Activities in Early Childhood, Lower School, and Middle School

St. Richard's School has committed to create many opportunities within the curriculum to all grade levels to encourage enrichment in diversity . These opportunities begin as early as the Early Childhood program, where the students and teachers explore the cultures of South America.  This unit culminates with a "plane trip" to the continent, in which the students must pack a suitcase with everything that they may need in South America        Highlight of all the activities that happened during 2007-2008 school year :     EARLY CHILDHOOD   PreK 3's    I Am Special    Children of the World    Food/Home/Families    Pilgrims & Native Americans PreK 4's  China  West Indies   Holidays Around the World   Martin Luther King, Jr.  How the Pilgrims & Native Americans developed friendships/Pilgrim & Indian lunch in the classroom  How is each child unique and diverse in our classroom Kindergarten   Jewish Holidays South America Journey   Native Americans  LOWER SCHOOL   1st Grade   Recognize & accept differences through understanding of all of us in the classroom   Study friendship between the Pilgrims & Native Americans  Study Hindu celebration of Diwali   Attend the "Drinking Gourd" program at the Children's Museum   Rosa Parks study in November, Harriet Tubman in February, Martin Luther King, Jr. in January    Compare & Contrast Australia/America  2nd Grade:   Study family history and traditions   Study ways of life of four Native American groups in North America   Study similarities & differences within our families in how we look and live  Map our living locations   Unit study on Egyptian culture  3rd Grade   Write letters to foreign pen pals to learn about cultures/customs from various countries  Create French "jumping jacks" to send as gifts (these were historically collectibles)  Study several different winter holidays of the world   Study, share, and make a book of family traditions  Create Martin Luther King, Jr. mobiles in January   Write biographies, memorize scripts, and dress in costume to portray wax figures of famous Americans and how/she contributed to society   Present the International Festival representing over 30 different countries of the world   Study Chinese culture through a novel study & activities  4th Grade  October study of Jewish culture using the novel Number the Stars  November study of Native Americans and interactions with Europeans  December study of poetry with poems from different cultures   Represent an ideal of Martin Luther King, Jr. by creating a Class Giving Tree with "ornaments" created by students that tell personal acts of giving   Learn about the difficulties African Americans faced regarding unequal treatment   Study Dreamtime Aboriginal Tales which are fables that explain things in nature & then write our own Dreamtime stories  Research & create puppets on Famous Hoosiers & how these people influenced the world  5th Grade   Units of study on Eskimos, Native Americans, Vietnamese, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, & African countries   Highlight contributions to the field of math & science with the Pythagorean Theorem  The Hindu concept of zero   Contributions to math from India & Mexico   Create Family Tree projects   Pen Pals w/ American students in the U.S. and in South Africa   Experience French culture through class, language, cooking, reading, & the Back to Back Program MIDDLE SCHOOL 6th Grade   In history class students study current events that are happening all over the world   Students study world geography and cultures   Origins and history of Western Civilization from prehistoric man to the Roman Empire   Hispanic cultures of Indianapolis studied in Spanish class   Latin class also studies origins of Western Civilizations   Study socio-economic problems in our own community   Religious diversity in Christian & non-Christian communities   Math students study various algorithms for completion of algebraic expressions; any algorithm that is mathematically sound is accepted  Discuss how math is the universal language   Science students study how various non-living elements of the Earth affect and sometimes define cultures around the world (i.e. plate tectonics, volcanoes, earthquakes, etc.)  7th Grade   In history & Latin classes students study the origins and history of the Western Civilization since the fall of Rome   Students study the formation of various Christian faiths and religions   Hispanic study of Indianapolis in Spanish class   Current Events  Religious diversity & socio-economic problems  8th Grade   In English class students study a Holocaust/World War II literature unit that includes reading The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and visit the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. in May. This unit includes discussion regarding the horror of genocide, compare & contrast Jim Crow laws and black codes of the American South with the Jewish codes of Nazi Germany   In history our "We the People" curriculum includes a heavy civil rights unit that looks at extension of voting rights and the evolution of our understanding of the phrase "all men are created equal" from the Declaration of Independence   We read, among other rich primary documents, "The Meaning of the Fourth of July for the Negro" by Frederick Douglass and "Letter from Birmingham City Jail" by Marin Luther King.   We study units on reform movements, abolitionism, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.  This year, our reform movement unit included an exercise in which students wrote speeches for and against women's suffrage.  The speakers were to write pieces pretending that it was the year 1850 and comparing the plight of women to the plight of slaves and the abolitionist movement.    Study the relationship between Native Americans and settlers, focusing especially on the 19th century when expansionism was gobbling up so much native land   Writing Symposium class studies some Hispanic and African American poetry.    The "Inheritance of Tools" is a writing project where students interview ancestors who have left a legacy.  They describe the legacy and also the lessons learned while using the tool or artifact with their relatives.  Students write Martin Luther King essays for the Children's Museum MUSIC     All grades study African American spirituals    E.C. studies the biography of George Gershwin & Rhapsody in Blue    L.S. grades 1 & 3 study a longer version of Gershwin and create an art response to Rhapsody in Blue    L.S. grade 1 studies Martin Luther King, Jr.   L.S. grade 5 listens to several tracks of a recording featuring Ladysmith Black Mazambo ensemble with the   English    Chamber Orchestra which features well-known classical pieces & styles    L.S. grade 3 learn folk songs from many lands to present at the International Festival    M.S. grades 7 & 8 learn songs in many styles and compose original compositions celebrating diversity  This year's musical deals with prejudice and class issues on a Carribean Island FRENCH- grades 2-5 w/ Mr. Andre   French Back to Back program   Learn about famous African Francophones   Learn about the use of French as a first or second official language on 4 out of the 5 continents on Earth  Discuss different customs in various Francophone countries  FRENCH- Pre-K3-grade 1   For some of our small children, the idea that a cat is also "un chat;" a mouse, "une     souris," etc., is an introduction to the diversity of languages one can speak.   Children learn French songs, rhymes, and games.  When the French exchange students come, we are ready to play games with them in an authentic French experience.   We talk about the many countries where French is spoken.  We celebrate Winter Carnival in Quebec.  Kindergarten children learn about the one French-speaking country in Latin America, la Guyane francaise.   Children hear about three black French-speaking heroes:  Leopold Senghor, African statesman and poet; Toussaint Louverture, general of the French Revolutionary forces and liberator of Haiti, and Eugene Bullard, the world 's first black fighter pilot (World War I).  An American born in Georgia, he was a hero to the French and a highly decorated French soldier.   In discussing Leopold Senghor, president of Senegal, we look at the textbook he wrote in French for African children.  The students hear several tales about Leuk-le-Lievre (Leuk the Jackrabbit), the trickster hero whose story is told in this textbook.  First graders act out the story of Leuk, the whale, and the elephant.   PHYSICAL EDUCATION   In P.E. students play soccer which is the most internationally known game.    Students also play Lacrosse, the oldest known athletic game played in North America, was originally not a sport at all.  It was called " baggataway" by the North American Indian tribes that founded and played it long before Columbus discovered the New World.  Lacrosse originated as a ceremonial religious rite.   Students play a variety of games that are now played internationally, basketball, volleyball, track and field, tennis, hockey, rugby, and baseball.   Second graders learn the May pole dance.  May Day is celebrated around the world.  It is a festival of happiness, joy, and the coming of summer.  We use the observance of May Day as a rich source of multicultural activities that complement the May curriculum.

To get involved contact awillilams@strichrdsschool.org.

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