Gather students in a circle and clap to a beat. Tell the children to try to think of as many ways to say hello as possible using English or any other language. Keep a list of ways to say hello handy to help those who may get stuck. Start by chanting, “My name is Lisa and I say namaste!” Look to the student to your left to continue the hello song with his or her name and "hello."
Music is only one part of culture. Choose several countries to study in the classroom. One option is to have the children ask family members about their cultural heritage, and choose those countries for study. Give each country a day during which you play music that originated in that country, wear traditional clothing, create flags for the country and snack on traditional foods. For example, during German day, you could play songs from famous German composers Johann Sebastian Bach or Ludwig van Beethoven, girls would wear dirndl and boys would wear lederhosen and students would snack on frankfurters.
Collect paper towel rolls to create rain sticks in the classroom. Rain sticks are used to make music in African, Indian and Chilean cultures. You will need a paper towel roll and two plastic milk jug lids for each child. Have the children decorate their paper towel rolls with markers, crayons or paint. Place one milk jug lid in one end and secure with masking tape. Fill the roll with dry beans or rice and seal the other end with a milk cap and masking tape. Play a CD with music from Africa, India or Chile and have children shake their rain sticks to the beat.
The song, “We’re Just Like Crayons,” by Stephen Fite, is about diversity. Play the song in the classroom. Then ask the children to select one crayon from their crayon box and draw a person using only that one crayon. Have them take out a second piece of paper and tell the children to draw a person using as many crayons as they wish. Ask which picture is more interesting and which they would like to hang up for others to see. Remind them of the song and encourage the class to talk about how they are like the crayons.