Wednesday, April 6 began our school's International Days. Every year, we study a country as a school-wide effort for three to four days. We have speakers, singers/dancers, food tastings, cultural trivia, and the school is turned into a mini version of the country of focus. Over the past few years, we have studied China, Switzerland, Ireland, and Mexico.
This year, we journeyed to Italy. We learned about the country, listened to the Italian national anthem in the morning, made venetian masks, listened to (and sang along with) a group of Italian singers, enjoyed a presentation on the culture of Italy, and had a tasting at lunch, complete with an accordion player and tablecloths in the cafeteria. The students tasted fresh mozzarella, Italian bread with olive oil, garlic bread with bruschetta, and pizzelles.
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| Some of the masks my students made for the occasion. |
The PTA does a wonderful job of setting things up. All of the halls are decorated according to theme, and the artwork displayed is done by the students of that particular hallway. The students make giant (read: adult-sized) pictures of things that represent the country we are studying. This year, the kindergarten hall way displayed pasta bowls, the first and second grade hall was gelato cones and pizza, the third grade hall was an olive tree orchard, the fourth grade hall was churches/cathedrals, and the fifth grade hallway was full of gondolas. All of the hallways had words related to the theme suspended from the ceiling.
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| One of the signs on the first/second-grade hallway. Other signs said "Delicious" and "Sweet." |
In the specials hallway, there was a scene from Italy, complete with mosaics created by the children.
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| The Leaning Tower of Pisa (outside our school library)! |
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| The Coliseum. |
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| A bridge into another part of Italy. |
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Some of the mosaics done by the students. The entire specials hallway is decorated with them. All kinds of materials were used: noodles, beans, paper, buttons, foam shapes, tile, sequins, pasta, cereal, rocks, and string.
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Ciao, Italia!
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