6grade

Our African unit is approching its end and it has been a pleasure for me to watch students throw themselves into these studies. During our independent research time, I heart many shouts of factoids students were learning while investigating the histories of their former French colonies--whose country had the longest ruling dictator, whose country had a president ruling for 35 years, whose country had the best flag.

Our independent studies of African countries will be coming to a close soon. We had a wonderful Art Start with Carole Bando and students are finishing up Haitian metal sculptures. Students are also completing their individual country maps and brochures. Next Monday will be a big day as students bring in the third part of the project; we will have food to eat, art to see, music to listen to and photos to look at--it will be an exciting day!

Our study of Francophone Africa continues this week. Students will be completing their maps of the colonization of Africa as well as researching their own French-speaking country and creating a brochure for that country. As homework students will complete an additional part of the project, creating a cultural artifact or presenting an aspect of the country that is more artistic or historical. Carole Bando will come into the class on Tuesday to do an Art Start with us based on Haitian art, showing us the connection between Africa and the New World.

We have started our new leçon in our textbook, leçon, which is leading us into our biggest cultural study of the year: French-speaking Africa. This week students began a map showing the European colonization of Africa. We have learned about a famous Senegalese singer, Youssou N'Dour, one of the first Francophone African singers to be known internationally. We have also listened to musical groups that have been strongly influenced by American style rap and hip-hop. Students will spend the next few weeks researching individual Francophone African countries and creating a project based on the cultural aspects of these countries. Bonnes vacances à tous!