International Students Bring Culture Boxes “Alive” in Your Classroom!

PSU International Cultural Service Program (ICSP) students featured above: Jose Pool Sierra-Mexico, Mustafa Almuzel-Saudi Arabia, Benjamin Pocheron-France, Maloud Dabab-Libya, Lifia Teguh-Indonesia. 

SPEAKER REQUESTS www.icsppdx.com  QUESTIONS? [email protected]

WorldOregon’s Global Classroom houses an extensive, 30-year collection of Culture Boxes representing over 100 countries of the world. These boxes are filled with hands-on, authentic treasures and lessons about the art, culture, and daily life of people from almost every continent. 

• Culture Boxes provide a catalyst for your students to meet people from around the world.
• Culture Boxes help transform schools into a world microcosm with country displays, hallway art galleries, international guests and culminating events that include the whole community.
• Virtual Culture Boxes expand box contents way beyond their walls.

The following teachers share their Culture Box experiences:

“The variety of objects were amazing! Every single student found something that interested them. I had one group of students who were examining coins and then, without any prompting from me, took out their own money to compare and contrast.  This level of interest and natural curiosity is exactly what I was hoping to achieve!”

-Chehalem Middle School

“In the Spain Culture Boxes, we studied celebrations, transitions and customs. We worked with the Torero and the Bull, the flamenco realia, and most of the visuals in the box when we were studying different cities. We focused on landmarks of the country like Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona with the visuals, books and pictures, including the Anthony Gaudi book…and many more!”

-Sunset High School

“Ghana Culture Box…We used the items to show the Kente Cloth and clothing for example. We let the kids look and touch and then watched videos and did projects with this.  We also used the musical instruments which went perfectly with our Right Brain Initiative artists, the Obo Addy Legacy Project.  We also used the maps, books and teacher resources. The online resources were also great!”

-Powell Valley Elementary School

“I borrowed 3 Turkey boxes and organized the items around the classroom by type: clothing, instruments, food, etc.  Then after a discussion of characteristics of culture, students explored the items, looking at examples of each category from Turkey.  We then compared Turkish culture with American Culture so kids could identify similarities and differences. To analyze Primary Sources, each student picked one item from the boxes and brought it to their desk and walked through the steps of understanding an unfamiliar object:observe, explain, infer, question.”

-Valley Catholic Middle School

Request a Portland State University's International Cultural Service Program student at www.icsppdx.com. Any Questions? Contact [email protected]