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E is for Ethiopia
This morning I went in to Elfe's classroom to do a little presentation about Ethiopia, as a follow up to the skin color and teams conversation from last week.
The first thing I want to say is that after spending about 30 minutes trying to keep 21 four-and-five-year-olds engaged, I have a new appreciation for kindergarten teachers. Whooboy did they wear me out!
Aside from that, I think it went well. I brought in a world map to show them how far away Ethiopia is from Boston, and told them about how when I traveled to Ethiopia to meet Elfe, I left my house in Boston on Wednesday morning and didn't arrive in Addis Ababa until Thursday night. I went through our E is for Ethiopia book, and taught them to count to 10 in Amharic. I brought in some Ethiopian artwork that showed very typical Ethiopian scenes - the little blue taxis in Addis, a coffee ceremony - and also brought in a traditional outfit that Elfe wears for special occasions. I showed them about thirty pictures from my trip to Ethiopia, and answered seven hundred questions...approximately.
The hardest part of choosing pictures was striking the right balance between showing them enough so they got a sense of Ethiopia and not showing them anything too personal. I had Elfe sit with me as I was choosing photos, and we talked a lot about whether or not to include certain pictures. I also did not want to play into the stereotype of Ethiopia as a poor and dry country, so I made sure to include as many different types of scenes as I could - urban and rural, dry and green, people and animals.
The most impressive moment of the presentations was when one boy correctly identified this bird as a stork - I didn't know what it was until I asked someone after we got back from Ethiopia!
The funniest moment was when I asked the class if they knew where coffee came from and one little girl proudly and confidently announced "Dunkin' Donuts!"
All in all, I think it was a great success.
- This week I am thankful that Elfe is so proud of Ethiopia and wants to share it with all her friends.
- I am thankful to Elfe's teacher for all that she does every day, and for being open to letting me come in and talk about Ethiopia.
- I am thankful that Elfe's friends are interested in where she is from and want to learn more about it.
9 Comments:
I had to share the "Dunkin' Doughnuts" comment with Bill. Too funny! What a great job you did, Liz. I wish I had thought of mentioning how much time it took to get to Ethiopia - kids have no sense of distance and that ought to make an impression! Thanks for some extra ideas, as I'm sure I'll be doing the Ethiopia presentation quite a bit in the next few years! Have a great week!
Thanks Evelyn! The teacher told me that last week when Elfe did her impromptu presentation about Ethiopia and her family there, the kids asked asked her how come she didn't go back to visit her first family. The teacher said Elfe's response was "it's really expensive to get there and it's super far away!" So really, the distance thing was Elfe's idea...
It sounds like a great lesson!
admitting to being a little teary, imagining that proud of my momma and my whole self look on her face... this is precious liz!!
Excellent job Liz. Love the dunkin donuts thing. :-)
good job mama!
Nice job! So great that you did that, I'm impressed.
sounds like you did a really great job!
Sounds wonderful, Liz!
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