Showing posts with label learning tools. Show all posts
Showing posts with label learning tools. Show all posts
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Monday, March 14, 2011
Food for Thought: St. Patrick's Day Learning
Today is St. Patrick's Day. To say that I love being Irish is to underestimate how much I love being Irish. It's like saying David Bowie is just a singer or that William Shakespeare wrote some cool poems. I love being Irish, and I love celebrating the history and culture of my people. Each year I take time to make a few Irish dishes for friends and family. I love to tell them the history of my people and why these particular dishes are significant to Ireland.
To me, being Irish is a great special gift that not everyone can share, but everyone should know about. I am proud of the good and the bad that is my Irish ancestry. I love celebrating today, to tell everyone around me about the Irish. I also do it every other day of the year, if someone will let me -- but today I get to go a little overboard, and I'm okay with that!
Learning about a new culture and really appreciating it can feel overwhelming and distant. What I mean by distant is that reading a textbook or watching a film probably isn't going to make a culture or country come to life for anyone. It also won't present a way in which to make a lasting connection with the viewer (unless the story already holds a personal connection). I know this to be very true from my own personal experiences. This is also the reality that faces our students.
This is a huge world filled with over 200 countries, each with its own unique culture, people, and history. As global citizens, each student should learn about these different cultures as best they can. By having an understanding, and thereby an appreciation, of other people, global citizens can have more compassion and awareness of the world around them. It can be difficult, however, to really learn about these cultures and countries simply from a textbook or a website.
In many elementary schools, students complete two big social studies projects on a state, followed by a country project. And while those projects are really good, there isn't much after that, which is unfortunate. To me, a great opportunity is missed when we don't take the time to learn about a country's cuisine. For my part, I know quite a bit about Ireland, and understanding the local and traditional dishes of the Irish has given me a deeper knowledge and appreciation of the culture as a whole. For example, why is it that potatoes, cabbages, or root vegetables seem to be in nearly every meal? Due to the rocky moist soil and the longer growing time required - these types of vegetables do well there. Plus, root vegetables are less expensive to grow and keep longer in storage. When Ireland was developing as it's own country, money wasn't very plentiful - so you needed to eat and eat items that weren't expensive to grow or tricky to harvest. There's no way an orange would grow or last long on the cold, rainy, windy island of Ireland. So, by learning about the foods that come from Ireland, I am also learning about the country and culture of the Irish. Seafood is very common in Irish dishes too; and why is that, you ask? Well, Ireland is an island. And seeing how after an initial investment in fishing tools, it is very inexpensive to fish - it makes economic sense to fish. Again, by examining the food of my people I am better equipped to know them. I can also teach someone that the limited food ingredients that the Irish had to cook and eat with was in large part due to the restrictions placed on them by the English sovereignty. This type of analysis can be applied to any country.
Now, to bring this concept into the classroom may be a little tricky at first, but it is possible at any level of school. What about having a food party at the end of a unit? Each student or group makes a dish, does a little write up explaining what the food tells us about the culture, and presents it to the class. While the groups present their dishes, the remainder of the class writes and takes notes on the presentation, and is required to ask at least three questions during each presentation. Afterwards, the teacher can take all the recipes and make a booklet for each student. The recipe book would also be a great computer lab project for the students. You could have students type up their recipes, and then merge the files into one document for printing and copying. You could even have student editors in charge of proofreading the recipes and merging the files. Your colleagues might even enjoy receiving copies of the finished product! This can be done at any grade level; and could really be a great deal of fun for older students, who don't get as many creative opportunities to learn.
This may seem like a time-intensive project, but it doesnÃt have to be, and the learning benefits are huge. At the minimum, students could research a dish and print an image of it, and then continue on with the abovementioned report presentation. You could also involve parents in the project.
As educators, we should be looking for ways to bring the curriculum to life for our students. Child or not, who doesn't want to have their learning be more interesting? I don't know a single person who feels fulfilled by reading a textbook alone. As teachers, we want our lessons to be meaningful, and for students to retain what they are learning. By talking and learning while eating foods from various cultures, we can allow for learning that expands our students' worlds, and lasts a lifetime.
Erin Go Braugh!
by Rosshalde Pak
Article Items
Monday, February 14, 2011
Celebrating our Presidents
Nearing the end of winter and cold, long days, the calendar approaches Presidents’ Day. The elementary classrooms are full of snow pants, boots, wet mittens, and even wet homework papers from damp backpacks. What an excellent time to study Washington and Lincoln, and turn a corner in the school year! These great leaders demonstrated perseverance, and they give us a chance to apply this idea in our classrooms as the calendar days march on and we persevere through the dreary end of winter. Washington and Lincoln exemplify strong values and character. This is an opportunity to discuss role models who are not always considered in today's world of video games and television. Presidents’ Day presents many other teachable moments as well. You can incorporate the holiday into your classroom by trying some of the following ideas.
• Compare/contrast the two Presidents using Venn Diagrams.
• Study character traits in non-fiction sources.
• Sequence historical dates.
• Infer: What is leadership? What does "Father of our country" mean?
• Discuss differences between long ago and modern life.
• Compare the two historical time periods of their presidencies. How were presidential elections different long ago?
• Make art projects to brighten up the elementary classroom, and take those wilting snowflakes down! Perhaps your students could make silhouettes of each President.
• Distinguish fact from myth in their lives.
• Consider and evaluate: Do the myths also help us? How? What do we learn? Why do those stories persist?
• Silently read the numerous fiction and non-fiction books about Washington and Lincoln available in many elementary school libraries, putting aside modern fiction and fantasy for awhile.
• Genre study: What is historical fiction? What non-fiction conventions do students notice in the reading?
• Don't forget a chance for an educational video or two and a little breathing room after the 100th Day, Valentine's Day, and helping children with boots and zippers. Whew!
• Lincoln studied by firelight and wrote on shovels. Washington had little formal schooling. What do today's students think is an educational hardship . . . having the Internet down? This is a chance for some great classroom discussion.
• General Washington led the war at Valley Forge, and was reluctant to become President, but he sacrificed self for country. Have the students had to make sacrifices?
More books have been written about Lincoln than any other human being (16,000). This gives us a hint of the importance of Presidents’ Day.
Many years ago, my kindergarten son asked me, "Was that the war with the rags on their feet or the one about slaves?" History through a child's eyes is fascinating, as elementary educators know.
Teachers Pay Teachers - Wise Owl
Carolyn Wilhelm
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Products
President's Day Powerpoint
President's Day Interactive Poster Activity
Teachers Pay Teachers - Wise Owl
Carolyn Wilhelm
*******************************
Products
President's Day Powerpoint
President's Day Interactive Poster Activity
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