Getting Hitched: Exploring Wedding Customs in Other Cultures

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Overview | Introduction | Quest/Task | Roles | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits
Process
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This is a multidisciplinary project.

 

·        Students are going to practice their computer and internet research skills

·        They will practice their language skills (reading, writing, and speaking).

·        They will gain intercultural understanding.

·        They will practice decision making, negotiation and presentation skills.

The project will be conducted in a week of five, one hour lessons.

 

Day 1: Pre-computer skills including setting up groups, and clarifying roles and outlining objectives. Once students have decided on their roles, they should go to the Cultural or Ethnic Groups website to choose a culture, and find out a little information about the particular cultures wedding customs. If there is more time the class might continue with brushing up their smart search skills.

 

 

Day 2: Students will search the internet, looking for information for each Point of comparison regarding their particular cultures wedding customs.  The Third team member will review one of two PowerPoint tutorials (PPT1 or PPT2), and start to build the shell or template in which the Students 1 & 2 will insert their information/content.  If there is more time, all three students (within each group) may review and practice their oral presentation skills.

 

 

Day 3: All three members will come together to discuss their findings and prepare the comparison and contrast in PPT. Use the following link for an example of content: Culture Capsules

 

 

Day 4: Students will complete and present the PPT to the entire class.

 

 

Day 5: Follow-up: Each group of students will sit down and agree upon a wedding plan that takes each cultures wedding customs into consideration. Students will create a proposal to this end, using the Points of comparison as a guide for recommending how to plan a mutually satisfactory ceremony.  This should be written as a Word document.

 

 

Resources

 

Hardware:

Students need to have access to 5-10 computers and an LCD projector and its accessories, TV & VCR

Software:

Windows 98 or higher, Word, PowerPoint and Internet Explorer with high-speed T1, DSL or cable are required.

 

Email

The teacher and all the students need to have email accounts for communication and link sharing.

Video:

The Movie: My Big Fat Greek Wedding

 

Internet resources

There is a lot of information on the Internet that is helpful for the accomplishment of the task. As a starting point, the students (and the teacher) might want take a look at the following websites.  

 

http://members.aol.com/Mjkarl/ethnic.htm gives an overview of particular customs in different ethnic wedding customs. It covers wedding customs from Africa to Scandinavia, and from Indian reservations to Vietnam.

 

http://www.weddingsatwork.com/culture/rituals_japanese.htm discusses Japanese wedding customs and has links to other Asian wedding customs such as Hindu, Chinese, Korean and Filipino. The following link is particularly interesting as it addresses planning an ethnic wedding http://www.weddingsatwork.com/article_gainesvillesun.htm

 

http://www.theknot.com/c_customs_and_ethnic_traditions.shtml Explores different multicultural wedding customs. It has articles talking about different ways of having a typical ethnic wedding. The Q&A section might also be interesting for variations that are likely to finding a common ground.

 

Check out this link of the online Britannica Encyclopedia: http://search.eb.com/search?query=Wedding+customs&ct=eb&x=12&y=8

 

Outcome

 

PowerPoint Presentation

 

Ss will produce a PPT presentation of 6 slides.  Each slide will detail how each respective culture views this aspect of wedding custom. 

 

Slide 1:  Major Steps

 

Slide 2:  Costume

 

Slide 3:  Location

 

Slide 4:  Ceremony

 

Slide 5:  Dowry and other Money Question$

 

Slide 6:  Rituals (perhaps unique to the culture)

 

 

 

Proposal/Recommendation Document

 

Ss will use the Points of comparison to guide them in proposing a recommendation for the best possible multicultural wedding ceremony for their respective cultures.  They should organize it the same way as the slides were presented, indicating how they will integrate elements of each culture into each aspect of the wedding.  A good proposal should be balanced between the two cultures, without any elements that would be considered offensive by either culture.  Students should also propose how the ceremony will be paid for, taking into consideration how each culture handles such matters.

 

 

Variations

 

There is some room for variation in this WebQuest, but one thing remains constant:  Students need access to a computer with PowerPoint, Internet Explorer and an Internet connection in order to effectively complete all of the elements of the WebQuest.  This being said teachers who dont have access to The Ideal Setting can try to implement the The Budget Locale.

 

The Ideal Setting

Basic Equipment:

·         5-10 PC or Macintosh computers

·         LCD Projector and accessories

·         TV/VCR

Software:

·         Internet Explore or other web browser

·         PowerPoint

Internet Connection:

 

·        All computers connected to internet via high speed T1, DSL or cable line.

 

The Budget Locale

While such resources will allow for students to explore the topic and complete the WebQuest with relative ease within the time allotted, many will not have ready access to such equipment.  For those with only one computer in the classroom, the teacher can supplement by printing out the content of the provided links, and presenting the tutorials to the whole class at once, via LCD projector.  However, if the teacher wants to include the PowerPoint presentation as the main mode of presentation, then the WebQuest will likely need to be spread out over the course of weeks, as the various groups of students will need to spend considerable time at the computer to complete their presentations. 

If the teacher is willing to abandon PowerPoint, then students could present said comparison in the form of T-charts drawn onto poster paper.  This would reduce prep time, though students will still need to use gather information via the internet.

 
 
 

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