Cultures the world over share a history of storytelling. Choose a variety of myths, fables and fairy tales from several societies. Read them to your class, and hold group discussions about the similarities and differences in the stories from one culture to the next. Alternatively, have children ask their older relatives about stories they were told growing up. Ask the children to write the stories down and allow them to share them with the class. Try to determine the ethnic origins of each story.
While studying textbooks and watching videos are valid ways to learn, nothing can replace the experience of listening to and interacting with citizens from other societies. Schedule several guest speakers to visit your classroom for a day or an afternoon. Choose people that represent a variety of cultures, and ask them to address the class and share their experiences growing up in countries that are different from America. Allow the kids to ask questions afterward, and ask them to prepare a report on the culture of the speaker that intrigued them most.
Children often gain a better understanding of other cultures when they compare them with their own. Choose another country to study in depth. Select a holiday and compare and contrast how the event is celebrated in the other country and how it is celebrated in the United States. Compare the food, gift-giving traditions, religious aspects and songs used to celebrate in one country versus the other. Allow your students to participate in a couple of the traditions that take place in the other country but not in the United States.
Children often connect with other children on a closer level than they do with adults. Putting the children in your class into contact with children of another culture gives them an up-close and personal way to relate to the other society. Arrange a pen-pal connection for your students with class in another country. Alternatively, contact a Muslim or Jewish school and set up an exchange program where the students interact with each other and share information about their lifestyles with one another.