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HALIFAX -- Each morning this week, students will be sharing presentations with the rest of Halifax School, aiming to show the culture and lives of different parts of Africa.
"The kids are having a lot of fun with it," Halifax School Principal Aldrich said.
On Monday morning, Kindergartners performed a Kenyan folk tale, "Who's In Rabbit's House?" in the school gymnasium.
"They made elaborate masks and acted out the play for the whole school and then with the help of a parent who spent time in Africa, they cooked Ethiopian dishes," said Aldrich. "It gave everyone in the school a chance to eat Ethiopian food."
The first and second graders at Halifax School have created an alphabet book about the continent. Each letter will stand for something found in Africa. Illustrations with explanations and research will be presented to the rest of the school.
Students in the sixth grade will teach students how to play African games. They'll also be sharing some Moroccan food and teaching students some words.
The fifth and sixth grade got North Africa, while the first and second graders got West Africa. Third and fourth had South Africa and the kindergartners had Eastern Africa.
The junior high, seventh and eighth graders, will be teaching the school about Middle Africa.
"Our junior high will also have the whole Africa fair," said Aldrich. "Since they're a little bit older, they can go into more depth. There will be
She mentioned that the junior high students will also have presentations on different animals and parts of central African culture.
Aldrich asked a parent to come to the school and go to all the classrooms to show the students photographs from Africa. Aldrich also has a friend from Kenya and has shown the kids pictures from his blog.
"We've integrated the events into the whole trimester," Aldrich said.
The rest of the parents are invited to presentations in the morning in which their children will be presenting.
Halifax School has been covering a different continent each trimester. The first trimester this year, the school had presentations on South America. The next and last trimester, students will be learning about Asia.
"It was something we decided to do at the end of last year," said Aldrich. "It took a lot of work to get going but it's been worth it."
The students have enjoyed this way of hands-on learning. They get to taste the food, learn the dances and sing the songs.
"They seemed to really like it," said Aldrich. "The kids did such a good job with their play. They looked so cute up there. This is something the kids will remember for the rest of their lives."
Chris Mays can be reached at 802-254-2311, ext. 273, or cmays@reformer.com. Follow Chris on Twitter @CMaysReformer.
