As a way to connect across classrooms and recognize the many safe and kind choices children have been making, we took part in an Olympic themed school wide celebration Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Each classroom and school community member was given a country and a collection of flags to trade.
Our classroom represented Germany and the Kindergarteners eagerly and bravely asked students and teachers to trade flags! We used a "flag key" to learn about the many different flags. We ventured across the school to trade flags with 7th and 8th graders and happily welcomed students in during rest time. As older students traded flags with the Kindergarteners, they whispered to one another;
I loved rest time.
Hey, there's the loft!
I loved the blocks.
Do you remember Kindergarten? I do, some of it. I remember meeting.
For me, watching as students made connections and expressed a sense of community was the most powerful part of this experience. I hope we can provide more opportunities for the oldest and youngest students in our school to interact in authentic and meaningful ways.
This celebration also provided rich learning opportunities. We revisited our learning about the world, once again locating Germany on a world map. The children practiced saying "good day" and "good morning" in German when trading their flags with peers and adults.
On Friday morning, I invited my mom to visit and share a piece of German culture with us. As children came into the classroom, she sat at the back table, preparing for her planned experience - the making of straw stars. Many of the Kindergarteners gathered around her, fascinated to hear her talk. They wanted to learn to count in German and tell her all about our academic choice.
On Friday morning, I invited my mom to visit and share a piece of German culture with us. As children came into the classroom, she sat at the back table, preparing for her planned experience - the making of straw stars. Many of the Kindergarteners gathered around her, fascinated to hear her talk. They wanted to learn to count in German and tell her all about our academic choice.
During morning meeting she shared large pictures of popular German castles and churches, talking about traditional architecture. The children passed around a stone replica of a Bavarian castle and pieces of the Berlin Wall. She shared a walking staff covered in shields from various huts located in the German Alps. The children felt the fuzzy petals of dried Edelweiss. They were captivated. We ended our meeting with a German snack; rye bread with butter and plum jam.
Following snack, we once again gathered together, and watched as my mom modeled making a foil star. She left the supplies with us, to have as a new experience during academic choice. She then gave each child a straw star to weave yarn around - over, under, over, under.
Before leaving we asked my mom to yodel. Her yodel echoed throughout the primary. It was a morning rich with stories, photographs, history, and culture.
In the above pictures, my mom reads the morning message with the Kindergarteners. The children teach her how to point to short words and slide for long words. She reminds them about reading with expression. She uses large pictures to help guide her stories and information.
In the below pictures, the children butter their rye bread and enjoy sweet plum jam!
The Kindergarteners practice weaving straw stars - a traditional German craft.
Prior to an afternoon trading mission, the Kindergarteners used ten frames to group and count their flags, recording their amount on a sticky note. We put the amounts in order, from least to most - although the joy we experienced was not measured by the number of flags collected, but by the connections we made and fun we had!
