Who are we and where do we come from?

Over the past 3 months, our class has been inquiring about who we are and where we come from! This wonderment around "identity" and what makes each of us special and unique was something Ms. Theis and I wasted no time on exploring with our students. What started from one of our SK students leaving to visit family in Egypt before the holidays and our students wondering where Egypt was on the map, led to a multi-facted inquiry that has branched off into many authentic directions! 

A world map by T.D. (SK)

Our documentation panel 

As we began to explore our "identity," many wonderful learning opportunities began to unravel. This post will sum up in brief some of those wonderful highlights to ensure privacy is still protected for our students' and their families!

We hope you enjoy our "Highlight Reel":

1. An interview with T.B. in Egypt through Skype! 
Here are some of our questions and T.B.'s responses:

What does it look like in Egypt?
T.B.: "Plants are green and I can see the ocean and lots of pools. The weather is summer and I have been making sand castles and see the pyramids too!"

What is your favourite Egyptian food?
T.B.: "I like lots of carrots, beans and rice. It's yummy."

V.D.: "I wonder if you talk a different language?"
T.B.: "Yes, I speak Arabic!"

J.S. (SK - boy): "How many pyramids did you see in Egypt?"
T.B.: "I saw big, medium and small. There's also a guard for the pyramid to control if they're open or closed and who can go in and out and the guard has to say 'yes' or it's not safe."

2. "Whoever You Are" - by Mem Fox:
After reading this story as a Read Aloud on Wednesday afternoon to support our inquiry, our class had a very insightful discussion around what makes each of us special and unique!

"My Dad comes from Poland and my mom comes from Italy."

"My family is from Jamaica and it's hot there!"

"My family is from Sri Lanka!"

"My Dad comes from Cambodia and my Mom comes from China!"

"My family is from Canada."

"My Mom comes from the Phillipines."

"My family comes from Vietnam. I don't see rain or snow in Vietnam but I see leaves on the ground sometimes."

"People's skins are different colours because everyone's countries are different."

"Everyone speaks Indian in my country. That's my language."

"We speak Tamil at home."

"Skin colours are different and they change because of the sun you know?"

Here is a list of some other fantastic Read Alouds that we have used to support this inquiry:

"Skin Again" by Bell Hooks

"This is me and where I am" by Joanne Fitzgerald

"The Skin You Live In" by Michael Tyler, David Lee Csicsko

"The Colours of Us" by Karen Katz

"Who's in a Family?" by Robert Skutch

"Whoever You Are" by Mem Fox

3. Creating our Self Portraits out of clay:
Creating a self portrait was one way we felt our students could be invited to celebrate their identity. It was truly a remarkable experience watching them pay such close attention to the details on their face when drawing their sketches and when crafting their design out of clay! 

4. Our families on the map:
To celebrate the diversity within our classroom, one activity that drew in a lot of excitement was creating "Country Cards" and plotting ourselves on our world map in our classroom! It was so wonderful to see how multicultural our classroom is and how many unique backgrounds create the community within the walls of our learning space! Our students continue to look up and observe each other's family identities and talk about what they see! 

5. Holiday "Think Work":
Over the Holiday Break, we invited our families to share with us some of their cultural traditions! Families could create a "Country Collage" out of pictures that represent their country and/or share a recipe of a favourite cultural dish! We were beyond thrilled with the responses from our students and their families! It was also great to see our families experimenting with technology and creating their collages on PicCollage! Our plan is to create a "Class Recipe Book" including all of those shared with us as part of this Think Work activity! 

6. Our Collaborative "Who is Nobody?" Project:
Read more about this incredible project by clicking on the link:

http://whoisnobodycollaborativeproject.blogspot.ca

7. Designing Flags:
After one SK's response to her "Question of the Day" book based on the question: "If you could design your own flag, what would it look like and why?" - our students jumped at the chance of celebrating their identity by creating a flag of their very own! With the incorporation of water colours, here are their masterpieces:

Artists: D.K., C.S., G.V., E.Z.

Artists: G.B., J.H., J.S. (boy), J.S. (girl)

Artists: J.L. (boy), J.L. (girl), L.M., M.P.

Artists: M.D., P.B., R.K., R.T.

Artists: R.V., S.R., T.B., T.P.

Artists: T.D., V.D., Z.P

The above is just a snapshot into our "Identity" and "Map Inquiry"! We hope it helps to paint a picture around what has been going on inside our classroom these past few months! We truly can't wait to see where the journey takes us so stay tuned!