June 2005
An enewsletter for CultureGrams™ subscribers
This month's Culture Matters enewsletter will help teachers, librarians, administrators, and students stay informed about the world's cultures, while providing classroom resources and giving tips for using CultureGrams. Check out our online archive for access to past issues.
Regional Focus
This month: Central and Eastern Europe
Next month: North Africa
In this issue:
- Notes for CultureGrams Users: Daily Life
- Did You Know?
- Holiday Focus/Upcoming World Holidays
- Teaching Idea: Culture Charting
- Central and Eastern Europe Quiz
- Recipes from Central and Eastern Europe
- In the News: Russia and the Baltics
- Email Service Information
1. Notes for CultureGrams Users
One of the things users value most about CultureGrams is that our country reports allow them to compare daily life experience across cultures.
They can discover some of the similarities and differences among peoples around the world in such categories as diet, religion, recreation, greetings, and family life. In the CultureGrams Kids Edition, our Life as a Kid category helps young readers make such comparisons in ways they can understand more easily. They learn what games children in other countries play, what chores they are assigned to do, what snacks they eat, how children interact with their families, and so on. The Life as a Kid category can be a starting point for discussions, writing assignments, and other activities involving cross-cultural comparisons. Check it out!
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2. Did You Know? Tidbits from CultureGrams
- In Slovakia, mushroom hunting and gardening at summer cottages are popular activities for families.
- Ukraine is one of the few areas in Europe where corn-on-the-cob is eaten.
- Estonia's Tartu University was built in 1632 and is one of Europe's oldest academic institutions.
- To wish luck, instead of crossing fingers, Slovaks fold the thumb in and close the fingers on it.
- In some parts of Hungary, it is customary on Easter for boys to "sprinkle" girls with water or cologne as a sign that the girl is a flower that should not wilt.
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3. World Holidays
Holiday Focus:
In Estonia, Jaanipäev (Midsummer's Day) June 24
This marks the start of the summer's "white nights," during which the sun sets for only a few hours. On the eve of Jaanipäev, people light huge bonfires or place fires on small rafts. Parties, dances, and concerts are held. People traditionally search for a mythical fern blossom on this night, as the flower is said to bring happiness. Girls pick seven types of flowers to put under their pillows in hopes of dreaming about their future husband. Similar midsummer celebrations are held in Latvia and Lithuania.
Some Upcoming World Holidays
Kenya – Madaraka Day – June 1
Celebrates the day in 1964 when Kenya became a republic.
Uganda – Martyrs' Day – June 3
Marks the day in 1879 when 22 Christians were killed by the king Muwanga.
Portugal – National Day of Portugal – June 10
Honors the poet Luís de Camões and remembers Portuguese communities scattered abroad.
Malta – Imnarja – June 29
A harvest feast dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul.
French Polynesia – Autonomie Interne (Autonomy Day) – June 29
Celebrates Tahitian self-rule. A cultural parade on this day kicks off the Tiurai (meaning "July") festivities, which last from June until August and include athletic competitions, dancing, pageantry, and other cultural events.
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4. Teaching Idea
Summary: Students use CultureGrams to compare human characteristics from different world regions.
Curriculum standards:
Conforms to the National Council for Social Studies curriculum standards for Culture (1.): Apply an understanding of culture as an integrated whole that explains the functions and interactions of language, literature, the arts, traditions, beliefs and values, and behavior patterns. Culture (1.): Demonstrate the value of cultural diversity, as well as cohesion, within and across groups.
People, Places, & Environments (3.): Examine, interpret, and analyze physical and cultural patterns and their interactions, such as land use, settlement patterns, cultural transmission of customs and ideas, and ecosystem changes.
Conforms to the National Council for Geographic Education's curriculum standards. The geographically informed person knows and understands:
(4.) the physical and human characteristics of places
(9.) the characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earth's surface.
(10.) the characteristics, distribution, and complexity of Earth's cultural mosaics
Materials:
- CultureGrams World Edition
Instructions:
1. Have each student read CultureGrams reports from different parts of the world (e.g. one from each continent).
2. A student should identify some of each country's key characteristics. These could include climate, landscape, population size, major languages, major religions, typical clothing, common foods, type of economy (e.g., agricultural, services), and major health issues.
