Grade 2 students have been learning about ‘Celebrations & Traditions’ as part of the Transdisciplinary Theme: Where we are in place and time: An inquiry into orientation in place and time; personal histories; homes and journeys; the discoveries, explorations and migrations of humankind; and the relationships between and the interconnectedness of individuals and civilizations, from local and global perspectives.

Students learned about the concepts; traditions, values, celebrations and history in order to develop a conceptual understanding “Traditions within celebrations can connect people locally and globally”.

They inquired into: 

• Celebrations and traditions in our community

• The origin, story and history of different celebrations

• Ways local and global celebrations connect people

Please enjoy some photos of the different learning experiences throughout this unit below. 

Ms Ingrid teaches Grade 2 about the Chinese Mid Harvest/Moon Festival 

To deepen their understanding, students make comparisons to the Japanese Celebration - Otsukimi 

 Students share how they personally celebrate Otsukimi and the traditions they engage with. 

Students and parents involved in leading learning by presenting to the class on Diwali.

Lily teaches the class about Dia de los Muertos.

Culture Day!

Students engaged in a range of learning experiences to celebrate the Japanese celebration - Culture Day. Culture Day in Japan is celebrated every year on November 3, this day is also known as ‘Bunka no Hi’ and mostly celebrates the culture, academia, and arts of Japan. This national event is celebrated to pay respects to the traditional Japanese culture.

Students explored the questions: 

• What is culture?

• Why is it important to learn about our own culture and other cultures? 

• What can we learn about ourselves and others through culture? 

• How does culture bring communities together?

Calligraphy in Japanese Class

Listening to and exploring traditional Japanese musical instruments (Taiko drumming)

Origami Kimono Making in Art  

Matching Japanese foods to the Seasons 

‘Radio Taiso’— or radio calisthenic exercises — is an interesting and important part of Japanese history and society. (PE)

Playing with Japanese toys

Learning Cultural Dances in PE

In PE class, each week Ms Grantham has invited in guests from our community to share and teach cultural dances. 

Ms Masami Takaya introduced and taught the traditional Bon Dance "Tanko-Bush: Coal Miner's Dance".

Glory (Grade 6) teaches a traditional African Dance from Tanzania. 

Research Skills

Students conduct research to learn more about the origin, story and history of a range of celebrations locally and globally. They applied a range of research skills, such as interviewing, reading and making connections, to learn more. They used presentation skills to share their findings with the class.

Making Connections

After identifying features of different celebrations, students used the hexagonal thinking routine to create puzzle pieces and therefore find connections between their ideas, whilst documenting their thinking on Seesaw.

 

Give One, Get One

Learning through collaboration: How did your partner's  connection, change your own thinking?