This document outlines activities for a class of 15 newly immigrated Russian students to learn about American Fourth of July traditions. Over the course of a week, the students will listen to a podcast about the history and origins of Fourth of July traditions, participate in a 3D drawing activity, watch video clips of Fourth of July celebrations, experience a mock celebration with food and fireworks, and give an oral presentation identifying at least three traditions and their origins. The teacher aims to help the students understand how Fourth of July traditions are both similar and different to Russian celebrations by connecting the lessons to their home culture and using varied activities appealing to different learning styles.

1. A. My class is composed of 15 newly immigrated Russian students, aged 10 to 19. There are 8
males and 7 females, all are visually impaired to some extent.
S. My students will identify at least three Fourth of July traditions and their origination, by the
end of the week, after experiencing a mock celebration, listening to a podcast and movie clips,
tasting and handling objects, and participating in a 3d drawing activity at 75% accuracy.
S. I will create a podcast compiling the history of the celebration the Fourth of July (i.e. why we
set off fireworks, why we eat apple pie, etc.) and the class will listen to it and have a Q&A after.
We will participate in an assisted 3D drawing activity utilizing heavy paper and collaborative
drawing techniques. We will listen a montage of movie clips containing Fourth of July
celebrations. We will have a mock celebration where we will set off fireworks, eat traditional
Fourth of July foods, and discuss each experience.
U. In the first activity I will utilize a 15 minute podcast. In the podcast we will address the
origination of 3 foods associated with the Fourth of July (watermelon, apple pie, and hotdogs),
the generally accepted form of celebration (a cook out), and where the tradition of setting off
fireworks came from. We will listen to a 5 minute portions of the podcast and them stop after
each one to discuss the traditions addressed in that section, including how they are similar or
different from Russian celebration elements. After we have completed all the sections I will have
a brief Q&A with the students to assess their comprehension of the material and address any
discrepancies or further questions.
In the next activity we will utilize heavy paper and ballpoint pens to do an assisted drawing
activity. The students will be paired with an assistant who will hold the pen with them and draw
items from the previous day’s podcast, such as the American flag, on heavy paper. Through the
motion of drawing, and feeling the paper after, the students can get some mental Representation
of the items we discussed the day before. We will follow this with a game style activity
involving 3D pictures of the items we drew where the students will try to guess which items is
depicted using only touch senses.
In the next activity we will listen to video clips of people describing and experiencing Fourth of
July celebrations. During this activity we will further compare and contrast this holiday with
Russian holiday and traditions, such as Russia Day and the tradition of fireworks on that holiday.
In the fourth activity I will throw a mock Fourth of July cookout style celebration, including
eating Hotdogs, watermelon and apple pie, and setting off fireworks. The students will be
divided into groups of three and assigned a project due the following class.
The final activity will be an oral report addressing at least favorite/interesting three topics we
addressed in class, and why the students enjoyed that particular tradition.
R. I will motivate my students by connecting my lessons from the start, back to their home
culture, and show how Russian celebration are not as different from American celebrations as
they might think. Also by utilizing both kinesthetic, auditory, and Q&A style activities I will
appeal to all students.

2. E. The students will divide into groups to create a short oral presentation addressing at least
three traditions we talked about in class, which they will present to the other class members.