Ideas for eliciting information about a student's individual cultural practices

Hi,
Excellent! I'm a little iffy on the wording..."cultural practices" ...what feels wrong or akward with that phrase? I see culture as a way of life vs the things that we do because we are Greek. Does that make sense? We may practice a particular religion as part of our culture but we don't really practice our eating, music, dance, customs etc. We just experience it. I think I get the off vibe from "cultural practices" because those words together are almost pre segregating and may imply a us vs them thinking. Practices sounds ritualistic and formal - I like to teach from the We to the difference. Rather than putting the difference first and then the we. Maybe because your students are younger than mine, they don't verbalize they already identify themselves as me and we vs others, but it is there, my middle schoolers hem and haw around stating the obvious - we are very diverse - simple as gender or skin color or height or eye color etc. they have a sense they aren't suppose to notice the obvious about each other - I let them know it's okay - what's there to step around? Nothing, and we so get over that right off the bat.  So, anyway, I try to help them find the real we and then celebrate our differences all year long. I have found that starting with the we-once we have all acknowledged, claimed & cheered Viva La Diference we know we are different, diverse - made it okay, I need to us to understand we are we, one, alike in our humaness, in order to teach tolerance, acceptance, compassion, fairness, in my children - I want them to know, "hey, that hurts your feelings too" and "you're like me" because how are we going to have compassion for others if we think they are different from us - in our humaness. There is more of a direct connection to loving someone because they are human just like you than hating someone because they are not like you, I you ask me. Or not hating them because they are human like you, "we". Not being mean, hurting them because guess what, they are feel bad when someone is mean to them, and feel injury when someone is hurting them just like you. So, I begin with the "we" of us.
I am trying to express I feel like cultural practices as a phrase is segregating. In my culture we eat or we do or we like. Why not unite the cultures thru food, or music, dance, customs - the we in cultures and then celebrate all or some of the culture's unique and special qualities of your students and their families.
Additional question, Is the event for teachers to learn about their students' cultures or for students to have the opportunity to experience & learn about the cultures of others in their community and their shcool? I feel teachers have many opportunities to learn and to continue to learn in deeper depth about diverse cultues and I hope they are out there reading and listening and researching in order to do so.
Kudos to you, the teachers and your school - I think, if it is school wide, and if even limited to grade leves, it should be a celebration of your students and their families cultures in dance, music, or food, and/or customs, festivals, or holidays. Sharing with the school and community our experienes and ways of life in our culture and their classmates and their families doing the same. And it's really awesome when you can get some teachers and administrators to particpate by doing the same too.
I like the "My Story" ideal. How about children having their outlines drawn on the big rolls of bullentin board paper and they create a culture mosiac (any kind of material items they have access to and are safe for the little ones to use) of themselves....share the why or what media they used and what it represnts / the thing or the art about their culture. And afterward the children's cultural celebration outline could be hung up through out the school buiding with their hands all linking.
What do you think? I applaud you and your school for developing and implementing an activity/event school and community experience like this! Way to Go! Good for YOU!
%-) alli d