Async 2 - and artefact 2 ( 2025)
Async 2 module 2: What is culture?
a.) Activity 4.21
Teaching Plan: Intercultural Communication for 5th Grade for the duration of 4-5 lessons (45 minutes each)
The focus above all is for the students to gain basic knowledge of cultural diversity and reflect on other cultures and their own critically. The aim is for the students to help to develop intercultural competences and hopefully broaden their curiosity and openness towards different cultures.
Lesson Plan:
Lesson 1:What is culture?
Brainstorm: “What is culture?” (Use example pictures of food, traditions, flags,clothing and greetings from different countries).
Active activity: “Find someone who…” – A classroom mingling game where students ask classmates questions about traditions, food, or languages they know from other cultures.
Sure! Here are 20 “Find someone who…” sentences related to travel and intercultural competence for 6th-grade ESL students:
1. Find someone who has traveled to another country.
2. Find someone who wants to visit a different continent.
3. Find someone who can say “hello” in three languages.
4. Find someone who has tried food from another country.
5. Find someone who knows the capital of France.
6. Find someone who can name three countries in South America.
7. Find someone who has a family member from another country.
8. Find someone who has watched a movie in another language.
9. Find someone who can describe a famous landmark in another country.
10. Find someone who knows a traditional dance from another culture.
11. Find someone who has used a different currency.
12. Find someone who can name a festival celebrated in another country.
13. Find someone who has eaten sushi before.
14. Find someone who knows what “siesta” means and where it comes from.
15. Find someone who can name three languages spoken in Africa.
16. Find someone who can name a famous world traveler or explorer.
17. Find someone who can describe the flag of a different country.
18. Find someone who knows what “passport” is used for.
19. Find someone who has learned a greeting from another culture.
20. Find someone who can name three different ways people travel in different countries.
These questions encourage students to talk, interact, and learn about different cultures while practicing English. Would you like any modifications or additional
Reflection in a class discussion: “What surprised you the most?”
By
Here are 20 sentences that the teacher can whisper to the students. The students need to remember the sentence, run back to their group, write it down, and translate it into Danish. These sentences focus on travel and intercultural competence:
1. Airplanes fly high above the clouds.
2. A passport is needed to travel to another country.
3. In Japan, people bow instead of shaking hands.
4. The Eiffel Tower is in France.
5. Many people in Canada speak both English and French.
6. Mexican food is often spicy and delicious.
7. In Italy, people eat a lot of pasta and pizza.
8. The Great Wall of China is very long.
9. People in Australia drive on the left side of the road.
10. The Amazon rainforest is in South America.
11. You can see kangaroos in Australia.
12. In India, people celebrate a festival called Diwali.
13. The Statue of Liberty is in New York City.
14. In Spain, people eat late in the evening.
15. Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world.
16. The pyramids in Egypt are very old.
17. Some people in Africa speak Swahili.
18. In Thailand, people greet each other with a “wai.”
19. Norway has many beautiful fjords.
20. In Brazil, people love to play football (soccer).
This activity encourages memory, teamwork, writing, and translation skills. Let
Lesson 2: Cultural differences
Show short videos or images of greetings from different countries (e.g., bowing in Japan, handshakes, cheek kisses).
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=edSkl9iZfFs
Pair Work: Each pair compares two different greetings and discusses why they think these customs exist.
Role Play: Students practice greeting each other in different ways and discuss how it feels.
Lesson 3: Discovering other cultures
“A Day in the Life” – Show a video of a child’s daily life in another country.
Discuss in class:: How is their day similar/different from yours? What would you ask them if you could?
In small groups, students create a short comic strip about a Danish child visiting another country and experiencing cultural differences.
Lesson 4:Critical thinking
“Cultural Dilemmas” – Present scenarios where cultural misunderstandings occur (e.g., wearing shoes inside a house, refusing food, being late vs. being on time, Ronald McDonald in China vs. on time).
Group discussions: How would you react? What is the best way to handle these situations respectfully?
Writing Task: “A letter to a new friend” – Students write a letter introducing themselves and explaining a danish tradition or habit.
