In this first unit, the students studied how their own personal identities are influenced by attending Graded and living with their families here in Brazil. Primary source data, in the form of student surveys, helped them think about their current reality while they learned the sociological and psychological foundations of identity, ethnicity, and nationality in class. This became the basis of establishing their group’s worldview. The next step was to take these specific societal elements and apply them to the culture of large groups of people through learning about a pair of interrelated systems.

The first system, the Material Culture, deals with the physical world and the things that a society makes and uses.  The second, the Non-Material, involves the values and beliefs of a society, taught through its institutions, which determines how people behave.  By applying the two systems to their own lives, figuring how a culture functions, becomes concrete.

Here the students were to research data in the library about their specific society element, while learning the ins and outs of writing a solid expository paragraph in class using the writing process. After they defined their element, they then went on to talk about the connection between it and the Material and Non-Material culture systems. By having examples from their own life here in Brazil, they brought the element to life for themselves and for the virtual student they were talking to.

 

Student Information: 6th Grade Profile and Worldview The Society Element Definitions The Material and Non-Material World Chart

Teacher Information The River Valley Characteristics and Standards The Material World Information Sheet The Non-Material World Information Sheet

Individual students web pages constructed by the students using Front Page 2003 and Microsoft Office free graphics.

                   Site constructed and maintained by Bridgette Fincher. 6th Grade Graded Humanities. 2007-2008