Respecting Different Cultures · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

The world holds many traditions

Personal & Social Development · Empathy & Social Awareness · ages 9-11
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Which question shows respectful curiosity about someone's celebration?

    • Why does your family do that strange thing instead of celebrating our way?
    • Would you like to tell me what this celebration means to your family?
    • Can you explain why everyone in your culture celebrates exactly the same way?

  2. Which example clearly shows a tradition being passed on?

    • Learning a holiday recipe from a relative and teaching it to a cousin
    • Choosing a new snack today without learning or sharing a family practice
    • Taking a different route to school once because the usual road is closed

  3. Learning about people's cultural experiences can help a community include them.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. In a story, some adults in Malik's family fast from dawn to sunset during Ramadan; others do not fast. Priya does not follow this practice. Using only this story, which statement accurately describes the practice and says what interests her?

    • Some adults in Malik's family fast from dawn to sunset. I'm interested in how they plan their day.
    • Every person in Malik's family fasts all day and all night. I'm interested in when they eat their meals.
    • Everyone observing Ramadan follows Malik's family's routine. I'm interested in why no families do it differently.

  5. Ben asks about his classmate's holiday bread. She says she would rather not talk about it. What should Ben do?

    • Ask again in front of others so she has to explain the tradition
    • Tell her that sharing a culture means answering every question
    • Accept her choice and leave the question there

  6. Some families cannot read the signs at a school event. How could learning about the families help the organisers include them?

    • Choose one language without asking and expect every family to understand it
    • Ask which languages families read and add clear signs in those languages
    • Guess each family's language from its clothing and print signs from that guess

  7. Two families celebrate the same holiday differently. That difference alone proves that one family is making a mistake.

    Circle one:   True   False

  8. Leo tells a classmate, 'Your family's New Year is in the wrong month. Ours is the real one.' What is the problem with Leo's response?

    • He showed that every family uses his calendar but chooses to read it differently
    • He gave evidence that his classmate had confused the date in their own calendar
    • He treated a calendar difference as proof that the other date was a mistake
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

The world holds many traditions W1-mt_DkzsZdyaL2-s1

  1. Would you like to tell me what this celebration means to your family? · The question asks about this family's experience and lets the person choose whether to share. The others judge or assume everyone is alike.
  2. Learning a holiday recipe from a relative and teaching it to a cousin · Learning the holiday recipe and sharing it with someone else passes the practice on. The other examples do not describe a practice being passed on.
  3. True · Understanding what people need can guide useful changes, such as signs in languages they read. Learning helps when people use it to include others.
  4. Some adults in Malik's family fast from dawn to sunset. I'm interested in how they plan their day. · The story says some adults fast from dawn to sunset, while others do not. The statement about some adults reports that practice and adds Priya's interest without making a claim about every family.
  5. Accept her choice and leave the question there · Respectful curiosity includes accepting a person's choice not to share. Ben does not need an explanation from her.
  6. Ask which languages families read and add clear signs in those languages · Asking families gives organisers information they can use to make readable signs. Clothing does not tell them which languages someone reads.
  7. False · Families can observe the same holiday in different ways. Difference alone does not establish that either family has made a mistake.
  8. He treated a calendar difference as proof that the other date was a mistake · Different calendars can mark New Year on different dates. Leo has not shown a mistake by pointing out that the date differs from his family's.
Worksheet · LightMySky