Introduction

You and your team members are wedding coordinators and work for a company called Cultural Weddings Are Us.  Two Indian families have approached your company and are interested in having your team plan the future wedding of their son and daughter.  The families want to know what a traditional Indian wedding would be like if your company planned it.  The engagement of the son and daughter is going to take place soon, and the families want to be ready for the appropriate ceremonies.  The main functions that the families are interested in are the engagement, the 'menhdi' party, pre-dinner parties, the wedding and the reception. Each team member will be responsible for learning a different aspect of traditional Indian weddings so your team can plan and demonstrate to the two Indian families what your company has to offer.

The Task

You and your team will be preparing a mock traditional Indian wedding presentation and wedding brochure for two Indian families (our class).  Your team of wedding coordinators will become experts in different areas of Indian wedding culture and present your expertise to the families.   The mock wedding and wedding brochure will be explained in detail to you in the process section.

The Process

1. First you will be assigned to a team of 4 students that will be your wedding planning team.  Each of you will have a different role within the team. The choices are Ceremony expert, Mehndi Expert, Clothing/Music Expert and Food/Decorations Expert.
2. Once you have chosen your area to become an expert in you must use the online resources below to learn about your area.  The ceremony and mehndi expert have one online resource.  The other two expert areas each have two areas.  Visit your resources so you can become an expert in your area.
3. Ceremony Expert - click here to learn about traditional Indian wedding ceremonies.
4. Mehndi Expert - click here to learn about the traditional mehndi ceremony.
5. Clothing and Music Expert- click on clothing or music to learn more about your areas. If you want to listen to Indian Marriage Music click here!
6. Food and Decoration Expert- click on food and decoration to learn more about your areas.
   
7. You must report back to your team of wedding coordinators to discuss with each other your areas of expertise.  With your ideas you will be creating a mock wedding and a wedding brochure.
8. The mock wedding should be a presentation to the families on all four areas your group has studied.  You will need to present two ideas from your area of expertise that you would include in their wedding if your company is hired.  You must also have at least two visual aids or props to show the family during the presentation.  For example, the Clothing/Music expert might choose to show the family a picture of a traditional wedding turban and also let them listen to Indian wedding music.
9. The families have also requested that your team perform one wedding ceremony/tradition during your presentation.  You will need to decide with your group what ceremony you will demonstrate from the Ceremony Expert resources .
   
10. Your boss at Cultural Weddings Are Us requires you to give a wedding brochure to any prospective client.  As a team you will need to prepare a tri-fold (one page) wedding brochure.  The brochure must include options available to your future client in all four areas of your team's expertise.  
    

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Evaluation

You will be evaluated as a team on the following areas. Describe to the learners how their performance will be evaluated. Specify whether there will be a common grade for group work vs. individual grades.

	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4	Score
Presentation (Individually Evaluated)	Struggle to Demonstrate knowledge from expert area, attempted to explain two ideas and two visual aids.	Demonstrated knowledge of expert area but weak in some areas, explained two ideas and had two visual aids.	Demonstrated knowledge of expert area,  explained  two ideas and had two visual aids that corresponded .	Demonstrated exceptional knowledge of expert area, explained two ideas and had two visual aids that corresponded..
Group Demonstration of One Indian Wedding Ceremony	Attempted to demonstrate ceremony but did not create a realistic example .	Demonstrated ceremony some-what appropriately and attempted to create a realistic example.	Demonstrated ceremony appropriately and worked together to create a realistic example.	Demonstrated ceremony exceptionally and worked together to create a realistic example.
Wedding Brochure	Created a tri-fold brochure with two or more missing aspects from the accomplished column.	Created a tri-fold brochure with one missing aspect missing from accomplished column.	Created a tri-fold brochure  with ideas from all four areas, well organized, creative, and colorful.	Created an exemplary tri-fold brochure with ideas from all four areas, well organized, creative, and colorful.

Conclusion

Your team has worked hard to earn the possibility of planning a beautiful Indian wedding.  You have learned and shared many wonderful and interesting wedding traditions from the Indian culture.  Learning to respect and appreciate our differences can give us a better understanding of the world around us.  I wonder what other traditions we can learn about and teach each other?

Credits & References

Thank you to the following web sites that were used as references for the web quest.
CuisineCuisine.com
IndianWeddingCard.com
Indian Wedding Stuff (www3.bc.sympatico.ca/HansDayal/Indwed.htm)
OrionHouse.com
Puja.com

Introduction

This lesson was developed for a Telecommunication class through Lesley University.  It was designed to be used in a special education resource classroom.

