In today’s society it is inevitable that the pubic school classroom will be culturally diverse. Because of this diversity it is important to have a diverse curriculum. There are many ways to include culture in the curriculum.
Holiday’s are good ways to add couture to the curriculum. As a teacher I plan to take advantage of holiday’s to add culture to the curriculum. It is a disservice to only celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter in the classroom. Other holidays in other cultures are good ways to celebrate cultures. Many times the students in the classroom are good recourses for this curriculum. If they are willing to speak about their traditions in the class I feel this will lead to a bridge to teach culture.
Another way to add culture to the curriculum is to have the students do a project about another culture as well as their own. I remember in my grade school we had an ethnic open house. Each of us researched our own culture and set up tables of information. Other students and other grade where able to travel from table to table where different ethnic food, toys, music, dance, traditions, and other symbols were shared by the students. This is a good way to explore ones own culture and learn of others. I think that it is also a good idea to choose others cultures and display them in the same way. This gives students a chance to learn about other countries on there own.
Literature is a way to bring culture to the curriculum as well. Through books written by and about different places is a great way to give children a sense of differences and similarities of different traditions. There are thousands of books that can accomplish this.
In younger grades I think that many different Disney Movies are something that they are all familiar with. Many of them take place in other countries and can be a good linking point from what they already know and what you can teach them.