Love Elementary School third-graders received a taste of how holidays are celebrated in other countries through a "Christmas Around the World" project in Laurie Hind's class. The students combined library and classroom time to research books and the Internet to complete a team project on a specific country and their customs. Students individually researched interesting facts about their holidays, symbols from each country, songs they sing, what they believe in, holiday foods they eat and how they celebrate the holidays. As a team, they created a keynote presentation on their country's holiday.
"I didn't know that they ate roasted goose and log cake in France," said student Blake Collins. "I liked doing the keynote presentation because we got to work on the computers. I didn't know you could get photos and put them in a presentation to make it more interesting."
Part of the third-grade NYS Social Studies standards includes learning about communities around the world. Students have studied Puerto Rico, China and Africa and the Holidays Around the World unit added another element.
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Love Elementary School third-graders display their “Christmas Around the World” projects.
"A project like this parallels skills students will need in the real world," said Mrs. Hind. "Note-taking, writing, computer presentation skills and teamwork are all part of college and the workplace. I like to incorporate technology into the curriculum as it is something that all students enjoy, but also a way to let them experience how technology can enhance their learning experience."
Students studies holidays in Sweden, Mexico, Spain and Germany to name just a few.
"I learned that in Germany they put real candles on their tree to keep away bad spirits. The candles are also meant to represent stars," said student Tim Riley. "The presentations weren't easy to do but I think using computers helps us learn how to use them and we also learned a new computer program."