Proverbs Reflect Culture
Objective
As a result of this lesson, students will be able to:
- Analyze elements of US culture as reflected in proverbs.
- Analyze elements of Brazilian culture as reflected in proverbs.
- Write an essay related to the proverbs using one of several prompts.
Material
Activities
- Distribute the student handout entitled Proverbs from the United States.
- Direct students to silently read these proverbs.
- After the reading is completed, ask students to explain the meaning of each proverb. (Take the time to explain any they don’t know.)
- Ask students to give examples from their own lives that exemplify the proverbs.
- Divide the class into small groups of 3-4.
- Using the following guiding questions, direct each group to analyze the elements of our culture that are reflected in the proverbs.
- What key words do you see in several of the proverbs?
- Which ideas and values are important for those who use these proverbs?
- Once the groups have reached their conclusions, ask each group toshare the key words and values they identified, asking each group to support their opinions with specific examples. (Record their responses on the chalkboard.)
- Repeat these 4 steps with the Brazilian proverbs.
- Concluding activity: Using one of the following prompts, direct students to write an essay based on the work they have done:
- Compare proverbs used in the US and Brazil and the ways that they reflect the respective cultures. Use specific examples of proverbs and cultural elements to support what you write.
- Select two or three proverbs (from the same culture) that you think have a similar message. Explain the message citing examples from life that illustrate the proverbs
Select one or two proverbs from each culture (a total of 2 – 4 proverbs). Explain how they are similar (or different) using specific examples from daily life that support your opinion.
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- Have students take pictures in their home, school, and/or neighborhood to illustrate a proverb, writing an explanation of what is shown and the proverb it represents. Direct students to present the pictures and related written explanations to the class.
