culture

Surprise Package from Upper Plenty -Australia

Roadrunners

This week we received yet another package in our box.   Anticipation of where it came from and what was in it could be hear around the room.

As we gathered around to find out the answers we noticed it was addressed to Mrs. Todd and the Roadrunners.   The return address was Upper Plenty  3/4 C and Miss Crowther’s  in Australia so that was one question answered.  Now to find out what was inside.  As Reese pulled open the package tab and Kaylie looked inside and pulled out the contents we found the answer to our second question.

Inside we found two cards wishing us a Merry Christmas and  the students in 3/4 C Upper Plenty, Victoria, Australia  had signed them.  Then there was a wrapped package that was flat and  square wrapped with red Christmas paper.  Kaylie opened it and inside was a book and CD with Aussie Christmas songs.   We found out they were different from our songs.

Fairdinkumaussiechristmas_web

Although it arrived in America after our holiday it was a nice surprise for the first of the year. We wanted to listen and sing along.   Thank you, Upper Plenty for sharing with us!

We hear that it was very hot there this week.   While you were baking in the sun we had temperatures in the early morning in the high 20’s low 30’s F.  And daytime temps around 50 degrees F.   Do you know what that is in Celsius?

 

Presenting our Cultural Resumes

Roadrunners

 

 

Students  have been busy talking with their parents and finding out about their ancestors.   We are finding we come from many countries.  We watched a video about gestures (hand shakes, heads moving) and their meanings from around the world.   We learned a song about saying hello around the world.  We discussed why it’s important to understand different cultures.

 

Do you know where your ancestors came from?   Did they need to travel a long way from their country of origin to come to America?

 

The Philippines

Roadrunners

Kaitlyn’s mom and dad visited our classroom on Friday February 17th to tell us about the Philippines.  We listened, took notes and then blogged on Kidblog about what we had learned.    Mrs. Todd also read us a book about the Philippines. 

Kaitlyn’s mom  had a power point presentation for us.   Her dad took pictures of us. 

This is some of the things we learned…..

    • The Philippines is a country made up of islands.  It’s just like the continent Australia , Hawaii and New Zealand with water all around it.  It is located in the western Pacific Ocean.  Some islands don’t have any one living on them they are so small.  Other islands have mountain ranges, valleys and rivers.  The Philippine islands are located southeast of Hong Kong and northeast of Indonesia.  A few weeks ago we were graphing and looked at our shirts and where they were made.  Several of us had shirts on  that day made in these countries.  The Celebes Sea, South China Sea and the Philippine Sea surround the islands.
    • Do you know what an archipelago is?  It’s the Philippines
    • The Philippines are about the size of Arizona.
    • They have active volcanoes just like  New Zealand does.  Mount Mayon is the most active.  Mount Pinatubo is another active volcano.    It was asleep for six hundred years.  In 1991 it began erupting. 
    • They have no snow.
    • They have two seasons–one wet and one dry.  It’s called the monsoon when it’s wet.  Winter is dry from December to April.  Summer is wet from May to November.
    • Flooding is common during the wet season.
    • It’s warm or hot  all year. 
    • Typhoons are like our hurricanes.
    • Manila is the capital and largest city.
    • Seaports are where people trade.  The ships sail in and out with products.
    • They have pythons, monitor lizards, and tree frogs in the mangrove swamps.
    • They have birds.
    • Orchids grow wild on the island.
    • People call it a tropical paradise if they are tourists.
    • We learned that they speak Philipino language and English.  It might be spelled Filipino by some.  It is based on an old language called Tagalog.  Children in school speak English in the classroom. 
    • They celebrate Christmas from September to December.  They don’t have Thanksgiving but do celebrate Halloween.  They like some of the same candy that we do.
    • They have different traditions from many different countries.  They may eat Spanish and Chinese foods.  They eat rice at most meals.  They eat roasted pig with an apple in it’s mouth for big celebrations.  The favorite dessert is rice cakes.
    • They play baseball, basketball, flying kites  and Sipa.  It is like volleyball but players do not use their hands.  They must keep the ball up and going.
    • About half of the people live on small family farms and rice is the most important crop.  It grows in flat fields the can be flooded easily.  Farmers living in the mountains also grow it on terraces.  Streams are used to flood it.  They also grow sugarcane to sell to others.  Fruits such as pineapples, oranges, mangoes, and bananas are important exports. 
    • Farming isn’t the only way to make money.  They have textile weaving.  People weave beautiful  baskets from the pineapple and palm leaves.
    • Tourists like to scuba dive and see the coral off shore. 
    • Jeepneys are a cross between a jeep and bus and people use these for travel and bicycles.                                                                                                                                                            
    • They have technology but cost of it may prohibit widespread use of it. 
    • Children learn many of the same subjects as we do.
    • They have the smallest monkey about the size of your hand.