Brian's second grade class is studying folk tales and there was an opportunity for parents to volunteer in the classroom to read a folk tale from their native country. I visited Brian's class and read the story of Johnny Appleseed to the kids telling them a little bit about folk tales from the USA. They all seemed to enjoy the story and to make it more real I chose a volunteer from the class to wear a pot on his head, a seed bag at his side and hold a walking stick. He also willingly handed out an apple to each student once I finished reading the story. It was the best 1/2 hour of my day! I hope I get the chance to do something similar again some time.
Another part of the folk tales unit includes a field trip to the Opera & Ballet House in Ulaanbaatar to watch a ballet performance. In addition to story telling, folk tales are passed from generation to generation through dance and music. Unfortunately all the performances are on Sundays, so I ordered the DVD version of The Sleeping Beauty and watched it with Brian yesterday. He had a sheet of questions to answer about the story and then made a drawing to go along with his work. He seemed to enjoy the ballet performance despite its length of 2 hours 15 minutes!
3 comments:
What a fun way to involve parents and teach a little about other cultures!
What is the predominant religion in Mongolia? I should probably know that, or be able to guess, but I can't. :) (I'll go look it up)
I love volunteering at my children's school, but I have to admit my favorite thing to do is read with them. So fun teaching them some American tales. I've missed you Katherine. I hope we get to see each other soon.
Lisa - most people are Buddhist here in Mongolia. However, there are a few other religions, including Christians (Catholic, LDS).
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