I’ve been a high school teacher for 18 years in the U.S.(agriculture, biology) and I taught junior high in Japan for 2 years. One of the things that most students connect to is pop culture. That can be a great tool to get students initially interested in something outside their usual everyday life. I learned this when I was in Japan. My students weren’t that excited about learning English but they were interested about what kinds of music, fashion, etc. American students were into. That allowed me to create some really fun activities where they got to experience being “American” and their enthusiasm for learning English really increased. When I came back home, the Japanese comic books (manga) and anime were starting to get a following in the U.S.. Again, that was a tool I could use to get my American students interested in Japanese culture. You can’t preach to kids that they need to learn about something but they are obsessed with plugging in to anything that might be cool or different. That may mean you have to do a little digging to learn for yourself what a culture has to offer of interest to your students but you’ll probably enjoy what you find. For example, some of the eastern European countries have some pretty cool dance club music that your students may be interested in listening to. Perhaps they could use a reputable Internet source (preferably not myspace) to hook up with a Czech or Slovakian student or students that would like to exchange favorite music or books. That opens the opportunity to talk about the culture and history (giving you the chance to direct the discussion to influences on literature, etc.) . Oh, I almost forgot, food works well to get student attention. Any specific foods mentioned in your reading list?

Well , thats a tough one. I find the best thing to do is first give them a topic on something in the world that you are going to teach them and ask then to write down what each of them know about it. Then listen to wht they come up with.

Then maybe give them reasons why these things affect them. As for things like the sea etc why not get a video on these topics or do a role play kind of activity which will show them how these things work or why these things are necessary to learn about.

Find out about things in their culture which may be similar in some ways to what you are telling them.Make it about them more than about the subject and thats the way to get them really interested in it. Like the sea, maybe get sounds of the sea and let them close their eyes and listen to it and then they guess what they think it is and then you put up a moving picture with the sound playing and then they see what it is.

Im sorry if i have confused you, I tried!! Hope it helps a bit

I am certainly a novice teacher (just about to begin my first year of elementary teaching), but from my own studies, I find it most important to find some kind of hook on which the students can grab. Find something in the culture they are studying that has had an impact on the culture in which they live. Maybe there is something in your city which reflects that particular culture. Or try connecting it with foods or music. The internet opens many opportunities for researching such things. Teach your students how to use it by creating a webquest or something of the sort.

You must find ways for them to assimilate their knowledge of American culture with that of other cultures. After all, America was once the “melting pot” of the world and is now a “salad bowl”…both terms that imply a vast array of cultures co-existing.

If you want to teach your students easily so You should make the TLM(Teaching Learning Material) eg.1/A round shape model of the Earth.2/A Model in 2D shape of the Earth. 3/On flat surface you can make separate partition of the surface and water that we know 29 percent and 71percent respectively earth surface and water on the Earth.

Any other technique of teaching about the Ocean and sea I can telly you in this short term .It can possible practically.

Making them aware of the things concerning about the world cultures. Even your student has a lager amount it s your duty to relegate the student to the cultures.