Grades 6–8
Find a wealth of lessons and activities based on Peace Corps stories that will help students understand peoples and cultures the world over.
- A Fundamental of Culture—Cultural Context
- Students will examine how the unwritten rules of culture depend upon the context in which an event or behavior takes place.
- A Single Lucid Moment Lesson
- Students will wrestle with resolving contrasting values between cultures.
- A South African Storm
- The writer confronts issues of racial prejudice that she encounters in South Africa, years after the abolition there of the official policy of apartheid.
- All About HIV and AIDS
- Students will investigate what HIV/AIDS is, how it is caused, how it is transmitted, and what its effects are. ("HIV" stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. "AIDS" stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.)
- Americans
- Students will examine what it means to be "American" in the eyes of people from other cultures.
- Beyond Demographics
- Students will learn more about the Dominican Republic through watching and discussing a video about the country and its people.
- Breaching the Gulf Between Cultures
- Students delve further into the dynamics, the challenges, and the rewards of adjusting to a new culture, as illustrated by the author's account of his father's coming to terms with Sri Lankan customs.
- Brief Encounters (Building Bridges)
- Through a simulation game, students will experience what it is like to confront and deal with a culture highly different from their own.
- Capturing the Reader With Vivid Images
- Students will examine how the author tries to capture the reader's imagination immediately, through imagery--and hold on to it.
- Chatter
- Students will discover that cultural norms heavily influence how we communicate.
- Coming to Terms With Cultural Differences
- Students will discover that it is possible to be challenged and "culture-shocked" by the norms of one's own culture when returning home from having been away and living in another culture. They will also examine and compare the customs of modern marriages with the customes of traditional, arranged marriages.
- Conducting Interviews in the Community
- Students will conduct individual interviews to find out in depth how people in their own communities provide services to others.
- Confronting Two Challenges—One Physical, One Intellectual
- Students will examine how the author confronted the challenges of a new language and a new culture.
- Cross-Cultural Dialogue Lesson
- Students will strive to view situations from more than their own point of view.
- Culture Is Like an Iceberg
- Students will examine features of culture to determine which are visible and which are invisible, and how the invisible affect the visible.
- Defining Culture
- Students will define culture and examine how it affects them.
- Discovering New Perspectives on Life
- Students examine how the author's worldview expanded by living in another culture.
- Do You Really Know What Wealth Is?
- Students will examine what it means to have wealth—a concept that turns out to be philosophical as well as economic—and examine the importance of music.
- Encountering Very Different Ways of Life
- In a captivating and amusing account, the author shows just how challenging it is for someone to move from a familiar to an unfamiliar culture and then deal with adjusting to the new environment.
- Enough to Make Your Head Spin
- Students will learn to appreciate the value of nonverbal communication, focusing on the shaking or nodding of one's head, and the meanings attached to each activity in Bulgaria and in the United States.
- Everyone Has a Culture—Everyone Is Different
- Students will distinguish between what constitutes culture and what makes up personal individuality.
- Examining What Sharing Really Means
- Students examine the remarkable degree of sharing that the author encounters upon arrival in Africa.
- Features of Culture
- Students will enumerate features of their own culture and evaluate how those features have influenced their lives.
- Fighting Soil Erosion
This lesson is divided into two parts.
The first section is intended for classes that are being introduced to the topic of soil erosion. This section consists of a variety of activities developed by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the National Geographic Society. These activities will help develop a foundational understanding of soil erosion.
The second section allows the students to explore the issue of soil erosion in Guinea through a narrated slide show. Steve Jacobson, a former Peace Corps Volunteer, shares his experience and the different strategies Guineans are using to address soil erosion. Watch slide show
- Generalizations: How Accurate Are They?
- Students will examine how generalizations can be hurtful and unfair, and they will devise ways to qualify statements so they avoid stereotyping other people.
- Geography, Climate, and Community in the Dominican Republic
- Students will begin to familiarize themselves with the geography and culture of the Dominican Republic.
- Giving Students a Little Latitude
- Students will use a world outline map to locate places using coordinates of latitude and longitude.
- Good News/Bad News/Who Cares?
- Students will practice evaluating facts, bringing to bear their own experience, preferences, and international contexts.
- Half Man, Half Limping Rabbit
- A simple folk tale on the surface, the story told by Nina Porzucki holds deeper meaning that students can probe, ultimately examining the possible advantages of mortality over immortality.
- How Accurate Is It?
- Students will examine how generalizations can easily be invalid, and they will learn how to qualify generalizations to make them accurate.
- How Cultures Differ—Two Different Perspectives on the Same Event
- Students will examine the author's running race from two different cultural perspectives to see just how different the effects of culture can be.
- How a Writer Conveys Descriptions With a Wallop
- Students will identify strategies the author used to vividly convey qualitative and quantitative aspects of life in China, then use those strategies in writing of their own.
- I Had a Hero Lesson
- Students examine what it takes to make a hero.
