Hickory Creek Middle School seventh-graders Krista King (left) and Sarah Corcoran teach Irish dancing steps to Grand Prairie Elementary School students. | Supplied photo
Updated: June 27, 2013 11:01AM
Grand Prairie Elementary School in Frankfort continued its yearlong program for pre-kindergarten through second grade on cultural awareness in March, studying Greek and Irish culture.
A fact about the culture of the month was read to the entire school each day, and students participated in cultural projects in various classes.
During library time, librarian Nicole Fazekas read Irish folk tales and stories about Greece and Greek mythology. Fazekas also used an interactive whiteboard map to teach facts about Ireland and Greece. Students listened to Irish music while they selected a book to read and watched videos about Irish dancing and Greek mythology.
Art instructor Suzie Corkery incorporated Irish and Greek culture into her art lessons. Students made Greek vases and decorated shamrocks.
In gym classes, students tried Irish dancing after a live demonstration performed by Hickory Creek Middle School seventh-grade students Krista King and Sarah Corcoran.
In music classes, instructor Shannon Diehl taught the students the song “Michael Finnegan.” They also listened to Irish lullabies and a demonstration of the tin whistle by Diehl.
As a closing activity, students learned to say “hello” in different languages and the importance of accepting others despite their differences. They received a stamp on their “passports” after the study of each set of cultures. At the end of the school year, the students will have “traveled” around the world.
Students will celebrate Russian, Polish and Middle Eastern culture during the remainder of the school year.