Interesting enough, my students this year are not as excited about the culture project as in the past two years. One notable change is that my classes the past two years were filled with a large number of recent immigrants, and this year's class has fewer personal ties to immigration.
This is what happens in education. Each class presents a collective personality, and with that personality they respond to learning units in different ways. For example, this class LOVES read aloud--they attend well and enjoy listening to and discussing the stories' characters, plots, problems and predictions.
So on Monday, I will have to inspire their work to drive their efforts and completion of the grade-wide culture project. I'll do this by discussing audience--who are we doing this project for, and how do we hope to educate and entertain them. We'll talk about fact accuracy, alluring images, inviting topic sentences and engaging enrichment work. I'll review the guided research links and tools as well as offer my research consultation skills to those who can't find what they are looking for. I'll also connect our work to the work done in museums throughout our area, and how they must pull together just before an exhibit opening. Then we'll charrette all week as we complete the projects and get ready to learn from each other as well as enjoy many foods from cultures all over the world.
