Eighth Graders Display New Knowledge at Cultural Fair
The day before Winter Recess was one of exploration for students at Blue Mountain Middle School.
Eighth graders took center stage for the school’s annual Cultural Fair, an all-day event that allowed them to demonstrate their newfound knowledge of a foreign country. The interdisciplinary project split students into groups of four or five and tasked them with researching key information about their assigned country. The research incorporated elements of math, science, social studies, and ELA to produce a presentation with a colorful poster board and an interactive element.
The students presented their projects in the school gym on Friday, Feb. 13, and were available to engage with and answer questions from groups of sixth and seventh graders.
“That part was actually really cool,” said Julian Lievano, whose group presented on Jamaica. “I know some sixth graders and some seventh graders, and it was great having all of these people come here and asking us questions about our country.”
The countries were assigned by eighth-grade teachers based on the students’ preferences. Each eighth grader provided a list of countries they wanted to research and was grouped accordingly.
Once the groups were formed, each group member researched a different area of the country, learning about the food, culture, history, religion and other attributes that make that nation unique.
The groups also had to include an interactive element in their presentation. For Canada, the students had a makeshift hockey goal. For India, the students drew henna on the hands of their visitors.
“We definitely did a lot of research on our individual topics. I had science, so I learned a lot about the animals they have in India,” said Elise Van Dekker, who was among the students presenting on India. “I definitely learned more about teamwork and how to collaborate while doing this project.”
That collaboration was key, considering students had less than a week to research and create their presentation.
“We didn’t have a lot of time to do our research, so this definitely made everyone have to work really hard and work together to complete it,” Van Dekker said.
