Riverside Elementary enjoys new end-of-the-quarter festivities
Riverside Elementary pupils experienced the tastes, smells and colorful sights of holidays celebrated around the globe Friday, Dec. 16, in a new end-of-the-quarter tradition started this year at their school.
During the “Where is the World is Riverside Elementary” festivities, third-graders sampled ice cream that they made themselves in their study of Antarctica. First-graders prepped for a South American-Carnival-style parade at the end of the school day, and also baked fruit cake and ate tamales.
Sixth-graders delved into Asian traditions, making Japanese origami, Chinese good fortune ornaments and enjoying messy but fun color powder art for India’s Holi Festival of Colors.
Margo Shipp, literacy support specialist, said last year, the teacher-based teams began discussing how they could help students relate to non-fiction texts and open up more experiences to them.
From there, the global activity idea grew and was implemented this school year, with each grade level assigned to one of the seven continents for the entire year.
At the end of the first grading period Oct. 14, the elementary pupils participated in their first hands-on day with their particular continent, exploring “Weather Around the World” that day.
“We’ve had a core committee working on this project, and they provided ideas as a starting point to teachers for their particular continent. But the teachers have really taken this activity and made it their own,” Shipp said. “It has been really fun to see their creativity and the many interactive ideas that they’ve come up with.
“The students are making all of these really great connections about other cultures and they are excited about it. It’s creating this enthusiasm for learning around the school.”
At the “Celebrations and Traditions Around the World” festivities Friday, second-graders went “down under” to visit Australia, and learned about how Christmas looks a lot different there in the summer weather conditions since that continent is located south of the equator. Pupils built a “beach in a bottle” shake up craft, along with sandcastle art.
Fifth-graders examined the holidays that are celebrated in Africa, and created masks for a masquerade type party.They also investigated a trick-or-treat type tradition that children participate in around Christmas time there.
The global pursuit took the fourth-graders to Europe, where students learned about multiplying whole numbers by fractions while preparing a German gingerbread cookie recipe, and either doubling, tripling or quadrupling their ingredients.
Kindergartners looked at traditions in North America, and got to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter all in one day. They also traveled to Mexico and enjoyed breaking a piñata for their celebration, their teacher Ashley Borchers said.
Preschool teacher Molli Bell said her morning and afternoon students explored the local/Ohio holiday in all four seasons, making for a busy and interactive time for the youngsters.
Art, music and physical education classes also joined in the international activities, with fourth-graders in Cari Beth Noah’s music class studying the musical traditions and similarities of between Hanukkah and St. Lucia Day, which is celebrated in Sweden.
Up next at the end of the third grading period March 3, the elementary school will conclude their “Right to Read Week, Wild About Reading” with a Wildlife Day, exploring animals and plant life on their particular continents, Shipp said.
The final exploratory theme for “Where in the World is Riverside Elementary” Day has yet to be determined, with staff set to cast their votes for that last activity May 12, prior to summer break.