We Are the World: Discovering Kindness Across Cultures

Teacher introduces the 'We are the world, as global neighbors' project, explaining how students will learn kind words, greetings, and cultural practices from partner countries. Students watch a short welcome video showing children from different countries saying hello. Class discusses what they are excited to learn and what they already know about other cultures. Teacher explains the four-week journey and partner class expectations.

Each class creates a short video (2-3 minutes) showing students introducing themselves with their names, favorite things, and a greeting in their native language. Partner classes watch each other's videos and respond with their own greetings. Students create a collaborative digital mural or poster showing all the different ways to say 'hello' and 'friend' from both countries, decorated with drawings and flags.

Teacher guides students to explore the driving question: 'What kind words and ways of being neighbors do we use in our country, and how are they similar to or different from those in our partner country?' Class brainstorms kind words they use every day (please, thank you, sorry, excuse me). Students draw pictures of moments when they were kind to neighbors or friends. Class creates a 'Kindness Word Wall' with words in their language and predicts what similar words might sound like in the partner country.

Partner classes share their kindness guides and custom collections via the Project Board or asynchronous video exchange. Students watch the partner class's materials and identify similarities and differences in kind words and behaviors. In mixed international pairs or small groups (using breakout rooms or written exchanges), students compare: 'How do we both show respect?' 'What words sound similar?' 'What is unique about each culture?' Class creates a collaborative comparison chart or mural showing 'Same Ways We Are Kind' and 'Different Ways We Show Respect' with examples from both countries.

Class prepares a 'We Are the World' celebration event to share their learning with the school community. Students practice saying kind words and greetings from the partner country. They create colorful posters and displays showing the kindness guide and comparison chart. During the fair, students teach visitors a greeting and kind word from the partner country, share drawings of cultural customs, and explain what they learned about being good neighbors across the world. Event is documented with photos and a short video highlight reel.

Students complete a simple reflection activity using guiding questions: 'What kind word from the partner country is my favorite and why?' 'How are children in our partner country similar to us?' 'What did I learn about being a good neighbor?' Students draw or write their personal reflection, create a 'Thank You' message or drawing for the partner class, and record a short audio or video message saying thank you in a word or phrase from the partner language. Class creates a final collaborative reflection mural or digital gallery combining all reflections and thank you messages to share with the partner class.