A culturally responsive curriculum uses the local language and cultural knowledge as a foundation for the rest of the curriculum.
Standard C is all about grounding your lesson in place. In our case, place is Alaska. For me specifically, I will be in an 8th grade language arts classroom in Anchorage, which has a very diverse population.
I see myself incorporating a lot of Native stories into the curriculum, which will allow the student to explore and appreciate the culture. The lesson plan that I am developing right now taps native oral storytelling. We are looking at the Tlingit story, Strong Man. After we examine the original story then we are going to look at the modern day comic retelling of the story. This is an example of how we can tap into the culture and then help students understand how the ideas and values presented are still relevant today.
Inviting an elder to come into the classroom for the first reading (or telling in this case) would be awesome. Then we could hear the language and ask questions. We could learn some new vocabulary that we can incorporate into the lesson and the classroom. I think having an actual person telling the story helps kids realize that these oral traditions are not just a thing of the past.
Solid! ASD is the most diverse school district in the country; it could be cool to incorporate the stories and experiences from all of the various cultures you run in to.
True story: I have a t-shirt that says “Mr. Strong.” I’ve even worn it to class. That’s almost like being Strong Man right?…ok maybe not.
But still, we gotta bring Native culture to the Anchorage bubble! It’s just too influential of a city to be so insular. Kind of scary actually. Good on ya for planning to bring the rest of Alaska to those students.