3. Have each student briefly summarize these characteristics in a "culture chart" to compare their findings. The nations should be listed across the top of the chart, a column for each. The characteristic categories should be listed down the left-hand side, a row for each. Students should fill out each box in the grid. For example, in the Brazil column, the box in the "Major Languages" row would say "Portuguese."
4. Have the students write a short essay outlining the conclusions they are able to draw from their culture charts. How are the countries similar? How are they different? What characteristics did they find surprising? What elements of the nations' physical characteristics may have influenced their human characteristics?
5. You may want to use this activity as a starting point for a discussion on how people interpret place by its human characteristics.
Follow-up:
For a subsequent assignment, have students read CultureGrams from two or three countries within a continent or region (such as neighboring countries) and create culture charts based on their findings.
How do you use CultureGrams? Submit your teaching ideas using CultureGrams today!
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5. Quiz
- This country's capital, Riga, was founded in 1201.
- What mountain range divides Russia's European side from its Asian regions?
- About one-quarter of this nation's territory has been contaminated by radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster in Ukraine in 1986.
- What soup of beets, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, and onions is one of Russia's most popular foods?
- About 95 percent of Poles belong to this church.
Answers: 1) Latvia. 2) The Ural Mountains. 3) Belarus. 4) Borsch. 5) Roman Catholic.
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6. Recipes
Note: You could try to create these dishes as a class, or the kids might want to try them at home and bring in the results.
Main dish from Hungary
Gulyásleves (Goulash Soup)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 ounces lard
2 medium-sized onions
1 tablespoon paprika
2 pounds beef (thick flank and fillet ends)
1/2 raw grated potato
1 tablespoon tomato puree
4 1/2 pints bone and vegetable stock
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 pound potatoes
1 green pepper
For Csipetke (Pinched noodles):
6 ounces flour
1 egg
1 pinch of salt
Directions:
1. Cut the beef into walnut-sized cubes. Fry finely chopped onions in lard to a golden color and then add the cubed beef, paprika, caraway seeds, and the grated raw potato. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add tomato puree and 1/2 cup of stock; simmer until meat is nearly done. Then add the remainder of stock and bring it to a boil.
3. Add potatoes cut in small cubes. If available, add some sliced green pepper to the goulash.
4. Hungarian goulash soup is garnished with csipetke (pinched noodles) Make them as follows: Sift flour into a bowl and add egg and salt. Knead ingredients into a stiff dough. Flatten between your palms and pinch into small bean-sized pieces; add to the goulash and boil slowly for 10 minutes before serving.
Side dish from Moldova
Mamaliga (Cornmeal Mush)
Ingredients:
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
Corn or sesame oil or margarine, optional
Directions:
1. Bring the water to a boil in a heavy saucepan. Add the salt and then sprinkle in the cornmeal, stirring constantly.
2. Reduce the heat and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until thick but still a liquid, about 20 to 30 minutes.
3. Pour into a shallow bowl and allow to set, either on the counter or in the refrigerator.
4. When firmed up, cut into wedges and serve, or brown the wedges in a frying pan in a little oil or margarine before serving.
Yields: 4 servings
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7. In the News
Celebrations on May 9, the sixtieth anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, highlighted the deep divisions between Russia and the neighboring Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Victory Day, as it is known in Russia, is a holiday deeply important to most Russians, commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany at the hands of the Allies.
However, many people in the Baltic States see the date as the beginning of fifty years of Russian domination. The leaders of Estonia and Lithuania refused invitations to attend 2005 Victory Day events in Moscow, and the Baltic nations have demanded an apology for the region's occupation during five decades of Soviet rule. Russian president Vladimir Putin has countered that the Soviet Union issued a resolution in 1989 condemning the treaty that put the Baltics under Soviet control--and that no further apology is warranted. Putin has also criticized the Baltic governments for discrimination against their Russian-speaking minorities.
To read more about Russia and the Baltic States, access their CultureGrams reports:
Russia
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
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8. Email Service Information
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Cordially,
Your ProQuest K-12 Team
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