Ethnic and Religious GroupsCulture is such a fascinating topic to students. Living in our small bubble in Columbus, Georgia we often do not know about or even understand people who are different from us. That is why I LOVE teaching about cultural characteristics of regions around the world. I like to expand my students' minds and introduce them to traditions, religions, ethnicities, and ways of life unknown to my 12 and 13 year-olds. We focus on three religions in 7th grade social studies: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. These religions are in the Georgia Performance Standards so like I tell my students "I am teaching NOT preaching." Students should be able to differentiate between the religions by factors such as founder, holy book and basic beliefs and practices. The majority religion in the Middle East is Islam. Students should be able to explain the schism, or divide, between Sunni and Shia Muslims. I also teach three prominent ethnic groups of the region: Arab, Persian and Kurd. Arab is the majority ethnic group. Students are expected to know the majority religious and ethnic groups of Southwest Asia as well as explain the difference between the two. If given a description, students should be able to categorize it by ethnic or religious group. We spent an entire week learning about culture. We did notes, charts, sensory figures, cartoon analyses and a quiz. Still, students struggle. It is a lot of information that they have no real personal connection to. But with constant exposure to this material, students will know it backwards and forwards! Standard of LivingStandard of living is the last cultural characteristic we discussed .The Georgia Performance Standards focuses on literacy rate (the ability to read and write over the age of 15) as a major factor that affects standard of living. The correlation generally goes like this: If a country has a high literacy rate then it will most likely have a high standard of living. If a country has a low literacy rate then it will most likely have a low standard of living. Discuss with your child how the ability to read and write affects people, a community and a nation. First, locate Southwest Asia on this world map. Look at the key: literacy rates are low towards the bottom but increase as you go up.. How does the Middle East compare to North America? How does the Middle East compare to Africa and other Asian countries?
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AuthorVanessa Ellis has been teaching middle grade social studies for 7 years. She is the 2017 Georgia Economics Teacher of the Year and a teacher leader in Muscogee County. She loves to teach and have FUN while doing it! Who says social studies has to be boring? Archives
August 2016
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