I tried asking this on Yahoo!Answers but all I got was a bunch of bigots. Straight Dope users seem much more sophisticated. Maybe you can help:
I’m teaching a class for kids who have recently come to the US (specifically Upstate NY) and one of the topics is General Knowledge. Keeping in mind that a lot of these kids don’t speak very much English, what sorts of cultural, historical, and other general things should they know about to have a successful time in school in the Fall?
Where are they from? Are we talking about Quebecois students coming down across the border, students from mainland Europe, east Asians, Africans, etc.? That can be important. For example, students from Germany are already going to be familiar with a lot of Western Culture and Civilization, while students from Cambodia might not have such a great foundation.
At least a basic overview of how our government is structured at the federal, state, and local levels. Maybe a quick and dirty summary of American history, some discussion/explanation of the Constitution…
What age are they, and what will they be expected to study when they begin classes? Setting aside that question, and thinking more generally…
I grew up in New York State and in the lower grades a lot of classwork is very NYS-specific. So some basic facts about New York State can be helpful. Like who the Iroquois are, the first European settlers of New York State, major agricultural crops (APPLES), difference in climate between upstate/downstate (and that it will be COLD come winter), New York City is NOT the capitol, etc.
For all kids, just understanding how their schools will work – like the fact that younger grades stay with one teacher and older grades switch teachers depending on subject; what to do if you have a problem – guidance counsellor, school nurse, speak to teacher after class; some of the non-obvious rules like most schools don’t allow glass drink bottles in the lunchroom.
Your supposed to teach kids ‘‘general knowledge’’. Talk about a broad mission statement.
But I guess I’d agree with Hello Again, probably teaching them more mundane stuff about how US schools work, how to ride the bus, basics US expectations of hygine and behavior, how to use a word processor, stuff like that will probably be more useful then the civics stuff Oakminster metions. After all, they’ll presumably learn about that stuff in school, while it sounds like your job is to prepare them to learn it rather then actually teach them.
THIS.
For super-new people to America, don’t worry about “textbook” information.
These kids need to know cultural stuff.
How to eat politely, how to indicate they need to use the bathroom, how to understand a street-crossing sign or crosswalk guide, how to ask questions or contribute to conversations in a socially-acceptable way, what topics of conversation are NOT talked about with people other than your family, how the school works (can’t leave during class, can’t talk without permission, eating and going to the bathroom only at certain times with permission)…
All these basic things we pick up without thinking about it as very small children in our country.
Think about what you’d want someone to tell you about if you were suddenly dropped into a foreign country you aren’t familiar with. Do you care what the history of the area is? Only in the most general sense so you don’t make a faux pas while trying to get by. What you *really *want to know is how to tell someone you have to pee without them thinking you’re a freak or a psychopath.
Since they don’t speak much English, save the civics lessons for much later. They’re important, but won’t be understood. I agree with the notion of teaching general rules of the road in order to better blend in. A few things that come to mind:
*Americans stand in line; some cultures mob.
*Americans eat pizza with their hands, not with a knife and fork.
*In some cultures, men holding hands is a common sight; not so much in many areas of the US.
*Women are not to be ogled and groped.
*We overuse ‘thank you’, but it doesn’t hurt to know that it’s expected.
*“You’re welcome” does not mean “you are welcome to our country/store/restaurant”: it’s just a traditional response to “thank you” (this was something that puzzled one of my francophone teachers from Cote d’Ivoire).
I’d suggest to them that they watch American TV to pick up on idiomatic expressions and customs. Then they can bring their questions to class.
He wasn’t asking about Congress. 
Thanks! The kids are ages 8-10 and they are from places like Pakistan, Rwanda,and Burma (yes I call it Burma). I really like these ideas, they will be very helpful. I’m going to see if we can do field trips to the nearby library, theatre for children, and police station. Plus a supermarket is nearby so we might try our hand at shopping. I’ll definately get into NYS history and manners. Let me know if you can think of anything else but you’ve already got me thinking!
You mentioned taking them shopping. I don’t know if this is TOO basic, but I was thinking maybe first just spend some time going over money with them - the different types of coins and bills we have, making change, etc.
You might mention that Americans (well, westerners in general, but your students are in the US) tend to have a larger area of “personal space” than some cultures. I well remember some newly-arrived Indian and Pakistani colleagues who, even in a normal work-related conversation, tended to get a little too close; and it made me distinctly uncomfortable.
I like the idea of trips to the library, fire station, and police station–I remember that our school always took us to the nearby public library once a year, and we visited the police and fire stations in Cub Scouts. In addition to teaching us the benefits of all three (and demonstrating that police and firefighters were pretty friendly people, which you don’t see much of on TV), walking to all these sites helped us understand where things were in our neighbourhood: we passed by the stores, the bus stops, the park with the playground, and so on. Your little trips would also be good for teaching pedestrian safety crossing streets and obeying traffic lights, especially for those who may come from a country where traffic drives on the left.
The price on the item is the price they have to pay. Don’t try to haggle with the poor clerk at the register.
They will probably figure it out anyway in time but it may be beneficial to point out that boys and girls considered equal in the U.S. especially in schools. Whatever hard sex roles they learned in their home country won’t apply as much in the U.S. The boys can be study to be teachers and nurses and the girls can become engineers and doctors. No one has to get married or take a certain type of job just because of their sex.
I used to prepare Russian kids coming to the US, these were older, but some of the lessons: what to do if your host father tries to molest you; if you go shop lifting with American kids (pretty common in the program) and get caught, they will get yelled at, you will be put on a plane back home; Americans aren’t as social, you will probably be on your own a lot; Americans can be a lot more aggressive in their religion than other countries (lots of host families tried to ‘save’ the exchange kids); and standing in line 101.
Also most countries don’t add sales tax at the checkout, so they need to know this. (Even though I was well aware of this when I lived there, I still got tripped up by it occasionally when grocery shopping on a budget.)
And, in this case, basic interpersonal dynamics that are different. In the US, men who are casual friends do not normally cuddle.
Americans have a larger personal space than most others, touch more forcefully (they don’t just place the tips of their fingers on your arm, it’s the whole hand) and look more into your eyes. When an American looks you in the eye, you’re not supposed to tilt your head, look at their ear or look away as fast as you would with someone Back Home (you shouldn’t turn it into a Mexican Standoff either, it’s not a game of “who can stare longest without winking”).
It’s never too early to start with some important ones:
In America, you should shower or bathe at least once every other day. You should use deodorant. If you do not, you may not be accepted into your host country as warmly as you may have expected.
A lot of adults don’t take this advice very well. Best to start with kids.
I came to the US from Canada at 6 in First Grade. The only thing that baffled me was the “Pledge of Allegiance” at the start of the school day. I was coming from a Canadian French Catholic School in Montreal to a hick town in West Bumblefark, PA with only a public school. I knew English, so that wasn’t a problem, but I was totally out of sync with that part of the school day.
Yeah, no.
Per jjimm’s comment re. sale tax: The price on the item is less than you have to pay… please don’t hassle the poor clerk at the register because they’re stuck with a silly system that adds the tax on top of the marked price. 
Since they’re 8-10 hopefully you’ll be able to skip explaining tipping for a while. 