Welcome to the Cultural Diversity Project page! Here we will provide an overview of the project and show samples of our work.
Our Unit began by talking about Western North Carolina culture and what that looked like to us. Our students talked about the local music, food, outdoor activities, dress and traditions. We watched a couple of videos on Asheville and WNC culture.
We then looked at examples of artistic expression from various groups within the local and regional communities. We compared traditional mountain clogging to other expressions of dance from around the world. The kids were really amazed to see how each artistic dance represented the area culture.
The 3 Video Comparisions
The next lesson in this unit is focused around the Cynthia Rylant book, "When I Was Young In The Mountains". This book explores the beliefs, traditions, values and relationships of the Appalachian culture. We read the book as a class and created a double bubble map comparing life in the mountains for people back then and now. Our next step is to have the students create their own version of the book, exploring their own childhood memories and experiences.