- Identifying Structured Patterns in Folk Tales
- Students will learn that folk tales follow a pattern, and they will attempt to analyze a story to discover its pattern.
- Identifying and Using Parallelism and Balance in Literature
- Students will examine the story for use of balanced sentences and parallelism—two literary devices—and then practice using those devices in writing of their own.
- Ilunga's Harvest Lesson
- Students examine the culturally based impulse to share with others versus the impulse to watch out for oneself or one's immediate family.
- International Curiosity and National Pride
- Students will look at their own culture and at Bulgarian culture to identify national, local, or ethnic traits, while at the same time attempting not to over-generalize about any particular group of people.
- Interpreting Behavior: Expanding Our Point of View
- Students will be led to grasp the importance of understanding behavior from the perspective of the culture in which that behavior is the norm.
- Introducing Culture
- Students will begin to analyze what it is that constitutes culture.
- Is That a Fact?
- Students will practice distinguishing between facts and opinions, in order to better understand their own observations.
- Ivan the Fool Lesson 1
- Students will read a classic folk tale for comprehension and enjoyment.
- Ivan the Fool Lesson 2
- Students will learn that different cultures respect or fear certain numbers, numbers that can appear in folklore in several ways.
- Ivan the Fool Lesson 3
- Students will learn that a quest is central to many folk stories, and they will write their own, incorporating a quest.
- Just Like the Old Days
- Students will examine and experience roles and customs of rural Mongolians through role-playing, and they will compare unfamiliar roles from Mongolia with everyday roles in the United States.
- Just an Ordinary Day
- Students will weigh the old with the modern in contemporary Romania and examine how culture changes with the introduction of new elements.
- Life in a Hurricane Zone
- Students will learn about the nature of hurricanes and examine in detail the effect of Hurricane Georges upon the Dominican Republic.
- 'Magic' Pablo Lesson
- Students examine what goes into hero worship and establishing unlikely friendships.
- Modeling Our Writing After Another Author's Style
- Students will emulate the author's descriptive phrases in their own writing.
- Narrative Cartoons
- Based on essays and photos provided by Peace Corps Volunteers, students will create a narrative cartoon, a set of sequentially placed images that tell a story.
- Nomadic Life Lesson
- Students will examine the imagery in a rich, spare poem about an interlude between two women of different cultures in rural Niger.
- On Being Seen as Different
- Students will discover that while other cultures may seem strange or odd in some ways, their own culture can seem similarly strange or odd to those in other cultures.
- On Sunday There Might Be Americans Lesson
- Students will gain insight into the mindset of a rural boy in Niger, specifically regarding his relations with both indigenous and foreign people in the local market.
- One Step at a Time
- Students will see that it is crucial to understand the perspectives of another culture if one is trying to work within that other culture to effect change.
- Out With the Old, In With the New
- Students learn about China's cultural and economic complexities through a slide show that is written, read, and photographed by a Peace Corps Volunteer.
- Planning a Service Project
- Students will implement what they have learned about serving communities by planning and undertaking a community service project.
- Press Conference on Hurricane Georges
- To reinforce oral communication skills, organize a "press conference" on Hurricane Georges.
- Protecting Philippine Reefs
- As fish populations plummet, a Peace Corps Volunteer works with Filipinos to restore the sea life that the local people depend on for food. Watch slide show
- Recognizing How Another Culture Differs From One's Own
- Students will discover how the concepts of time and punctuality can differ markedly in the United States and another country.
- Reduce, Re-use, Recycle
- The importance of recycling to reduce waste, to employ trash in useful ways, and to save the environment all feature in students' review of this letter from Romania.
- Resolving a Cross-Cultural Misunderstanding
- Students will try to resolve a cross-cultural misunderstanding in a constructive manner.
- Respect for Authority
- Students will examine just how a Peace Corps Volunteer working in a culture steeped in subordination encourages local young people to challenge authority and participate in their governance.
- Searching for Meanings Beneath the Surface of the Poem
- Students will examine the poem and compare perspectives of the author and the subjects of his poem.
- Seeing Both Sides of an Issue
- Each student will develop arguments on both sides of an issue to see how it feels to understand opposing views.
- Seeing Things From the Someone Else's Point of View
- Students will examine the cultural trait of sharing, trying to view it from the point of view of someone in another culture.
- Seeing the World in New Ways
- Students will probe their own histories to record how they have had to expand their worldviews.
- Serious Doodling
- Students examine cartoons drawn by a Volunteer serving in the country of Jordan.
- Service Projects in the Dominican Republic
- Students will look into how Peace Corps Volunteers have provided community assistance in the Dominican Republic.
- Sleuthing a Writer's Skills
- Students will closely examine the author's lively text to determine how she achieved her many literary effects.
- Soneka's Village
- Students will focus on aspects of the Maasai pastoralist culture and compare it with their own.
- Starting Off the Day (and School Year) in Ukraine
- Students will compare the first day of school in Ukraine with the first day of school in the United States, including the challenges students and teachers both face in each country.
