English

1
English

• Etymology of names

• This lesson features an introduction to etymology
  and sources of first names in different cultures.
  Greek names are first analyzed and then names of
  foreign students (immigrants) in our school in an
  attempt to share our roots. Students understand
  how names reveal our identities in an attempt to
  foster respect for individual worth and human
  dignity. Through analyzing primary source
  documents students discuss what it means to be
  renamed when immigrating to another country, and
  also the difference between cultural assimilation
  and multiculturalism.
• Lesson Plan
• Activity 1 Learning About Your Own Name
• Activity 2 Whats In a Name Foreign names
  their sources and meanings
• Activity 3 Losing a Name, Choosing Another
• Activity 4 Discuss the difference between
  cultural assimilation vs. multiculturalism
• Homework
• PPPs with the etymology and history of names.

2
Greek Language

• Cross-cultural fables

• This lesson explores parallel fables and
  folktales from various cultures. While each
  culture and geographic region of the world has
  its own body of folk tales and fables that
  considers "its own," certain themes, plots,
  characters and motifs tend to be repeated across
  many countries and time periods.
  Fables-as-culture-models tend to take on the
  color of the location they are told while
  trying to teach universal lessons about human
  emotions such as love, hate, courage, kindness,
  and foolishness.
• Activities
• Activity 1 Listening to a Greek fable and
  answering general comprehension questions
• Activity 2 Reading two fables and filling in a
  Storyboard. Retelling the fables.
• Activity 3 Filling Idea Wheels for three fables.
  Comparing and contrasting.
• Activity 4 Answering questions about the
  cultural features of the fables
• Activity 5 Looking at the stories through the
  Feminist and the Marxist perspective
• Activity 5 Writing an original modern fable to
  go with a moral.
• Air CastlesFolktales about daydreams of wealth
  and fame
• The Milkmaid and Her Pail (Greece, Aesop)
• The Broken Pot (India, The Panchatantra).
• The Dervish and the Honey Jar (Jewish).
• The Barber's Tale of His Fifth Brother (1001
  Nights).
• The Lad and the Fox (Sweden, Gabriel Djurklou).
• The Peasant and the Cucumbers (Russia, Leo
  Tolstoy).
• Homework An Anthology of fables, Famous
  Fabulists (PPPs)

3
Health Education

• Coffee culture around the world

• Going for coffee involves more than just
  consuming the beverage itself. It is a small
  social event as part of everyday life. Countries
  have formed their own rituals around coffee, each
  regions coffee taste acknowledged as being
  related to its history, work habits and style.
  Coffee is directly connected to hospitality in
  home and commercial settings. Thus, it can be
  studied as a multicultural experience. Coffee and
  health, or benefits and risks of drinking coffee
  is integrated in this lesson as it is taught
  within the realm of Health education.
• Activity 1 pictures of coffeehouses around the
  world
• Activity 2 texts about coffee culture in various
  countries
• Activity 3 quotations of famous people or
  sayings about coffee
• Activity 4 discussion about coffee and health
• Homework
• A poster that illustrates benefits and potential
  risks of drinking coffee.
• A questionnaire about coffee culture or coffee
  and health

4
maths

• Where maths meets fiction

• This lesson uses an ethnomathematics approach to
  the teaching of maths and especially addresses
  students who experience difficulties in learning
  mathematics, students who find it irrelevant to
  their interests, or are from different cultures.
  Through reading a maths novel, Uncle Petros and
  Goldbachs Conjecture(2000) by Apostolos
  Doxiadis, students deal with Mathematics in
  context as they are introduced to maths fiction,
  and can connect maths to other subjects. Students
  benefit from reading fiction or writing out math
  concepts rather than simply solving problems.
• Activity 1
• QUICK DEBATE Being a Genius Is Due to Hard
  Work, Not High IQ vs Some geniuses have average
  IQ
• Quotations about geniuses
• Read online biographies of famous mathematicians
• Activity 2
• Information about how prime numbers are used in
  everyday life
• The Sieve of Eratosthenes
• Exercises with prime numbers
• Goldbachs Conjecture in popular culture (films,
  TV series, etc)
• Homework
• A maths autobiography or a history of your
  feelings about maths
• Play some online games with secret codes and
  messages

