Integrating global education into your core standards can be done easily and painlessly by shifting your thinking, looking at the lesson with a global lens, and making a few small tweaks to the original lesson plan/unit. Start small, think BIG!
Please see two examples below of how I globalized two different Kindergarten Writing ELA Common Core State Standards by modifying the original Lucy Calkins informational and opinion writing units in order to bring a global perspective to the writing activities. If the kindergarten standards can be globalized, I am confident that you, too, can find ways to globalize your standards for ANY grade level.
Globalized Lesson Example #1
Common Core State Standard: Kindergarten Writing
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.2: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.
Integration of Global Education
Students will use ePals to make a global connection with a kindergartner or 1st grader from another part of the world. The students can ask and answer questions about one another in their correspondence.
Students will use the information they learn from their global connection to write informational books about their ePal and their ePal’s home country.
Students will then share their published informational books with their ePals.
Lesson Plan Modifications for Global Competencies Rather than simply writing informational books about generic topics they are “experts” on, such as soccer, dogs, or being a good big sister, students will...
Investigate the World: Students will ask their ePal questions to learn more about another part of the world. Students will then synthesize what they learn from their ePal correspondence to construct a coherent informational text that includes a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to give information about their ePal and/or their ePal’s home country.
Recognize Perspectives: Students will recognize that some of their perspectives and opinions will be the same as their ePal’s, and some will be different. Students will recognize and express their own opinions respectfully.
Communicate Ideas: Students will use drawing, dictating, and writing to communicate effectively with their ePal (a diverse audience).
Informal Outcome Assessment
Students will use the information they learn from their global connection to write informational books about their ePal and/or their ePal’s home country.
Students’ writing will be scored with the Lucy Calkins kindergarten informational writing rubric.
Students’ writing will be analyzed for accuracy of facts about their ePal and/or the ePal’s home country.
Students’ writing will be analyzed for evidence of respectfully recognizing differing perspectives. For example, students could write: “_______’s favorite food is rice. My favorite food is pizza. It’s okay that we like different food.” OR for pre-emergent writers, students may draw a picture of their ePal and them doing different activities but both smiling.
Globalized Lesson Example #2
Common Core State Standard: Kindergarten Writing
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.K.7: Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of books by a favorite author and express opinions about them).
Integration of Global Education
Using #mysteryskype on Twitter and during the Mexico kindergarten social studies unit, I will find a class to partner with from Mexico.
The two classes will each propose an author to do an author study on, such as Eric Carle and Samantha Vamos. Via Skype, the two teachers will then engage in a shared read aloud of three or more books by their selected author. This will help in the event that my class or the class from Mexico has difficulty getting their hands on specific titles.
After each read aloud, students will write a short book review using one of the sentence starters below (as needed) OR we will do a shared writing experience in which we write everyone’s ideas from both classes on a shared chart paper. After students write their reviews or form their opinions, we will hold a Skype discussion/sharing session with our partner class during which students from each class will have the opportunity to express their opinions about the book:
“I like/don’t like that book because...”
“That part/book was funny...”
“This book makes me feel...”
“That book reminds me of...”
“This is a good book because...”
“My friend might like this book because...”
Lesson Plan Modifications for Global Competencies Rather than simply doing an author study and writing/expressing opinions limited to our own classroom perspective, students will…
Recognize Perspectives: Students will recognize and express their own opinions about books. Students will recognize and examine how their partner class (diverse audience) may perceive a book differently than they do based on their personal experiences, cultural influences, and interests. Students will examine a multicultural author’s writing and compare/contrast it with their favorite author’s writing.
Communicate Ideas: When using technology to engage in Skype interactions with a class from Mexico, students will listen to and communicate effectively with diverse people, using appropriate verbal and nonverbal behavior.
Informal Outcome Assessment
Students will write a short book review or share an opinion about various stories selected by their own class as well as by their partner class.
Teacher Observation: Students will refrain from judgement when listening to diverse perspectives and will model appropriate and respectful verbal and nonverbal behavior when Skyping. Students will demonstrate an understanding that their partner class’s opinions may vary from their own by making comments like “That’s okay that you didn’t like this book as much as we did.”