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 Celebrations Super Integrated Thematic
Unit
This unit is under construction.
The "Celebrations" Theme can range into a lot of different
curriculum areas. It is theme that connects a number of ideas or patterns
to give
that sense of wonder. Celebrations and ceremonies (more formal celebrations)
are an ongoing part of life, where we say "thanks" for what we have or
the milestones that have been passed. Each country, group and family
have different celebrations but the connecting threads in these are:
fun, sense of thankfulness and appreciation, bonding of the group, connection
with the traditions of past in family, group, country), moments of reflection
and importance. Some say we are losing our sense of celebration in a
world of individualism, this is a chance to celebrate the celebrations
and realise how importaant they are to us.
Celebrations can be a school-wide theme. With junior pupils we can build
this theme around the idea of birthdays and at the upper end of the school
we can
look
into
a wider
range of
celebrations (boyhood to manhood, death, graduating, religious celebrations,
reasons behind some of the countries public holidays etc) and many of
these can
involve
first
hand interviews with people or people groups. Senior pupils could also
be ask a great question, "How can we better celebrate around our school?"
They can research, survey, debate this and come up with ways unique
to your school. Note that this topic can flow over into celebrations
of cultural differences.
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Each section has
a range of starting ideas with them. These include online
interactive activities,
Mindmaps, printables, banner as well as a full range of
internet links for further resources. They are designed
to give the "Big Picture" from which pupils or
teachers can investigate specifics. For a unit like this
TIME is important. It can have so much curriculum coverage
that you can spend many weeks on it! Pupils could research
an area of interest to report back on. Take them through
the learning/information process, and open them up to life-long
learner skills and other essential skills in the unit through
matching ideas to the curriculum areas.
You can also get pupils to either work in areas that suit
their "multiple
intelligence" or "learning
style" by selecting the appropriate activity.
Remember, though that it is important for pupils to be
exposed to a number of learning styles/ intelligences.
Keep in mind that these are integrated resources, always
look for the connections, the sense of wonder, and let
them get thinking!
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| Inspiration
Mindmaps |
Birthdays
mindmap, |
| Celebrations Information |
Our
own Quicktime movie with some simple information overviewing Celebrations
around the world! |
| Celebrations
Online Activities |
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| Celebrations Online links |
Series
of screened links from the Internet. Links
covering and range of information, integrated unit plans and other sub-topics
within this theme. When you visit the collection page type in "celebrations" or "festivals" to get the best links. Star rating or *** or **** and rarely ***** are either the newer or better sites. Help on how to use our Delicious links, selection criteria and tagging system is here (1MB pdf). |
| Celebrations
Unit |
Integrated
unit |
| Celebrations
Banners: Happy
Birthday, Birthday
Months, Congratulations, |
Check
out our banners for this topic. See also our awards
section for general awards
to give out in celebration. |
| Celebrations
Science |
What
science can be found in celebrations? |
| Celebrations
Social Studies and Issues |
Put
together Powerpoint presentations, digital camera pictures and Video
with other display items from your unit.. voile.. a show!
If you threw a birthday party for Planet Earth, what would you celebrate
and how would you do it?
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| Celebrations
Health & P.E |
What are the top five ways people celebrate badly?
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| Celebrations
Technology |
Create
a technology challenge of designing a pop up birthday card, |
| Celebrations
Maths |
Measurement: Practical
graphing, measuring, weighing, volume will all be covered in such a unit.
Geometry of a birthday party could be investigated.
Statistical analysis of information. Find out about
the celebrations in the different families in the class. We have a birthday
survey here (pdf
version, Apple
Pages version) and a sample graphing
activity (pdf version, Apple Numbers versino) |
| Celebrations
Gallery |
Send
us digital pictures of your experiences, with a short descriptive paragraph,
and we will put them on line |
| Celebrations
Art |
Look
for paintings and art that communicate about celebrations. Some like
"The Last Supper" will have a joy and sadness mixed around them. How
much of art is a "celebration of life?" as we move, act, dance, paint
etc.Look in the photo albums at home or on computer and ask, "How many
photos capture moments of celebration?" Look into the use of digital
cameras and how to capture the "Celebration" moments (Framing the subject,
getting close, using creative angle and always remembering to tell the
story by capturing what it is about in a series of photos). |
| Celebrations
English/Language Ideas & links |
Still
coming |
| Celebrations
Music/Drama/Dance |
Summarise
aspects of knowledge learned in a drama/video re-enactment. Look at the music
for different types of celebrations (Last Post, WEdding, birthday) and
identify how the melodies, rhythm and words combine for different moods.
Try using Garagband or another musical loop program t write an alternative
to, "Happy Birthday" Investigate how "Happy Birthday has become such
a universal song.. is this the same in alll cultures? |
| Celebrations
Daily Activities |
Look
for ways to turn some events in your class into better celebrations of
the good that is happened. What are your class traditions? |
| Celebrations
Teacher/ Learning Resources |
Community
Links: any business involved in any of the areas above. Clowns, cake making
service, entertainment company, celebrations director of community events, |
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