5
History-Media Studies 

• Nationality of films

• Films reflect the cultures and nations in which
  they were produced. Hollywood films reflect
  certain things about the American nation's
  culture love of distraction, attraction to
  adrenaline and testosterone, goods triumph over
  evil, and belief that things work out in the end.
  Other cultures and nations have different values
  and so produce different sorts of films.
• National cinema is seen as a medium of promoting
  local culture, cultural diversity and national
  specificity, reflecting on the nation itself,
  its cultural heritage, its indigenous traditions,
  its sense of common identity and continuity.
  National films display the nations culture to
  the world when screened abroad.
• Films are a collaborative medium, and a lot of
  people, sometimes from different nationalities,
  have a hand in determining the final product of
  film (co-productions).
• Activities
• Which factors define the nationality of a film?
  (Language, Cast, Crew, Filming location(s),
  Music/soundtrack, Costumes
• Story line/ Topic, Script, Audience,
  Genre, Values/outlook of life, Financing, Country
  of production)
• Look at the Brides homepage and find
  information about the nationality of the above.
• http//thecia.com.au/reviews/b/images/brides-nyfes
  -production-notes.pdf
• Read the reviews about Brides (see Worksheet)
  written by various viewers in The Internet Movie
  Database (IMDb). Find out whether the reviewers
  are Greek, Greek of the diaspora, not Greek.
• Which cultural phenomenon does the film reflect?
  Is it national or transnational?
• Suggest some topics that the national cinema of
  other countries would deal with.
• Homework
• Write a movie Synopsis

6
Social and Political Studies 

• Stereotypes and prejudices

• The general concepts of stereotypes, scapegoats,
  prejudices, and discrimination are explored in a
  manner which will enable students to understand
  behavior and to condemn such behavior which is
  inappropriate in a modern, pluralistic society.
• Students will learn how to challenge bias,
  unfairness and stereotypical views while
  developing cross-cultural awareness and
  understanding
• Activity 1
• Students complete the questionnaire Im not a
  racist but. Then they compare their answers and
  discuss if there
• is any prejudice and bigotry in their answers or
  in those of their classmates. Gossary of
  important terms
• Activity 2
• Students write down five or six stereotypes for
  their own nationality. Was it easy to find them?
• Students read the leaflet THE PERFECT EUROPEAN
  SHOULD BE... Find which of the words in the
  glossary can apply to the leaflet
• Activity 3
• Students read extracts from the Greek
  Constitution to find values inherent in it (e.g.,
  freedom, liberty, justice, truth, equality) and
  discuss how prejudice, discrimination, and
  bigotry promote values which run counter to the
  Greek Constitution.
• Discussion
• Homework
• a. Keep a log of your television watching for one
  day, and record in it all instances you believe a
  character is being treated as a stereotype. b.
  Interview one of your classmates that comes from
  another country.

7
Theatre 

• Exploring values and cultural diversity

• A workshop in which participants play two games
  that introduce the issues of values and
  diversity. They learn that people come from
  varied backgrounds and have different
  experiences, values, and cultural orientations.
  These games and exercises end in a discussion
  about diversity issues, and the need for peer
  theatre to be age appropriate and culturally
  appropriate.
• Participants consider the diversity of the
  audience when developing messages because every
  audience is unique in some way.
• Participants learn to be inclusive, respect the
  fact that many in the audience will be dealing
  with family and personal issues (such as divorce,
  difficulty staying in school, sexual identity,
  relationships, etc.) and try to ensure that
  theatre pieces do not alienate those who may be
  different from them.
• Game 1
• Exercise Take a Stand /Trainer reads aloud
  some statements and asks participants to take a
  stand by agreeing or disagreeing. If they are
  unsure, they can stand in the center of the room
  the unsure zone, but only for one of the
  statements.
• Exercise Take a Stand Discussion
• Game 2
• Exercise Crossing the Line/ Trainer reads a
  list of personal descriptions. If any
  participants think the description fits them and
  they feel comfortable identifying themselves,
  they can cross the line, turn around, and face
  the rest of the group. Because some of these
  descriptions may be highly personal, participants
  have the choice not to cross the line (and remain
  in place), even if the description fits them.
• Exercise Crossing the Line Discussion