LESSON ONE – Home Remedies from US, Mexico & China

Time Needed:
Four 45-minute class session

Rationale:
Home remedies, by definition, encompass traditional knowledge, skills, practices,
theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures and utilize indigenous
plants. Having students study home remedies used by their own families draws on
family funds of knowledge and cultural practices, validating students’ sociocultural
knowledge and experiences and bringing diversity into the classroom. Learning about
home remedies from Mexico and China provides a window for learning about those
cultures.

Essential Questions:
1. What home remedies are used by your family?
2. What home remedies exist in Mexico/China?
3. What can home remedies teach us about culture?

Objectives: Students will be able to:

1. Interview a family member and write down/record/obtain the recipe of one of more
home remedies used by their family.
2. Research home remedies used in Mexico or China.
3. Create a Google Slides presentation about home remedies.
4. Understand that societies across the globe use home remedies.
5. Compare and contrast U.S. home remedies with those from Mexico or China.

Prior Knowledge/Connections:
1. The meaning of home remedies.
2. The location of Mexico and China.
3. That home remedies are used by all societies throughout the world.

Differentiation:
1. Enrichment Activities: Students can make a poster (real or online) depicting an
ingredient used in one of their home remedy recipes and explain other ways the
plant is used for different home remedies. Students can plan, design, and describe
a garden that includes the ingredients needed for one of their home remedies.
2. ESL Learners: Place ESL learners in strong collaborative groups. Encourage them
to list unfamiliar vocabulary and work together to illustrate or write definitions for
each word.
Materials/Resources:
1. Internet resources for home remedies used in Mexico and China (see Instructional
Resources page of this website)
2. Paper/ipad/laptop for students to take notes on
3. Google Slides (https://www.google.com/slides/about/)
4. Rubric for Grading Google Slide Projects & Presentations (attached below)

Implementation:
Lesson Introduction/Hook:
1. Engage students in a conversation about home remedies their families use at home.
2. Explain to students that home remedies reflect the traditional knowledge, skills,
practices, theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures. They
also utilize the plants that are native to each society. For example, in Chinese
traditional medicine, common colds are believed to be caused by one or more of the
6 weathers of nature. Depending upon which weather(s) of nature caused the
person’s cold, a different home remedy may be used. (See
http://www.cmd.gov.hk/html/eng/health_info/feature_articles/public_education(englis
h_version).pdf). Cultural components of some Mexican/Latino home remedies are
explained in http://www.dimensionsofculture.com/2010/10/folk-illnesses-and-
remedies-in-latino-communities/.

Lesson Development:
Session 1 (Students Research Home Remedies):
1. Teacher provides overview of entire lesson plan. Explain that students will be
divided into groups. Each group will research home remedy recipes from their own
families, as well as some from either Mexico or China. Students will take notes on
the recipes they find either on paper or digitally. Teams will work together to create
a Google Slide presentation on their home remedies. At the end, teams will give a
classroom presentation, providing an overview of their home remedies, an
explanation of similarities/differences between their family home remedies and those
from Mexico or China, and what those similarities/differences tell us about the
different countries.
2. Divide students into Mexico and China research groups and have them begin
researching home remedies from that country. See “Instructional Resources” page
of this website. Each student should be responsible for finding one recipe.
3. For homework, students are assigned to interview a family member and obtain a
recipe of a home remedy they use at home.

Sessions 2-3 (Groups Create Google Slide Project)

1. Teacher previews Google Slide project by explaining that each team will create a
Google Slide presentation that displays the home remedies they have been
researching. The Google Slide presentation must contain the following information:
a world map, showing the United States and their assigned country; a home remedy
 recipe used by each student’s family; home remedy recipes from their assigned
county, one recipe for each group member; a description of at least two ways the
home remedies from Mexico/China reflect Mexico’s/China’s particular culture or
natural resources; and each slide must contain a visual graphic.
2. Teacher explains that for Google Slide presentation each student will receive an
individual grade and group grade. Teacher then hands out the rubric and reviews it
with the students. See Rubric for Grading Google Slide Projects & Presentations
(attached below).
3. Students gather in their research groups and work on their Google Slides while
teacher circulates around the classroom, listening, observing, and assisting
students.

Session 4 (Google Slide Presentations)

1. Students will have 10 minutes to meet with their groups and prepare for their
presentations.
2. One research group at a time, students will give a presentation on their Home
Remedies project. Each student will have to participate. The teacher will ask them
questions about their home remedies that lead them to think about the cultural
implications of home remedies.