Lesson 3: Senegal vs.

US Culture
Location: Powel Elementary
Grade: 4th grade
Subjects: Social Studies & Literacy
Anticipated time: 45 minutes

Goals & Objectives

Essential Questions
What is culture? What can we learn about another culture?
Why is it important to learn about other cultures?
Unit long understanding goals
Students will construct an understanding of culture as the ways of life for a group
of people. They will identify the arts, language, traditions, beliefs, values, and behavior
as aspects of culture
Students will evaluate the ways in which their own culture impacts how they view
the world in order to make non-judgmental observations of another culture
Content objectives
Students will make comparisons between US and Senegalese culture based on
data from the CIA World Factbook entries for each country
Students will describe the culture of two countries using facts and objective
language

Standards
Literacy
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with
diverse partners
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.I.4.9 Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to
write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
Social Studies
NCSS Students need to comprehend multiple perspectives that emerge from within their own
culture and from the vantage points of the diverse cultural groups within that society

Materials & Preparation

SMART board
Laptops CIA World Factbook Senegal & USA
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/us.html
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/sg.html
Student writing notebooks & pencils

Classroom Arrangement & Management

Whole group instruction takes place on the carpet. Each student has an assigned rug spot.
Students will already be in their rug spots from morning meeting. I will dismiss students from the
carpet by group, announcing who will be working with who. I will tell students to get the laptops
from their desks and find a spot in the room to work. If I see that they made a poor choice about
where to sit (e.g. too close to another group, I will ask them to move). Ill be circulating through
the room while students work in groups and checking in. I will use the classroom clip chart to
monitor behavior, allowing groups who are focused and working hard to move up their clips and
those who arent following the established classroom norms to move their clips to the side.

Plan 45 minutes total (5 min think-pair-share, 30 min activity, 10 min discussion)

Launch (5 min)
Think-pair-share: Why is it important to learn about other cultures?
Connect to activities we did the previous day, specifically influence
of West African culture on American culture
Students think about response for a minute, share with students around them for
a minute, and then select students share with group
Activity (30 min)
Introduce purpose for activity telling students well be looking at data about the
people in Senegal and the people in the United States in order to make comparisons.
Explain that the data is from the CIA and that they may not know what some of the
categories mean.
Demonstrate the two columns students will record in their notebooks: What
stands out to me? What do I have questions about?
Show students websites that theyll be looking at and how to find the people and
society section
Read through some headings and ask students what information is included in
that section
Model making an observation comparing the amount of Muslims in each country
(95.4% in Senegal and 0.6% in the US), record in What stands out to me? column
Model asking a question and recording why are there so many more Muslims in
Senegal than in the United States? In the questions column
Ask students for another observation and question, record each on board

 Tell students theyll be working with a pre-selected partner or in a group of three,

write directions on the board (1) make two columns in notebook and label them what
stands out to me and what Im still wondering, (2) open two laptops (will already be on
student desks) and go to the class Google Doc (3) on one laptop, click link for CIA World
Factbook Senegal, on the other laptop click link for CIA World Factbook USA (4)
with group, record observations and questions
Dismiss groups to find areas throughout room to work
Walk around assisting students and observing what kind of notes theyre
recording
Ask questions like: What comparisons have you made so far?
What do you think ____ means? How does ____ compare between the two
countries?
I will also be looking at student questions, providing answers
where I can or suggesting resources for students to answer their own questions
Discussion & Close (10 min)
Call groups to return to carpet with their notes
Students will share with someone near them (who they didnt work with) things
that stood out to them and questions they have
Have students share with the whole group, recording comments on SMART
board
Respond to questions if I know the answer, if not, tell students we will try to find
answers
Re-visit class generated KWL chart

Assessment of Goals & Objectives

I will be assessing student learning through the whole group discussion, as well as by looking at
the notes that students recorded in their notebooks. I will be looking for students to make
comparisons between Senegalese and United States culture using specific data from the two
texts. I will also be looking for students to refrain from using any language that implies worth,
such as saying people in the US are smarter because their literacy rates are higher.

Accommodations
I will make partnerships strategically, placing students who I think may struggle
with a student who can help them to be successful
I will preview the headings with the whole group so we can discuss what kind of
data will be in each section, I will also provide examples of what kind of notes to record
As I walk around, I will be looking for partners who are having a hard time and
talk through the information with them, helping them to make comparisons