World Neighbor 4 - India (everyday life + a child's journal as primary source)

Greeting + Calendar Circle + 'Namaste!' (hands pressed together). Each child greets a partner. Teacher: 'Today we visit India - on the Asian continent.'

• Play namaste audio
• Demonstrate namaste hand position
• Point India on MG-7

India is in SOUTH ASIA, on the Asian continent. India is the most populous country in the world - over 1.4 billion people. India has 22 official languages - HINDI is one of the most widely spoken; ENGLISH is also widely used. The capital is New Delhi. Today we look at one Indian child's everyday day AND we read a journal entry from an Indian child. A JOURNAL is a kind of primary source - a child writes about their own day. We also read a LETTER from an Indian pen-pal.

• Sheth writes from her Gujarati-American family experience. Real.

  model Read aloud; pause on everyday scenes (the grandfather, the monsoon rain, the paper boats, the chai). Connect: 'Notice everyday family rhythms. This isn't Diwali or Holi - this is a Tuesday afternoon.'

  prompt Read 'Monsoon Afternoon' by Kashmira Sheth (2008) - Gujarati family, intergenerational, everyday monsoon-day rhythms.
• A letter is a PRIMARY SOURCE - written by the person themselves.

  model Teacher reads slowly: 'Dear friends in [home country]. My name is Priya. I live in Mumbai. I go to school at 8 in the morning. I eat dosa for breakfast. My favorite game is cricket. What is your favorite game? Your friend, Priya.' Apply LETTER-NOTICE-WONDER-SOURCE routine.

  prompt Read aloud the pen-pal letter: a 7-year-old Indian child writes a 5-sentence letter to the class.
• Two new source types! LETTER (to someone) and JOURNAL (for yourself).

  model Teacher: 'A journal is also a PRIMARY SOURCE. Priya wrote this herself. Different from a letter - a journal is for YOURSELF, a letter is for someone ELSE.'

  prompt Read Priya's journal entry from one day: '11 May. Today it rained all morning. I ate chapati and dal for dinner. I played cricket with my brother. My favorite color is yellow. Goodnight.' Apply JOURNAL-NOTICE-WONDER-SOURCE.
• Four world neighbors so far.

  model Teacher and class jointly add 5 Velcro tiles: HOME (apartment in Mumbai with rangoli at the door); SCHOOL (school uniform + 8am start); PLAY (cricket); FOOD (dosa or chapati + dal); LANGUAGE (namaste / dhanyavaad).

  prompt Fill in INDIA row on MG-9 grid.

• Tell me ONE everyday detail from Priya's day.
• What is the difference between a letter and a journal?

M-1-S-CUL-15-A Chart

MG-9 grid as continued. Today INDIA row added: HOME (apartment in Mumbai with rangoli at door); SCHOOL (school uniform + 8am start); PLAY (cricket); FOOD (dosa or chapati + dal); LANGUAGE (namaste / dhanyavaad). Velcro pockets populated.

MG-9 Chart

Mounted on classroom wall at child-eye-height; bilingual picture-card overlays available for Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Russian, Haitian Creole, French, Korean, and Urdu.

M-1-S-CUL-15-B Photograph

5 photographs (5x7) from a real Indian family in Mumbai with consent: (1) apartment doorway with rangoli; (2) school child in uniform; (3) cricket game; (4) dosa or chapati + dal meal; (5) Hindi greeting card with Devanagari script. Source line: 'Family in Mumbai, IN, 2025, with consent.'

M-1-S-CUL-15-C Manipulative Physical / non-image

5x7 inch printed letter on stationery: 'Dear friends in [home country]. My name is Priya. I live in Mumbai. I go to school at 8 in the morning. I eat dosa for breakfast. My favorite game is cricket. What is your favorite game? Your friend, Priya.' Source line printed at bottom: 'Letter from Priya, age 7, Mumbai, IN, May 2025, with consent.'

M-1-S-CUL-15-D Manipulative Physical / non-image

5x7 inch printed journal page on a notebook-style background: '11 May. Today it rained all morning. I ate chapati and dal for dinner. I played cricket with my brother. My favorite color is yellow. Goodnight.' Source line: 'Journal entry, Priya, age 7, Mumbai, IN, 11 May 2025.' Used as paired source with the letter for the corroboration routine.

M-1-S-CUL-15-E Illustration

3 photographed spreads from Sheth/Corace 2008 'Monsoon Afternoon.' Gujarati family, intergenerational paper-boat-folding monsoon-day scenes. Mounted as 3-panel poster for whole-group reading.

• In pairs, compare letter and journal. List 2 SAME details and 1 DIFFERENT detail.

  scaffold Sentence frame: 'Both say ___. Only the journal says ___.'
• Write a one-sentence reply to Priya's letter.

  scaffold Sentence frame: 'Dear Priya, my favorite game is ___.'

• Tell me ONE thing the letter says AND ONE thing the journal says.

• Mount completed INDIA row of MG-9
• Display Priya's letter on Sources Wall as new LETTER source type
• Preview: tomorrow we visit FRANCE

• Tonight, ask a family member: 'What is one Indian food you have tried? Or one Hindi word you know?' Bring one sentence.