Grade 5: Cultural Contexts

Prescribed Learning Outcomes

It is expected that students will:

• demonstrate a familiarity with aspects of Punjabi games, sports, arts, customs, celebrations, and festivals
• use language associated with Punjabi games, sports, arts, customs, celebrations, and festivals
• relate Punjabi games, sports, arts, customs, celebrations, and festivals to those of their own and other cultures

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Foundations in other grades click on an icon below.

Suggested Instructional Strategies

The focus at this early stage of introduction to Punjabi culture is on sharing information about personal holidays and traditions. It is important that students feel the classroom offers a safe environment of mutual respect.

• Focus on one of the Punjabi holiday celebrations (e.g., Diwali in late October or early November, Vaisakhi on April 13th). Relate the holiday to other holidays with which students are familiar. (For example, Vaisakhi, like Thanksgiving, has reference to the harvest; it also signals a new year. Diwali, like Christmas, involves the use of lights and an exchange of gifts.) Students can:
• make up a picture story illustrating holiday preparations
• prepare one or more food items related to the celebration
• prepare art posters and murals with captions relating to the theme
• view videos showing how the holiday is celebrated in Punjab
• Have students learn and play children's games common in Punjab such as Kotla-Chhapaaki  (similar to Duck-Duck-Goose) or Kikli  (a partner-swinging activity performed while chanting a simple song). Students can more readily learn the game through demonstration and direct involvement than by having it explained.

Suggested Assessment Strategies

The outcomes associated with cultural contexts do not require extensive language skills. Students demonstrate their awareness and understanding by participating in classroom activities. Assessment emphasizes observation and review of students' visual representations.

• In assessing students' understanding and appreciation of a given celebration, consider the extent to which their works (stories, posters, murals, and so on) include key features associated with the event. In the case of Diwali,  for example, students might be expected to include references to diwa lights (oil lamps: Diwali is a "festival of lights"); fireworks; sugar sweets; giving gifts;  greeting cards; special clothing; the story of sixth guru, Guru Har Gobind, coming out of Gwaliar Fort with 52 kings (Sikh); Laxmi-Puja  (Hindu).
• As students learn about games, sports, arts, customs, celebrations, and festivals, they can show their awareness of relationships across cultures through a variety of visual representations. Assessment can be based on the number of features they include, logic of the associations they show, and accuracy of their portrayals of cultural features in forms such as:
  • Venn diagrams showing common and unique features
  • picture charts comparing features of a Punjabi activity with related activities in other cultures
  • a collage of pictures, symbols, and words from a variety of cultures (e.g., greeting words, birthday or wedding celebrations, titles of family members)

Recommended Learning Resources

Print Material

• Canadian Sikhs: History, Religion and Culture of Sikhs In North America
• Encyclopaedia Of Sikh Religion And Culture
• Punjabis in Canada
• The Sikhs

• The Festival

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