- The Extra Place Lesson
- Students take up the challenge of deciding what to do when confronted by a difficult and awkward situation.
- The Iceberg
- Students will identify features that all cultures share and decide which are visible and which are invisible.
- The Importance of Being Flexible and Open-minded as a Visitor to Another Culture
- Students will identify the advantages of being flexible when visiting or living in a culture different from one's own.
- The Importance of Speaking Another Language
- Students will evaluate how important it can be to speak a language other than their own.
- The Rigors of Learning a New Language
- Students will consider the immensity of the the task the author undertook to learn Chinese.
- The Talking Goat Lesson
- Students will analyze the meanings and patterns of a folk tale.
- The Third Question
- Students will reflect upon the rewards of providing services to others, and whether by giving they might perhaps be gaining at the same time.
- The True Cost of Coffee
- Students will examine the economic, health, and environmental risks of a one-crop economy in the developing world.
- This Is Tanzania
- Students will come away with an introductory knowledge of the volcanic history and wildlife of Tanzania, and of the subsistence agricultural economy with which most Tanzanians live.
- To Your Health
- Students will focus on how storks and other cultural icons, in both Bulgarian and American customs, are believed to encourage and bring good health.
- Tsunami! Examining Earth’s Most Destructive Waves
- Students will investigate just what a tsunami is, what causes it, how fast it travels, what it looks like, and its devastating effects upon landfall.
- Two Very Different Concepts of Time
- Students will delve further into the differences between a time-bound culture and a culture in which time seems almost unimportant.
- Understanding Demographics
- Students will use demographic information to gain an understanding of the Dominican Republic.
- Understanding and Avoiding HIV/AIDS
- Students will investigate what HIV/AIDS is, how it is caused, the effects of the disease, and how to prevent it. ("HIV" stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. "AIDS" stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.)
- Using Effective, Amusing Writing As a Model
- Students will use the author's writing as a model to achieve vivid description and engaging humor in compositions of their own.
- Using Effective, Evocative Writing as a Model
- Students will analzye the author's style to learn techniques for strengthening their own writing.
- Using a Mentor Text to Develop a New Style of Writing
- Students will examine some of the author's writing traits and then make an effort to incorporate his style into their own writing.
- Using an Author's Clever Strategies in One's Own Writing
- Students will examine specific clever strategies of the author and incorporate them in their own writings.
- Waking Up, Stepping Out
- Students will focus on a rich and colorful description of a culture unfamiliar to most of them, and then compare the similarities and differences they find between Nepali culture and their own.
- Water in Africa
- Water in Africa reflects the deep connection of water to all aspects of life in African countries, a concept Coverdell World Wise Schools has captured in the learning units featured on this site. Ninety Peace Corps Volunteers contributed firsthand accounts and photographs to the lessons and activities you will find.
- What Is Good Use of Time?
- Students delve into questions about how best to use one's time—in one culture or another.
- What Sharing Really Means
- Students will examine closely the meaning of generosity and how sharing can be a cultural trait.
- What's Integrity?
- What constitutes a "good" job? And what defines integrity? Students will explore both questions in relation to Steve Iams's writings about the subjects.
- What's Mongolia Really Like?
- Students will look at rural Mongolian nomadic culture through the eyes of a Peace Corps Volunteer and examine the dynamics of a people in transition.
- Where I Come From
- Students will examine family traditions as a microcosm of larger cultures.
- Where Life Is Too Short
- Students will come away from this lesson beginning to understand the impact and implications of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa and beyond.
- Where There's Smoke
- Students examine how people can effectively bring about positive change in another culture, focusing on the introduction of ventilated stoves in Nepali homes.
- Where in the World Is ...?
- Students will move themselves around a "world" map on the classroom floor, using lines of latitude and longitude to locate specific spots.
- Where in the World Is the Dominican Republic?
- Students will examine the effect of one's environment upon how one lives, and they will begin to investigate the geography of the Dominican Republic.
- Who Works for the Common Good in Our Community?
- Students will learn why and in what ways service organizations privide assistance to communities.
- Why Does Service Matter?
- Students will sum up what they have found about why and how other people serve their communities and why service matters.
- Windmills and Blogs: The Impact of Technology in Rural Peru
- This lesson encourages students to explore the role of technology in society, specifically its benefits and consequences. They will do this by reflecting on the role of technology in their own community and by viewing a Peace Corps Volunteer's slide show and discussing the uses of technology—windmills and computers—in a Peruvian village.
- Window Into Another Culture
- Students will examine a real-life confrontation of cultural values through the experience of a Peace Corps Volunteer in Papua New Guinea.
- Working With Environmental Issues
- Students will learn to appreciate the importance of clean water for the maintenance of good health, and how the lack of clean water leads to the spread of disease and parasites in West Africa.
- Working for the Common Good
- Students will examine the concept of the common good and evaluate how it applies to providing assistance in a developing country.