Write an essay that shows that you understand what cultural norms and values are. Purpose: To define and give examples of cultural norms and values. To synthesize information from the source texts, class discussion, and your own life. To practice moves to make in an introduction. To practice organizing an essay.Length: 800 words. Genre: You must write an essay, but you can choose what type of essay. You should define cultural norms and values, and give examples to illustrate the definitions. You could write a straightforward explanation (This is what norms are, and here are some examples) or you could incorporate your definitions and examples into an essay with your own main point (e.g., As an international student in the USA, American cultural norms are new to me, or, Cultures may have the same values but still vary a lot if the norms associated with the values are different, or…)Source texts: M. Nair (Dir.). (2006). The Namesake. Fox Searchlight Pictures. Gibson, Margaret A. (1993). Cultural barriers and the press to Americanize. In H.S. Wiener & C. Bazerman (Eds.), Side by Side: A Multicultural Reader (pp. 65-69). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.You must draw examples from at least two places. You can use both source texts, or one source text and your own life. Structure: Your essay should have three parts: introduction, body and conclusion. If you are writing a straightforward explanation, make the following moves in the introduction: capture the readers’ interest, introduce your topic by defining cultural norms and values and explaining the connection between them, explain why we should care about norms and values (why it can be important to know about them), give your own perspective as a student from X writing to an American audience, state your main point, and give an overview of the examples that you will discuss in the paper. Then go on to discuss one example in each body paragraph, showing the connection between norm and value in each example. (One norm may be supported by several values.) In the conclusion, review your main idea, and push it a little further to suggest something you want your readers to consider; it could be an application or an implication.

Planning effective English language arts lessons many times includes focusing on multiple literacy skills, aligned to state or national standards, while incorporating interesting, student-centered materials. When focusing on reading, it is essential to model metacognitive strategies, before, during, and after reading, including relevant vocabulary. A book walk is a powerful pre-reading strategy that can be used at all elementary grade levels. This strategy exposes students to a new piece of literary or informative text, while predicting text content and exploring vocabulary.Throughout this course you will be creating a literature unit based on one piece of grade-appropriate literature (fiction or non-fiction) that includes all areas of reading development. Select a piece of literature suitable for the students in the “Class Profile.”For this assignment, use the “COE Lesson Plan Template” to create a lesson plan that incorporates a book walk,Incorporate the following into your lesson plan:Objectives aligned to state or national grade-appropriate vocabulary and reading standardsContent-specific vocabulary developmentTechnology or multimedia that supports developmentally appropriate, engaging instructionPre-reading strategies and activitiesDuring reading strategies and activitiesPost-reading activities and strategiesAssessment aligned to learning objectives, that is engaging for student and provides meaningful feedbackDifferentiation to meet particular learning differences or needsIn addition, rationalize your instructional choices in a 250-500 word reflection, including how you will apply your findings to personal professional practices related to instruction and differentiation in the English language arts classroom