This year, the Lunar New Year began on February 12th and the students celebrated in Art, Music, and Library!
In art, students in fourth and fifth grades created Chinese lanterns while learning about the Chinese culture, traditions, and art styles. Ms. Mosby worked with the students over the course of a few weeks to create lanterns with multiple layers of paper and drawings. In music, Ms. Livingston presented songs and dances for the students to perform in class in order to celebrate.
In library, Ms. Loya spend two weeks teaching the students about the Lunar New Year. Students learned that this lunar year is the Year of the Ox. The students also heard multiple stories about the origins of the Lunar New Year, the Ox and his background, and the traditions that come with the celebrations. Many students were amazed as they watched videos of celebrations, including Lion Dances. Jade, a second grader, told her teacher, “I want to visit there when I grow up. I’m going to see that in person.” After the stories and visuals, students created red envelopes, another tradition they learned about.
The cultural experience across the various specials classes created an immersive experience for the students who were able view and learn about diverse backgrounds. Students were still talking about it after the week of snow days with a student named Jesse telling Ms. Loya, “We’re in the year of the ox now!” as he walked by in the hall.
