UNIT OVERVIEW: Project SEEK (Standards that Evaluate and Educate our Kids) is a series of English Language Enrichment lessons and activities designed to develop the student’s critical thinking, promote self-esteem, and empower them to bring elements of their family history into their classroom. The "Four Foot Feat" prose project includes themes such as family structure, educational influences, social themes, and cultural traditions. My students have been intrigued by these themes mainly because each theme offers the student an opportunity to create a work of art that makes them proud of their family history. This project not only offers the student an opportunity to make special connections with parents and family members, but the student is also granted an opportunity to explore his/her family history, and the ethnic and cultural commonalities and differences of other class members.

The "Four Foot Feat" prose essay incorporates strategies for learning about the content of culture (e.g. family structure, socialization, socioeconomic patterns, educational, and cultural influences). This project focuses primarily on developing the student’s reading fluency, writing strategies, listening, and speaking skills. The student learns strategies for oral presentation, and reads or presents his/her oral narrative and uses appropriate pacing, intonation, and expression. The student also learns appropriate manuscript requirements, including title, presentation, spacing, margins, and integration of source and support materials. In addition, the student learns appropriate ways to speak that vary based on purpose, audience, and subject matter. Hence, the student’s competency skills are evaluated, developed, and assessed guided by the content standards.

The six-week activities presented in this lesson include strategies for learning about the cultural diversity of our students. The student interviews with parents and family members are teacher guided writing exercises designed to develop the student’s communication skills. The goals of this project are to promote parent involvement in learning, eliminate conflict and culturally insensitive behavior, and facilitate positive social interactions among culturally diverse students. Thus, the ultimate goals of the project is for students to create a family history portrait, explore a variety of cultures, and heighten their awareness of family, and group dynamics for improving social interaction both in and outside the classroom.