Lesson 5: Cultural diversity
Activity: “Cultural Show & Tell” – Students bring an item, a story, or a fact about a different culture to share with the class.
Final Reflection: What have you learned? How can we be more open and curious about cultures in our daily lives?
This teaching plan was designed for my students for the week before we received a group af spanish students in our class for a week, both to ensure that the students could engage with cultural differences in a fun, interactive, and reflective way while at the same time building their own intercultural communication skills.
Analysis of the Teaching Plan
This teaching plan is designed to develop intercultural competence among year 6. ESL students in a Danish school. If we analyse this plan according to Byrams dimensions (Henriksen p.125) in his model for intercultural communication competence, we notice that the first lesson directly addresses the competence attitudes and curiosity by encouraging the students to explore what culture is and engage in a mingling activity to hands on discover cultural elements from their fellow students. Furthermore they may begin to challenge stereotypes and preconceptions when they have to reflect on what surprised the students the most to learn, and to hear from each other what they found the most surprising.
Throughout the entire lesson plan, the students are continuously introduced to cultural norms such as greetings, daily routines, and traditions in different cultures, which could fit in the dimension of knowledge in Byrams model. Knowledge about other cultures and their traditions and customs help the students to develop a better understanding, and hopefully a better intercultural tolerance and acceptance.
In lesson three the students will be watching a The “Day in the Life” video, which again provides real-world intercultural knowledge. This will challenge the students and allow them to compare and contrast their own experiences with those of children from different cultural backgrounds.
In the second lesson the focus is more on interpreting and relating to other cultures because the students are actively engaged in comparing different greetings across cultures and practicing them through role play.This is By encouraging students to discuss why certain customs exist, they move beyond surface-level observations and begin interpreting cultural meanings.
In the third lesson, the students are expected to actively engage with new cultural knowledge through a video and a creative task where they are asked to reflect upon cultural differences and create comic strips. This goes well with Byrams dimension of skills of discovery and interaction (Henriksen p 125) through which they get new knowledge about a culture and learn how to use this in different communication situations.
The “Cultural Dilemmas” activity which is a part of lesson 4, further enhances these skills by encouraging students to think critically about how they would respond in real-life situations. This may help to prepare the students for future intercultural interactions.
Byrams critical cultural awareness dimension is represented in lesson 4. Here the students are presented with cultural dilemmas and encouraging discussions about respectful responses. This might help the students to evaluate their perspectives, practices and products in their own and in other cultures.
The same goes for the final reflection and the “Letter to a new friend” as both these tasks require that the students think about how they present their own culture and how different perspectives shape our cultural understanding.
The plan incorporates several effective teaching methods that align with Byram’s model for instance role plays, interactive discussions, and hands-on activities, collaborative learning in pairs and groups, reflection and authentic materials.
This teaching plan would fit well within Byram’s model. Furthermore the plan encourages the students to look beyond stereotypes and engage with cultural differences in a meaningful way. The plan is nuanced and the ways the students are asked to work are varied and differentiated.
b.) Activity : 4.22
Communicative task - with Intercultural focus:
“Around the World Cultural Adventure”
Objective:
The students will learn about different cultures and at the same time practice their english vocabulary and phrases, and engage in physical movement and sensory activities. This task encourages both communication, teamwork, and intercultural understanding through english.
Materials needed for this task:
Cards or pictures representing different countries and cultures (e.g., France, Japan, Brazil, Egypt, etc.)
Props representing aspects of each culture (e.g., small items of traditional clothing, food samples, musical instruments, etc.)
Blindfolds
Small obstacles or stations for movement (cones, mats, etc.)
Vocabulary flashcards (for cultural keywords in English)
Task Structure:
1. Introduction (10 minutes) Pre task phase ( Henriksen p 74)
Begin with a short discussion about various cultures around the world and introduce the idea of exploring these cultures using English. Emphasize that students will practice important vocabulary and phrases in English during the activities. Provide examples of basic phrases they will use at the stations, such as “Let’s go!”, “Can you help me?”, “I need…”, etc.
