Blog

This past October, some ProQuest colleagues and I attended an annual conference for the Utah Council for the Social Studies. It was a great opportunity to rub elbows with educators who use CultureGrams in their classrooms, as well as inform new teachers about how CultureGrams can enhance their class activities. One teacher, who’s been using CultureGrams for years, told us about an activity she often uses with her students. With her permission, we share it here.

Speed Dating with World Cultures

• 分配a different country to each student and show them how to find their country’s report in the CultureGrams Online Database.
• Have students spend 10 minutes researching different aspects of their country, such as Diet, Holidays, Family, and Religion.
• Arrange students into pairs and have each partner tell what they learned about their country. Every 3-5 minutes, have the students switch to a new partner and present the information again.

This activity helps students practice their reading, summarizing, and presentation skills. It also helps students learn just how diverse and unique world countries can be in a quick time frame. With our Kids, States, and Provinces editions, this activity can also be adapted for younger students or to compare U.S. states or Canadian provinces.