The lesson is about studying Indian culture and tradition.  The students work for a company called Cultural Weddings Are Us and have to plan a wedding for two Indian families.  The lesson has students working independently for some areas and coming together to work as a team for other areas.

Learners

This lesson is designed for 7th and 8th grade students who are in a general resource special education classroom.  The lesson involves language arts, and social studies.  The lesson can also be used in a general education classroom for grades 5 - 8.

Students will need to know basic internet navigation skills.

Curriculum Standards

Reading Standards Addressed

• Understand and use materials to investigate a topic.
• Read and understand information to perform a specific task.

Communication Standards Addressed

• Communicate idea clearly and effectively by developing content and ideas.
• Use effective delivery, language and style during a presentation.
• Effectively use action, sound, and/or images to support presentation.
• Use communication strategies and skills to work effectively with others.
• Work cooperatively as a member of a group and seek agreement and solutions through discussion
• Use language to interact effectively and responsibly with others.

Social Studies Standards Addressed

• Recognize the relationships among the various parts of a nation's cultural life.
• Learn about the rituals, traditions, values and beliefs for an Indian wedding ceremony. 
• Organize and record information. Interpret and synthesize information and express findings.

Process

This lesson is for 12 to 16 students.  However, a full class of 30 students can do this if there are enough computers.  Students will need access to computers individually when they are using the resources on-line because each group member goes to a different resource. This lesson takes about one week if class meets for one hour a day. Students will need to spend some time at home preparing for their presentation. 
Students are divided in groups of four and at least one person in each group should be reading around grade level to help the others if need be.  The lesson is easy enough for a novice teacher, you need minimal knowledge of the internet.  Knowing how to find the web quest site and getting your students started on the quest is about it.

Student Process

1. First you'll be assigned to a team of 4 students that will be your wedding planning team.  Each of you will have a different role within the team. The choices are Ceremony expert, Mehndi Expert, Clothing/Music Expert and Food/Decorations Expert.
2. Once you have chosen your area to become an expert in you must use the online resources below to learn about your area.  The ceremony and mehndi expert have one online resource.  The other two expert areas each have two areas.  Visit your resources so you can become an expert in your area.
3. Ceremony Expert - click here to learn about traditional Indian wedding ceremonies.
4. Mehndi Expert - click here to learn about the traditional mehndi ceremony.
5. Clothing and Music Expert- click on clothing or music to learn more about your areas. If you want to listen to Indian Marriage Music click here!
6. Food and Decoration Expert- click on food and decoration to learn more about your areas.
   
7. You must report back to your team of wedding coordinators to discuss with each other your areas of expertise.  With your ideas you will be creating a mock wedding and a wedding brochure.
8. The mock wedding should be a presentation to the families on all four areas your group has studied.  You will need to present two ideas from your area of expertise that you would include in their wedding if your company is hired.  You must also have at least two visual aids or props to show the family during the presentation.  For example, the Clothing/Music expert might choose to show the family a picture of a traditional wedding turban and also let them listen to Indian wedding music.
9. The families have also requested that your team perform one wedding ceremony/tradition during your presentation.  You will need to decide with your group what ceremony you will demonstrate from the Ceremony Expert resources .
   
10. Your boss at Cultural Weddings Are Us requires you to give a wedding brochure to any prospective client.  As a team you will need to prepare a tri-fold (one page) wedding brochure.  The brochure must include options available to your future client in all four areas of your team's expertise.

Resources Needed

• One teacher is all that is needed, an instructional assistant is helpful in getting students started.
  
• Computers- nice if each student has their own but not necessary if willing to take turns looking at resources.
• Internet access
• Visual aid materials - poster board, pens, etc.

Evaluation

The evaluation process will be ongoing during the preparation period for the presentation.  The students will be aware of three areas for evaluation.  The first will be an individual evaluation on their part of the presentation.  The second will be a group evaluation of the ceremony they perform.  The third will also be a group evaluation on the product they turn in for the wedding brochure.  Below is a copy of the student evaluation section.

Conclusion

This lesson will teach many academic standards but most of all it will give the students an understanding and appreciation of another cultures traditions.

Credits & References

Image from www3.bc.sympatico.ca/HansDayal/Indwed.htm

Thank you to the following web sites that were used as references for the web quest.
CuisineCuisine.com
IndianWeddingCard.com
Indian Wedding Stuff (www3.bc.sympatico.ca/HansDayal/Indwed.htm)
OrionHouse.com
Puja.com