2. Cultural Stations with English Focus (20 minutes) Task phase ( Henriksen p 74)
Set up five stations, each representing a different country and culture. At each station, students will participate in an activity that includes physical movement and sensory engagement, while also using English vocabulary and expressions. Students rotate through the stations in groups, spending about 3-4 minutes at each.
Example Stations with English Focus:
Station 1: Brazil – Samba Dance
Activity: Students will follow basic Samba dance steps, focusing on the rhythm and movement. They will take turns leading the group and mimicking dance moves.
Language Focus:
Vocabulary: “dance,” “rhythm,” “step,” “jump,” “turn,” “move,” “fast,” “slow.”
Phrases: “Let’s dance!” “Can you follow the rhythm?” “Move your feet like this!” “Is it fast or slow?”
Cultural Focus: Explain that Samba is an important Brazilian dance style, often performed during Carnival.
Station 2: Japan – Tea Ceremony
Activity: Students will experience a mini tea ceremony. They will “serve” tea to each other and practice the delicate motions of holding and offering tea cups.
Language Focus:
Vocabulary: “tea,” “cup,” “serve,” “drink,” “hot,” “taste,” “smell,” “gentle,” “careful.”
Phrases: “Would you like some tea?” “Please drink carefully.” “The tea is hot!” “It smells wonderful!”
Cultural Focus: Teach them about the Japanese tea ceremony’s importance in hospitality.
Station 3: Egypt – Pyramid Relay
Activity: Students will work in pairs or teams to balance a “stone” (ball) on a spoon and navigate through an obstacle course, simulating building a pyramid.
Language Focus:
Vocabulary: “balance,” “spoon,” “stone,” “pyramid,” “run,” “move,” “careful,” “teamwork.”
Phrases: “Hold it steady!” “Be careful, don’t drop the stone!” “Let’s build a pyramid!” “Move quickly!”
Cultural Focus: Share how the Egyptians built pyramids as part of their ancient civilization and how teamwork was essential.
Station 4: France – Eiffel Tower Challenge
Activity: Students will work together to build a small model of the Eiffel Tower using blocks or small objects. They must follow simple English instructions.
Language Focus:
Vocabulary: “build,” “tower,” “block,” “structure,” “team,” “strong,” “together.”
Phrases: “Let’s build the tower together!” “Can you pass me the block?” “Is it tall enough?” “It’s very strong!”
Cultural Focus: Briefly explain the Eiffel Tower’s significance in France as a symbol of engineering and culture.
Station 5: China – Sensory Calligraphy
Activity: Students are blindfolded and feel different textures (sandpaper, smooth cloth, etc.) and must “draw” basic Chinese symbols (e.g., peace, love, or dragon) using their fingers.
Language Focus:
Vocabulary: “feel,” “smooth,” “rough,” “soft,” “hard,” “symbol,” “draw,” “brush,” “careful.”
Phrases: “Can you feel the texture?” “What does it feel like?” “Let’s draw the symbol!” “Be gentle with your fingers.”
Cultural Focus: Teach students that Chinese calligraphy is an art form that requires patience and precision. The characters often represent more than just letters – they are symbols of deeper meanings.
3. Reflection and Discussion (10 minutes) - Evaluation/processing ( this is the third of the three phases) ( henriksen s.74)
After completing all stations, gather the students in a circle and ask them to discuss the following:
Which station was the most fun? Why?,What new words did you learn today?
How did it feel to use your senses or move like people from another culture?
What did you learn about other countries through the English phrases and activities?
Can you think of any other cultural traditions that involve movement or senses?
This task calls for the teacher to encourage the students to speak in english during the discussion to practice the phrases and vocabulary they learned.
In order for a task to be called a communicative task there are four criterias that have to be fulfilled. ( Henriksen s 71) According to Henriksen these are:
Focus on meaning, not just form.
There has to be given new information
the student have to use their own language resources in order to fulfill the tasks
The activity has a well defined objective ( more than just using the language)
Literature:
https://emu.dk/grundskole/engelsk/faghaefte-faelles-maal-laeseplan-og-vejledning
Henriksen, B. et al, (2020), “Hvorfor gør jeg det, jeg gør?”, Samfundslitteratur.
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