Grade 5 Understanding Culture and Society

It is expected that students will:

• identify and express elements of their own and their classmates' cultural backgrounds
• identify characteristics of German-speaking cultures, including family celebrations and foods

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Understanding Culture and Society in other grades click on an icon below.

The focus at this level should be on active participation in a variety of cultural experiences based on students' own backgrounds. These can then be compared with similar elements in German-speaking cultures and societies.

• Encourage students to explore aspects of their cultural backgrounds (e.g., foods, celebrations, artifacts). Have them collect materials symbolic of their own cultures and organize them in a classroom display. On a large map, have students place symbols that represent the communities of origin of their ancestors or members of extended families. Discuss with the class similarities and differences between German-speaking cultural backgrounds and students' own.
• Invite students to discuss their own family celebrations, comparing and contrasting them with celebrations in the German-speaking world.
• Provide students with various sources of information and suggest that they compare the routines of students in a German-speaking country with those of students in British Columbia, examining areas such as hours spent in school, subjects taught, and leisure-time activities.
• Ask students to create a classroom collage of words and images that depicts what they have learned about cultures in the German-speaking world. This could be an ongoing project. As students learn about those cultures and societies from others or through the media, have them bring in the information and add it to the collage.
• Create the atmosphere of a German Kaffeehaus in the classroom and have students prepare snacks to eat in this setting. Ask students to name the Kaffeehaus, make posters to decorate it, and create original table settings and menus. Suggest that they share the Kaffeehaus with other classes or with parents.

As they are introduced to German language and cultures, students should demonstrate an increasing awareness and understanding of specific features of their own and German-speaking cultures. Most of their understanding will be demonstrated in graphic and visual forms, with some commentary in English.

• As students compare their families' celebrations with those in the German-speaking world, have other class members complete simple response sheets on which they record for each student presenting: the student's name, region of family origin, language(s) spoken by the student's family, and important celebrations. Look for evidence that students are:
  • interested in the cultural backgrounds of others
  • respectful of differences
  • able to accurately record the information presented
• When students compare their school experiences with those of German-speaking students, look for evidence that they are able to:
  • identify relevant features of their own experiences
  • locate and record information about students in specific German-speaking countries
  • accurately identify similarities and differences
  • offer one or two generalizations or conclusions
• Before students begin to create a collage for the classroom, discuss with them criteria they can use to monitor their participation. These could include evidence that they have:
  • located relevant information about German-speaking cultures and societies
  • contributed appropriate words and images to the collage
  • shown their understanding of the material they contributed by explaining it to others
  • asked questions to learn more about the contributions of other students
• When students present their Kaffeehaus materials, look for evidence that they:
  • base their contributions on accurate understanding of elements of German-speaking cultures
  • make connections between the role and atmosphere of the Kaffeehaus and of social meeting places in their own and other cultures

Note: Additional information will be provided as soon as resources to support learning outcomes are identified.

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