November 18, 2022:
The Dorset School’s (TDS) third grade teacher, Brittany Dombroski, encouraged her students to turbocharge their imaginations. Each was assigned to research a country from across the globe and plan a pretend trip. “India is a big country so I would need to ride around in a bus,” said a common sense young traveler. “You can see elephants and rice fields. Maybe even Mount Everest. But don’t climb it or you will die.”
Researching a country, and providing fair warning, were just part of a multi-dimensional project designed to open the world to curious little ones. “We’re finding that combining academic disciplines within a school project increases engagement with the assignment and heightens the learning experience,” says TDS Principal Rosanna Moran. “We’re looking for interdisciplinary opportunities at every grade level in the school to make education more productive and fun.”
For Dombroski’s third graders, exploring the world incorporated a melding of geography, social studies, art, communication, technology and a dash of adventure. The students started their journey with a real trip to the World Awareness Children’s Museum, in Glens Falls, New York. They learned about different foods, musical instruments and customs of other countries. “The best part was using the play kitchen to make Mexican food,” reported one student. “Even better than singing songs together on the bus ride home.”
While each student was tasked with exploring a specific country in detail, the kids worked collaboratively in art class to create an exhibit for Parent’s Night. “We used chicken wire, newspaper and a lot of paint to make a huge globe,” said one proud student.
The sphere was then populated with all seven continents with the 13 countries explored by the students highlighted.
For Parent’s Night, each student wrote a script and recorded a message about the country. Their comments were embedded in a Quick Response (QR) Code and located at the nation’s appropriate space on the globe. Anyone standing next to the exhibit could easily scan the QR Code with their phone camera and hear all about a trip to that country in a charming little voice.
What would they take on their journey?
To appreciate the minds and priorities of today’s third graders, know that cameras, pajamas, bottles of water, snow pants, iPads, boots, fans, iPhones, shirts and shorts, pillows and stuffed animals all made the list.
What would they want to see and do?
The triangle-shaped Eiffel Tower, bistros, and boats on the River Seine in France. Carnival masks and tree frogs in Brazil. The Taj Mahal and the previously mentioned Mount Everest in India. Open air markets and thirty volcanoes in Guatemala. Pyramids, mummies and camels in Egypt. Pink sand beaches in the Philippines. Foxes, porcupines and seals in Scotland. Oceans on both sides of Mexico. Soccer in Turkey & France, baseball in Japan, field hockey in India, and scuba diving and rugby in Australia. Ramen and rice in Japan, dumplings in China, fish in the Philippines. “Remember,” said one third grader, "it’s an island surrounded by water.”
Dombroski’s class will continue to explore their adopted countries in the weeks ahead. Their art class instructor, David Paarberg-Kvam will focus on the work of one famous artist from each of the designated nations. “I can already see their pride and excitement about learning even more about their countries,” said Dombroski. “David has chosen Ken Done as the featured artist from Australia. The kids love his work.”
A study of the world also created an appreciation of their home country — and state. “After hearing about dirty drinking water in some countries,” decided a student, "I realize how lucky we are to live here in Vermont.”
