This week we experienced a cultural enlightenment. We went to our friends houses and learnt about their culture, lifestyle, beliefs, practices and food!!!! We learnt how our cultures and beliefs impact us and contribute to the way we behave and think in different ways.

                           

                            
 
                                       
                               

Thank you to the lovely parents who welcomed us into their homes and took time to come and share with us.It was a lovely learning experience.

We continued to explore about our identities. We went around the school taking a poll about - "How often does our finger print change?" Through this we learnt that the basic print of our finger print never changes. It just gets bigger and wider as we grow older.

In language we read a biography on Van Gogh and the Name jar. We also learnt how to write and email. We wrote e mails to teachers and friends inviting them to participate in one of our class engagements. Stay tuned to hear more about that next week.

                                                                We read the story 'The Name Jar ' by Yangsook Choi.

The new kid in school needs a new name! Or does she?

Being the new kid in school is hard enough, but what about when nobody can pronounce your name? Having just moved from Korea, Unhei is anxious that American kids will like her. So instead of introducing herself on the first day of school, she tells the class that she will choose a name by the following week.

Her new classmates are fascinated by this no-name girl and decide to help out by filling a glass jar with names for her to pick from. But while Unhei practices being a Suzy, Laura, or Amanda, one of her classmates comes to her neighborhood and discovers her real name and its special meaning. On the day of her name choosing, the name jar has mysteriously disappeared. Encouraged by her new friends, Unhei chooses her own Korean name and helps everyone pronounce it — "Yoon-Hey." 

Throughout The Name Jar, questions about difference and identity underlie Unhei’s consideration of taking an American name rather than using her given Korean name at school. Is it good to be different or bad to be different? How do we respond to difference? Is a name just another word, or it is something more? How closely is one’s identity connected to one’s name? What are the implications of changing one’s name?
Post reading the book we researched and found out how our names will look in our native language.