By Rhonda Miller
Morgan Elementary School

Students in third grade at Morgan Elementary celebrated Culture Day in their classrooms last week before holiday break.

Students completed projects in which they studied diverse cultures that are visible in the local and regional communities around them.

The research projects included language, foods and traditions of various groups. The students also learned about artistic expression, rules and behaviors of those communities.

Students used information from different informational text resources and created a Google Slide presentation that displayed all their findings. Teachers even got families involved by having each student create a culture doll at home as a family project.

Students learned how each culture borrows and shares from others. The third-graders looked at similarities and differences among their chosen cultures and compared them.

The enhancement classes at Morgan were also involved in this cross-curricular unit of study. In art, students created art pieces that reflected their culture, while in music, they learned an African song that individuals played on the drums. In physical education, they learned the Mexican Hat Dance, which they shared with parents on Culture Day.

Parents, students and staff ended their Culture Day with a celebration of foods from all of the featured countries.

Researching and learning about other cultures gave students an experience and understanding of different ways of life. This in turn helped students find the value in their own voices, histories and cultures.

Every learner benefited from this engaging learning experience.