Week 10: Worm Farms, Ancient African Kingdoms, West African Anansi Tales, Capoeira, and The Museum o

During Zoo class this week, City Kids learned about vertical migration and winter homes. Our kids worked together to create worm farms that demonstrate the way worms bury themselves deep in the ground during cold weather.

Continuing our unit on Africa, our kids had a lesson about the Ancient Kingdoms of Mali and Ghana. They learned about taxes, and the gold and salt trade in the ancient Kingdoms. We played some fun games to demonstrate the lesson, and the kids made jewlery with "gold" beads.

For Game Day, we had a follow up lesson on West Africa. One of our parents taught the kids about the Ghana tradition of oral storytelling. The kids learned about the concepts of Griot, the trickster figure, wisdom, and greed; after, they listened to stories about Anansi the spider and Brer Rabbit. The kids then had a chance to work on coming up with their own stories, and each of them presented their story to the group.

For Game Day, we also had our weekly Capoeira lesson. During their lesson, the kids practiced their moves, but they also learned about rhythm and call and repsonse.

For those of you interested in listening to music similar to what our kids listen to while practicing their Capoeria, enjoy:

For our field trip, we went to the Museum of African Art. We had an intimate session with a Jali (the proper name for Griot, we learned). She told the kids a couple of wonderful stories that showed how beautiful and animated storytelling can be. We also talked about call and response, and the kids tried out one of her instruments.

Following the storytelling, the kids had a lesson about music in African and African Ameircan art. We ended with a coloring craft. It was a fabulous end to a lovely week!