We Are All the Same, We are All Different
Going to School in America: Children around the world attend school to learn, but not all school systems are the same. In this workshop children will explore daily school life in classrooms of similar-aged students in America through brochures, media and letters created by groups of children in the United States. Students will discuss what they have learned about going to school in America and think about how going to school is the same or different in Norway.
- Early Primary classes will complete pages for a book comparing American and Norwegian classrooms. Pages will be shared with a classroom in America.
- Upper Primary classes will design a brochure about going to school in Norway to share with a classroom in America.
This workshop can be delivered in a two session format scheduled on different days in order to allow enough time for designing and writing.
All Over the World People Live Under the Same Sky: There are many Native American groups in the United States, each with its own language, customs, and rituals. This workshop will use Native American stories and storytelling to introduce students to the culture and lifestyle of some of the First Nations of the Americas. Like many cultures around the world, Native American groups have used allegories and storytelling to explain the rules and cycles of the natural world and Earth’s place in space. Students will create a story box and learn a Native American story to share with a younger class of students, or their family.
Traveling Across America Workshops
Workshop Topic Choices:
What is it Like to Live in Rural America?
How Do Families Celebrate in America?
Where in the World is the United States?
The hands-on workshops in this series support children in understanding the size of the United States and the variety of lifestyles, culture, and natural resources across different regions of the country. Students “travel” to a particular region by engaging with a suite of artifacts that represent particular the communities in that place (e.g., family bio cards; community calendars; maps; descriptions of weather; images and descriptions of local industries, shops, parks; restaurant menus; US currency; time of sunrise and sunset; etc.) to learn about the chosen topic. Workshops incorporate discussion and thinking routines designed to build curiosity about the world and capacity to understand differing perspectives. Each workshop invites the class to collect and create artifacts that represent their community to share with American students.
Workshops are offered in Early Primary and Upper Primary versions.
Return to Alison’s biography and contact information
Alison’s Workshops for barneskole Teachers and Teachers-in-Training