Talking Walls: Fitting software into a constructivist model Jeanne Pfeifer Susan O’Hara

Talking Walls A treasury of fine lessons on multiculturalism, world issues, and history….a jubilant celebration of diversity in today’s world culture imparting optimism in the human journey

Talking Walls: Unit Plan l Students read Talking Walls and Talking Walls: The Stories Continue in teams, choose storiesTalking Walls Walls: The Stories Continue l Explore software appropriate to the storiessoftware l Each team will devise symbols related to their stories and enter symbol on a classroom world map and timelineclassroom world map timeline l Students categorize stories in different ways and begin to focus on differences and similarities across cultural perspectivescategorizecultural perspectives l Communicate with students in other parts of the world to ask about walls in their communityother parts of the world l Students explore the meanings of customs, traditions, and valuesexplore l Students go out into their own community to find and take pictures of walls (digital or scan)own community l Students build a web based wall of their community

What Walls? Talking Walls: Great Wall of China Aborigine Paintings Lascaux Cave PaintingsLascaux Wailing Wall (Jerusalem)Wailing Wall Mahabalipuram’s Cliff carvings (India) Decorated walls of Ka’aba (Mecca) Green Granite Walls (Zimbabwe) Cuzco Wall (Peru) Taos Pueblo Diego Rivera Murals Limestone Walls of Canadian Museum of Civilization Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall Nelson Mandela’s Prison Walls Berlin Wall

Talking Walls: The Stories Continue Peace Wall, Moscow Walled City, Morocco Prayer wheel Walls (Tibet and India) Wat Po Temple (Thailand) Divali Wall paintings (India) Dog Wall (Tokyo) Peace lines (Belfast) Pable Neruda’s Fence (Chile) Friendship, Maine Murals at Bonampak (Mexico) Hadrian’s Wall (G.B.) Wall of Remembrance (Holocaust) Ndebele (South Africa) Levee Wall (Mississippi) Chinese Immigrant Wall (Angel Island) Anti-Graffiti Network (Philadelphia)

Classroom Map of the World Students will create symbols representing the Talking Walls and place them appropriately on the world map

Categorize different “walls”: (time) 15000BC 2001 Cuzco Peru Lascaux Nelson Mandela Great Wall 1AD 1400 Wailing Wall Mahabalipuram’s Wall Peace Wall Berlin Wall 961 BC Hadrian’s Wall 138 AD CP Holocaust Wall

Other Ways of Categorizing l Cultural Identity –Cuzco Wall –Ndebele Wall l Political –Nelson Mandela –Peace Wall –Berlin Wall –Holocaust Wall l Religious –Cuzco Wall –Peace Wall l Artistic l Story Telling l Inside Out –Nelson Mandela –Cuzco Wall –Peace Wall l Educational Other Categories?

Cultural Perspectives Students will examine both the timeline and categories l What are the cultural perspectives embedded in the various walls? l What specific values do these seem to represent? l What are some of the positive and negative impacts of the manifestation of these values? l What seem to be some lasting/common values across cultures? l Are there specific values represented during different time periods? time periods l What is fascinating about differences in cultures? l How can we value and respect multiple perspectives and learn from them?

Walls Around the World l Using students will communicate with other children around the world l They will describe what they have been exploring with Talking Walls l Students will ask: –What walls are important in your community? –Will you send a description and some pictures or drawings of these walls? l Students will make symbols for new walls and add to classroom World Map

What Purposes do Customs and Traditions Serve any Culture? l How do customs and traditions differ from routines? –Name a routine that you have –Describe traditions from your culture –Describe customs from your culture –Have any of these changed over time and why? l What types of customs and traditions from your culture did you see in any of the stories? l How are customs and traditions passed down from generation to generation? l How do customs and traditions reflect the values people hold?

Our Community Wall l Students will explore and photograph walls in their own community and/or school l Students will scan pictures or use digital cameras l Students will build a virtual, hyperlinked wall, which tells the story of their own community l Students will present their personal Talking Walls in a multimedia presentation.

Topics for Discussion l What kinds of Talking Walls do you think students might focus on? l What components of this unit infused the technology into a constructivist learning environment? l What other ideas do you have for using software in a constructivist way? l Can all software be adapted for use in constructivist learning environments?

Talking Walls A treasury of fine lessons on multiculturalism, world issues, and history….a jubilant celebration of diversity in today’s world culture imparting optimism in the human journey