Pacific Cultures with Literature Circles? Absolutely!
Prepared by Sherry Joiner as part of the Fulbright-Hays Seminars to New Zealand 2003.
Sherry Joiner is a teacher
at Plaza Middle School in Virginia Beach, VA
Grade: 7-9
Executive summary
During the summer of 2003, I had a wonderful opportunity to travel
throughout New Zealand with nineteen other American teachers studying,
learning, experiencing, living and absorbing the culture and spirit
of its people. Along my journey I encountered people from all different
walks of life. My eyes were opened to a whole other culture, the Pacific
culture. As a result of this experience, my curriculum unit has been
constructed as a comparison study of the cultures of three groups of
indigenous people as well as a unit of study that focuses on the theme
of Conflict. The different groups of people and cultures that are featured
in this unit are all located in the Pacific region and include the Māori
in New Zealand, the aborigine in Australia and Samoans in Samoa. This
unit of study is intended to be an overview of each culture and an in-depth
look at how the theme of Conflict applies and impacts the history, tradition
and culture of each group. This unit could easily become an in-depth
study of each of the three groups of people by imbedding several research
components. As I begin to teach this lesson in my classroom, I anticipate
that changes will be made and adaptations will occur as necessary. This
unit is a living document that is by no means complete.
Table
of contents
Unit Overview
Grade Level
Unit Theme
Enduring Understandings and Generalizations--What Students Will
Understand
Essential Questions
Virginia Standards of Learning--What Students Will Know
Skills--What Students Will Be Able to Do
Instructional Strategies
Lesson Break Down
Assessment
Resources and Materials to Incorporate
Pacific Cultures with Literature Circles? Absolutely!
joiners.pdf (203kB)
