Les enfants du monde - la gentillesse

Our Kindergarten Immersion classes are participating in a cultural study of world regions. We have begun by forming bonds (penpals) with several schools in different communities. Friendships have begun in France (urban and rural), French Guiana, and Guadeloupe. We are also hoping to find penpals in our region of the School Board. By forming these bonds and friendships we are learning how others live and discovering cultural similarities and differences.

There are several parts to our project:

1. We will learn about the challenges some communities face (poverty, unclean water, lack of resources, rebellion, etc.) and compare that to our local community.

2. It is our intention to share our ideas about peace, friendship and helping those in need with our new friends. We will accomplish this through visual art projects, the creation of class books and collaborative writing projects.

3. With some guidance, students will create a plan “Comment JE peux aider?” (Food Drive, Snowsuit Fund, Angel Tree, Kids Helping Kids, etc.). There will be two parts to the plan – helping our local community and helping a global community. They will vote and choose one way to help our community and one way to help a global community. Students will work together to implement their action plan.

Update (January 26, 2011)

We have received our first letters from our new friends in France. Some friends live in Thiais and others live in Tourtoirac. We have learned that we all like to sing, do art and play outside when we are at school. Some of our new friends also like to play with cars and others like to play in the kitchen – just like us!

Update (January 26, 2011)

We have received our first letters from our new friends in Guadeloupe and French Guiana. We are comparing our communities to theirs and have learned that it is still hot and sunny in Guadeloupe and French Guiana. We just finished an art unit on snowflakes and made a snowflake book to share with our friends. It will now “snow” in Guadeloupe and French Guiana!

Update (March 20, 2011)

Nadine Kennedy from the Lanark County Food Bank visited our classroom and read a book called "Bagels from Benny". It is a story about helping those in the community who are less fortunate than us. We decided that we would like to help our local community and organize a food drive. Our 4 kindergarten classes participated by bringing in food donations from home.

Update (April 5, 2011)

We learned about a community that lives very different than us! We looked at pictures of this community and asked "What's Right with this Picture?" We practiced making Shea Butter and collecting water like women do in Ghana. We are learning about what makes a community sustainable and are creating a mural of our own sustainable village. The money we raise will be used to purchase "Gifts that Matter" such as goats, pigs and clean water for a global community.

Update (April 18, 2011)

We have begun to create our mural of a sustainable village. When we are done the people in our village will have all the tools and resources needed to survive.