Around the world, a theme we began in our study of North America and Native Americans, will continue to guide our learning throughout the remainder of the school year. Wrapping up with our final tribe, first graders studied the Inuit of the arctic. They learned that while some people call these Native Americans “Eskimos,” they prefer the name Inuit. Members of this tribe wore special clothing to keep themselves warm and dry including parkas, mittens, and boots called kamiks. Unable to grow crops, the Inuit subsided on seal, walrus, whale, fish, polar bear, and caribou. They lived in houses called igloos or igluviaks. Because the Inuit spent much of their time inside, they often told stories, sang songs, carved soapstone, and played string games.
Learning about the Inuit provided the perfect segue into learning about animals, habitats, continents, oceans, countries, and cultures. We have now learned about our first animal classification, mammals, our first habitat, the arctic tundra, and our first country of study, Canada. Throughout or learning students have engaged in numerous projects including learning about how igloos are constructed, building igloos out of marshmallows, writing stories like those told by the Inuit, researching and writing about a mammal of the arctic habitat, designing arctic food chains, using chalk pastels to create aurora borealis art work, and writing haiku poems.
Moving onto our second continent, South America, students have begun learning about amphibians, the rainforest, and Brazil. Afterward, we will travel to Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and finally, Antarctica.
