This week we were to explore collaboration either within our school or outside our school. I chose to explore www.epals.com. This interested me because I teach in a school that is not very diverse and I feel it is important to expose students to many different cultures and holidays. Our school really focuses on Christmas and its traditions and commercialism. I tend not to do this and the reason is I grew up in a predominantly Jewish area so we were not allowed to celebrate any particular holiday in school. I think it is better to recognize and celebrate many different holidays and traditions since our world is getting smaller and some of our students will be working with people from all over the world.
I would like to use epals as way to investigate and explore other cultures. The group I would like my class of kindergarteners to join is Holidays and Festivals Around the World. Most of the lesson ideas can be adapted for kindergarten and they are relevant to our social studies themes which include celebrations and traditions. I feel it is very important to open up our ego centric kindergartners to the global community.
Another project I would like to do in my class is have soldiers from other countries come in and show and talk about their culture. We are fortunate that Ft. Leavenworth is about 10 minutes from our school and the military is always willing to donate their time to support our school. I think this would really make a lesson more concrete for my small learners.
For epals my classroom would really not need to purchase anything. We have netbooks for 5 students in my room and I have a project for whole group lessons. The only cost maybe would be finding literature to support some of the lessons but the public library, our school library and other teachers would be great resources as well.
Jane
ReplyDeleteI think peals will be a great way for your students to learn about other cultures, holidays and people around the world. Will you pick a certain country or will you let them all chose their own? Maybe you could have them draw one from a hat to see who their pal will be. How ever you do this project it will be one your students will remember for a long time. I think you are on the right track for this project. Would like to here how it turns out.
Richard
Jane,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great project idea. I like your idea of bringing in soldiers to talk with the students as well. Especially for the little ones it is important for everything to be as hands on as possible. I love how multicultural your classroom is. I would be honored to have my son be in your kindergarten class!!
Great ideas! Using the soldiers to share their real life experiences with the students would be awesome; it would give them a meaningful learning experience. Have you ever used Skype and chatted with any soldiers while they were deployed?
ReplyDeleteJane,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea that you have. I think that it is so important that we have a better understanding of different cultures. I also think that having first hand information from the soldiers, helps ALL of us to have a better understanding of all. I think that I will go in and investigate epals. I am interested how this would work.
KUDOs to you and Thank you for your inspiration to all of us.
Janice
Jane,
ReplyDeleteLearning about other cultures is a great idea. From my experience people love talking about themselves and sharing what life is like in a different place. I think your students will gain valuable experience by talking and learning from people in different cultures