II. Lesson Plan and Activities
Lesson1: Communicating Culture and Values Through Art
Essential Questions
Enduring Understandings
What is culture?
What are values and how do they help define one’s culture? Art is a universal language that can convey cultural
norms and values.
What are the advantages of using art (non-linguistic
communication) instead of written or verbal means of
conveying ideas? Expanding one’s awareness of other cultures enhances
appreciation of the lives of peers living in another
country.
How does the environment affect my partner’s daily life?
How does it affect my own? One’s natural environment affects one’s culture.
Activity
Description and Important Points
Materials
1. Cultural Art Working in small groups, students use the art examples, analyzing
each piece for details and clues that illustrate the artist’s cultural
and
norms and values.
Analysis
a. Answer the questions by first looking only at the art.
Worksheets
b. Read the artist’s description and re-examine initial answers.
c. Groups share their analyses of each art example. Point out that
the activities presented (telling stories, watching fireworks,
taking care of children, picking up litter, etc.) and the noted
details (types of clothing, musical instruments, etc.) are visible
aspects of culture. The reasons why the artists chose to share
these scenes (importance of heritage, patriotism, respect for
nature, etc.) illustrate values, which are invisible aspects of
culture.
d. In sharing aspects of their culture that they particularly valued,
only one of the artists specifically illustrated how they
interacted with their environment. Which artist was this? How
did the rest of the artists include environmental aspects in their
pieces?
e. Have students develop definitions for cultural norms and
values based on class discussion.
Cultural Art and
Analysis Work-
sheets #’s 1-6
Rainforest ArtLink Tool Box: Strategies for Deeper Understanding
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Students work in small groups or individually depending on age/grade and ability level. Check the U.S. Grade
Level Learning Standards for specific objectives for age/grade appropriate content.
As a whole or in small groups, have students do further research to discover facts about their partner’s city,
country and culture.
Students create a personal preference web, comparing personal preferences to cultural norms and values
(See Personal Preference Web in Appendix).
US Learning Standards
Addressed Grade 3 4 5 6 7 8 9-10 11 -12
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2019 Rainforest ArtLink Program “Heritage”
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