Intercultural Lesson

Hypothetical Class/Needs Analysis

This is a small class level 3 (students who have some competency in English and need a
program focused specifically on language development for academic learning) and level 4
(students who are able to succeed in most senior high school courses with consistent support in
English language development for academic learning) students. They have been together for
some time and are comfortable speaking to everyone in the group in English. Many of the
students speak the same first language, and stronger students often carry the weaker students.
The purpose of this task is to get the weaker students to practice their English on their own as
well as to introduce the students to culture through fairy tales/folktales.
Class 1: Pre-task: Fairy tales & Folklore
Telephone: We will start with a game of telephone. I will whisper a sentence into the ear of a
student, and they must whisper it to the next person until every person has been whispered to.
The last person will share what was whispered to them, and we will discuss how it changed as it
was passed along. I will relate this experience to the telling of folklore/fairy tales.
Terminology: I will ask the students: What is a fairy tale/folklore tale? What knowledge do you
already have about fairy tales and folklore tales? They will brainstorm with a partner and write
down their answers. They will share the key points they discuss with the rest of the class, and I
will write their answers on the board. I will make sure that they understand that fairy
tales/folklore either explain something about the way the world works or tell a moral, that
because they are usually told orally, there may be many different versions of the same tale (like
the telephone game we just played), and that most importantly, fairy tales and folklore tales are
expressions of culture.
Napi and the Big Rock: I will tell the version of the story of Napi and the Big Rock that I grew
up hearing, (Im from Okotoks which literally translates to big rock). I will make sure that the
students understand that Napi is a trickster character and what that means, and that in some
versions of this story, its Coyote instead of Napi. In my version, bats try to stop the big rock
from rolling over Napi by flying into the rock which is why they have squished noses. I will then
show them this video version of the story: https://vimeo.com/117641605
Discussion: Students will answer the questions: 1. What was explained about the world in my
version? 2. What was explained about the world in the video version of the tale? 3. What was the
moral of both tales? 4. What clues are in the story that could explain what culture the story is
from? Answers: 1. Why bats look the way they do 2. Why the big rock is split in two 3. Dont
give something and take it back 4. The music in the video, the character Napi, Coyotes are from
North America, the plains, the weather etc. After this is completed, I will explain the task to the
students.
Task
Students will
 comprehend and interpret the meaning of a variety of written texts on topics of study;
explain how new information relates to previous learning
preview and review to get main ideas and supporting details from simple texts, in areas of
special interest or knowledge; e.g., newspaper stories, magazine articles, fiction
present oral reports on topics of study to the class.
use strategies to fill gaps in understanding when reading or listening to authentic texts;
e.g., reading ahead, mental rehearsal, predicting meaning from context
Students will
1. Research a fairy tale/folklore from any culture of their choosing
2. Present a fairy tale/folklore story to the class
3. Predict what culture the story their peers have told is from based on textual clues
Research: Students will research and prepare to verbally present a fairy tale or folklore story to
the rest of the class (LO 1). It may be may be from anywhere in the world. I will encourage them
to not choose their own culture or Canada, as that would make guessing too easy, but that is only
a suggestion. They will have access to books as well as laptops (youtube is an excellent source
for visual and verbal cultural fairy tales) to search for stories to tell. I can also provide them with
a list of stories and cultures if they are struggling. They must not tell anyone else in the class
what culture their tales are from, and they must be prepared to explain key terms in the story they
tell.
Class 2
Story Telling: Students will sit in a circle, and I will make tea for the class. The students will
then go around the circle and tell their fairy tales/folklore/legends (LO 2). The rest of the
students who are not presenting will listen and take notes on clues in the story that could help
them guess what culture the story is from (LO 3). For example, there is an Indian folktale about
an elephant and a dog; the students could eliminate North America and Europe from their
guesses because elephants are not from those continents. At the end of the tale, the presenter will
answer any questions the students have about plot or vocabulary.
Predict: We will go around the circle and the listeners will share their guesses and the clues that
lead them to their conclusions. Once everyone has shared, the story teller will share what culture
it is from. If we want to make it competitive, points could be given for correct guesses. If no one
guesses correctly, the story teller gets the point. The next person would share their story and so
on.

Class 3
Post-Task
Discussion: As a class, we will discuss the implications folklore and fairy tales have in the real
world. The tales show the rich heritage of a culture, but can sometimes be problematic because
they lead to stereotypes. For example, the tale I told at the beginning of the lesson, Napi and the
Big Rock, has the moral that you must not give something and take it back. It is possible that this
tale directly was warped and lead to the really derogatory term Indian Giver being applied to
all FNMI people (which is incredibly racist). There is irony in this perception as this Blackfoot
tale is cautioning against exactly which the stereotype says. However, despite that, this doesnt
mean that the stereotype hasnt caused damage and wont cause damage to these people in the
future. We will use this same lens to look at other possibly damaging stereotypes that are
produced from the folktales the students shared, and disassemble harmful perceptions. This
discussion will in essence inspire the students to appreciate the folk tales and fairy tales from
different cultures, but to also think critically about stereotypes.

Materials/Resources
https://vimeo.com/117641605

Rationale
I chose to do this lesson on folklore tales and fairy tales because they are expressions of
culture that live in a realm that is in between big C and little c. If they exist in the form of a
physical book, that book is a tangible element which can be considered big C culture. However,
according to the Little c culture Worksheet, the definition of little c culture is: abstract content
of a culture including morality. As stated at the beginning of the lesson, one of the purposes of
fairy tales and folktales is to express a moral, like not giving something and taking it back. These
morals show what is important to the culture that the tale came from; it is an invisible non-
tangible form of culture. Therefore, studying these tales is a good way to introduce students to
both facets of culture.
The most important part of this lesson is the post-task in which we discuss the
implications folklore and fairy tales have on the real world in the form of stereotypes. It is
important that students become aware of stereotypes produced by both big and little c culture.
Exposing them to stereotypes and encouraging the students to think critically about stereotypes
will prevent them from making broad assumptions about all people belonging to a culture and
assuming that a people can be reduced to a single image.
In summary, my lesson enables students to research cultures which they are interested
and be exposed to little c culture through finding the morals in their folktales and fairy tales. It is
effective because it is presented to the students as a kind of game which would be a fun way for
them to engage with other cultures. Most importantly, the task facilitates the ability to talk about
ways cultures can be harmed by negative stereotypes often found in folktales in the post-task.