Culture Lesson By: Kejun Song
I will play the Hello song video to let
I start by asking students whether
they (or their parents, grandparents)
speak a language other than English
at home, whether they can name the
language. (Day 1)
Lesson Steps
Then I give a homework assignment
of learning from their parents the
word “Hello” in their home language.
(Day 1)
The whole class will try to use these
new languages in the Hello song and
sing it together. (Day 5 or later)
students hear the word Hello in some
languages other than English. This
will let students know that the world
has many languages, and people
living in different places speak
different language. (Day 1)
The students come back to school
and share with class how to say the
word “Hello” in their home language.
(Day 2 – Day 4)
 Homework Template

Mrs. Henry (name) _______ (student name)

Italy (country) ___ ___ (country)

Ciao means “Hello” ______ means “Hello”

 Student
Work Sample
Reflection
Day 1

• I was excited to see that kindergarteners were able to answer the question “why your parent (grandparents) can speak a language that is not
English?”

• The song “Hello to All the Children of the World” helped the students to get the world as a village idea.

Day 2-4

• My C.T. supported this lesson as she believe this is a good way to reach out to families that speak languages other than English. In her weekly
communication email, she asked parents to help our kindergartners finish the homework assignments.

• Some students are open and feel confident to say the word “Hello” in their home language in class; a couple of students were not ready to share and
needed encouragement.

• One EL student whose parents are from Iran did the assignment but don’t want to say the word “Salam” in class, so I pronounced it and asked, “does
that sound what it likes at your home?” And he nodded. Then I said “Great, now we know how to say hello to your mom and dad.”

• Another student told me on the first day that his mom and dad speak Chinese at home (probably because he knows I can speak Chinese); but on the
second day when he brought back the homework assignment, he showed Vietnamese on it and told me where his parents and family members are
from, so this homework assignment helped him learn about his family origin better.

• From these two students’ responses, I learned that language (culture) barriers do play a role in children’s development and learning in an English
environment. As a teacher, we can foster a better school-home connection by implementing cultural sensatory lessons and projects.