Standards.

tag(s): poetry (196)

What would a world map look like if countries and continents were sized not by land area, but by population, number of elderly, various type of imports, or emigration? This site presents dozens of cartograms - or density-equalizing maps - in which each country is resized according to a specific variable. Each map is accompanied by a downloadable Excel file and a printable poster.

tag(s): immigration (79), maps (224), migration (45), population (51)

The CIA's Factbook offers a wealth of information on most of the world's nations. This is a direct link to the page for Iran.

tag(s): iran (8), terrorism (41)

Learn about the courageous voyages that changed the course of human history with this comprehensive collection of activities, narratives, and teaching materials. Visual images and text are woven together to create a useful resource for content enrichment and student research. Visit the "Activities for Students and Teachers" for ready-to-go activities with printable handouts that can be incorporated into transparencies, presentations, or reports.

tag(s): explorers (64)

Find out how much you know about customs around the world with this entertaining, interactive quiz that focuses on table manners in various countries. A fun and eye-opening introduction to the sometimes humorous etiquette that defines a culture.

tag(s): cultures (211)

Turn Halloween into a history lesson with this History Channel site that traces its origin from an ancient Celtic festival to the modern-day practices of trick-or-treating and Jack-o'-lantern carving. Includes some hauntingly intriguing video clips (some with specific ties to American history), ghost stories, and recipes.

tag(s): halloween (33), holidays (194)

This repository of folk tales from throughout the United States, organized by state and region, provides students with a great literary tapestry of American culture. Add to a unit on your state's history, or use to supplement your reading curriculum.

tag(s): states (125)

Google Maps gives you live visuals of any location, ideal for planning a trip, picturing the relationship between places, and viewing physical characteristics of almost anywhere in the world. Type or paste in an address and click "search maps." If you click Satellite or hybrid versions of the map, you will see actual satellite images of the terrain. Zoom in and out, use the street view "orange man" to walk among the buildings and trees, or plan and share a route easily with Google Maps. Using your (free) Google membership allows you to save favorite places and more. Find businesses and other features near a specific map location: hotels, restaurants, schools, parks, and more. Google Maps has become more and more sophisticated, now offering many features previously only available in Google Earth, such as opening and/or saving placemarker files. Unlike Google Earth, Google Maps does not require software installation and does not use as much bandwidth for constant reloading. You can even play a tour of places you mark in Google Maps. They just keep adding more features! Google Maps is available as a free app for Android and iOS, too. The handy embed codes let you put any Google Map in a web page, blog, or wiki. Of course you do not need a membership or any special skills to simply SEE, share, or navigate a map. Membership gives you more ways to save.

tag(s): DAT device agnostic tool (146), directions (11), maps (224)

Although this unit plan was originally written for early elementary students, the related readings and activities are ideally suited for foreign language classes at the middle school level. With a focus on French language and culture, this series of lessons centers on family life. After learning about areas of the world where French is spoken, students explore the similarities and differences between French and American families and expand their foreign language vocabulary with French words for names of family members. Aligned to National Standards.

tag(s): family (49), french (74), vocabulary (242)