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First Grade’s Tour of Africa

First Grade’s Tour of Africa

by | Apr 4, 2013 | News

A couple of weeks ago I took a tour of Africa in 15 minutes with out having to get my passport renewed. I not only saw all the beautiful sights, I met the people and I learned about sand storms from the Tuareg tribe, medicines from the Baka tribe and the Maasai tribe offered me their traditional meal. I passed. It was raw milk mix with cattle blood. (They actually didn’t have any to share). I even learned how to say hello in Swahili . I had a wonderful visit. My tour guides were extremely knowledgeable and even though at one time I thought I was to be a lion’s dinner, I would visit again and again, so lovely it all was.

Every year the first grade class studies Africa and it’s inhabitants. They end the thematic unit by transforming the classroom into Africa, giving tours to the other classes and when the traveling is done they celebrate with an African feast. Learning through doing is one of the ways Rainbow Mountain students live what they learn.

Here are some snaps from my trip.

The Baka people.

The Baka people.

Diorama of a Maasai camp

Diorama of a Maasai camp

Mask made by the 1st grade

Mask made by the 1st grade

My tour guides

My tour guides

Lions and humans together.

Lions and humans together.

Toubab Krewe Performs in First-grade

by | Feb 23, 2010 | News

Toubab Krewe - Drew and Justin

Every year Rainbow first-graders explore Africa through a large thematic unit which includes animals, food, biomes and stories and dances of its many cultures. African music was the focus when two members of the Asheville based Toubab Krewe visited the first and third graders to talk about their own experiences and play music they learned on their many travels to Africa’s Ivory Coast.

Toubab Krewe is an instrumental band which fuses the music of Mali with American musical styles. Drew Heller, a Rainbow Mountain preschool alumni, and band mate, Justin Perkins, strummed the guitar and plucked the Kora, a string instrument made from a large gourd. Justin learned to play the kora while in Africa and it was the stories of their time there that they shared with the kids.The children watched in awe, swayed to the rhythm and asked all sorts of questions like, “What does Africa smell like?”

Drew said it was great to come back and share music with the students.

A special thanks to Andi Morrell who contacted Toubab Krewe and encouraged them to come visit our school.