Peace Corps Backpack
This lesson for grades K-5 students is a great way to introduce and explain basic cultural differences through a spin-off on the classic 'show-and-tell' activity.
Objectives
After completing this activity, students should be able to:
- Understand the similarities and differences between what they pack for school and what children in the Peace Corps Volunteer’s host county packed for school.
- Relate to students in another country.
Procedures
- Choose 5-8 items to put in your backpack that represent how children in your host country packed for their school day (books, notebooks, pencils, money, bags, etc.).
- Ask students what they pack in their backpacks to get ready for the day. Ask what they think they might need if they were traveling to another country.
- Allow students to remove an item one by one from the backpack.
- Ask students if they know what the item is, or what it is used for and discuss each answer.
- Encourage students to share ideas and ask questions. Ask them about the differences and similarities they see with the items in their own backpack.
- Were they surprised by anything in the backpack?
- Were there any similarities? What were they?
- What were the differences?