Grade One Holiday Project

Reporting live from Rob's office, I'm here to tell you all about our big holiday project! I've already hit backspace on this keyboard about ten times already because I'm not quite used to it. However, I did discover that it is wireless, so after I'm done writing this paragraph, I'm going to move it onto my lap so that it has more of a laptop feel.

Ahhh...that's a bit better. Can you tell I'm hesitant towards change??

Yesterday I said I would tell you later in the week that I would fill you in on the big holiday plan, but it's one of those rainy December days where the laziness factor in the house is at an all time high, so I figured I'd be somewhat productive and blog for a bit.

It was in August, and while the majority of teachers were enjoying the summer break and thinking of anything but school, my teacher brain was going a mile a minute and I was already thinking about Christmas. Each year, Fairwood does a food and toy drive for families in the community. I wanted my kids to think beyond their school, their town, and community. I wanted them to think about children around the world. I had my idea in place but I wasn't sure how to begin...so I went onto trusty old Facebook and shared my idea in a Grade 1/2 Teachers group and the responses came flooding in!

I was directed to an organization called A Cup for Africa. Their office is located in Ottawa and a few times a year, individuals from this group travel to different countries in Africa to provide some basic necessities. I got in touch with a lady named Connie, who has been more than helpful. The initial plan was to raise money, use the funds to buy little gifts and toys, and send them over in shoeboxes that the kids decorated. Connie said it was a wonderful idea but it's too difficult to ship over all the shoeboxes, and the economy is so poor in Uganda that it's better if items are purchased in their own country. Fair enough. I revamped my plan and decided that whatever money we raise, we would send to the organization, and that money will be used to give the children at the school a lovely Christmas party.

The school we will be helping is called the Goshen School and it is located in Kampala, Uganda. Connie sent me pictures of all the kids that attend the school. There are only 44 students and their ages have a wide range.

Our Plan

-Our Grade One students will each receive a "buddy" from the Goshen School

-We will teach our students about how fortunate they are to have very basic things like food, clothes, clean water, a safe home, etc, and how especially fortunate they are to have things like toys and games

-We will teach our students how to write letters (I had to clarify to them what letters are because they thought I meant I was going to teach them how to print the letters in the alphabet. They were downright outraged when they thought I was going to treat them like JKs haha)

-Our students will write a letter to their buddy in Uganda asking them about their lives, sharing information about their own lives in Canada, explaining why and how they helped them from across the world

-We will raise awareness for those who are less fortunate, build empathy for others, and establish relationships with people from around the world

In addition to all of this, we are working this project into the Fairwood Holiday Concert. Do you know the song, "Do They Know it's Christmas Time?" by Band Aid? It's one of my favourite Christmas songs because the message is so touching. 

Our Grade One classes are learning the words to this song and they will perform it at the concert. Throughout the unit, I will have my camera handy to document all their hard work and efforts for making this project possible. The pictures will be put into a slideshow and shown as the kids sing.

I sent a letter home to parents about the song and I was so happy to hear that about 95% of my kids' parents downloaded the song for them to practice at home. The kids just love it.

I broke the song into parts and wrote the verses on pieces of chart paper. These will serve as our shared reading until the Christmas break. 

We talked about the first part this week and what the lyrics mean. Then I got the kids to practice listening and singing along.

I looked over and I saw one boy crying. I went over and asked him what was bothering him and he said, "I'm just so sad that there are kids that have no toys". Bless his little heart; he almost made me cry too! Not that I enjoy seeing my kids cry, but it was nice to see that they were so touched and impacted by what they were learning.

Anyways, I spent some time this weekend making this board to go in our classroom. 

It will be a nice visual for the students to see who their buddies are, and to see how different life is in Uganda. I also plan on showing them this video tomorrow. 

It documents the average day for a little girl named Midian, who lives in Uganda. It was such an eye-opener for me; I can just imagine how engaged my kids will be when they see it tomorrow.

I know this is a long post, but I hope you enjoyed reading it. It's going to be an exciting three weeks in Grade One as we help our community and our world have a safe and happy holiday!