Rockwood Virtual Multicultural Lending Library

We encourage you to support your child in learning about their own culture or other cultures.  This could include, holidays observed, recipes, languages spoken, family trips where you learned about another culture or your own culture or any other interesting information.   We welcome you to contribute to the virtual library by sharing it to our school email at rockwood@wsd1.org. Please let us know if you and your family would prefer to be kept anonymous. 

Feel free to visit the webpage with your child as it takes shape to learn about different cultures.  

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Multicultural Coat of Arms - Room 10, 2024

Below is a photo of a Coat of Arms created by Mrs. Buchalter's class to represent Room 10.  We looked at Canadian symbols and the Canadian Coat of Arms.  We realized it was very outdated and didn't include any indigenous images or symbols for the multicultural society we live in today.  Our Coat of Arms includes symbols, items and ideas which represent everyone in our diverse class.  We are going to send a letter to both the Prime Minister and our MP to show our class Coat of Arms and explain why we think the actual Coat of Arms for Canada is outdated.

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 “What is my Cultural Heritage?” — Nursery/ Kindergarten Inquiry Project 2023-2024

Our multicultural research project has been a joyful experience for students, staff and families!  Students have been immersed in culturally diverse non-fiction and fiction books, hands-on experiences, guest speakers, and cultural artifacts.  In Autumn, parents submitted a questionnaire about their cultural background, holidays recognized and the origin of their child’s name.  Family photos were placed around a map with string to show where students, parents, grandparents or great-grandparents are originally from.

In November we recognized our families of Indian heritage by learning about Diwali.  Mrs. Deochand, Jiya’s Mom, taught us about this “Festival of Light” by explaining the significance of diyas (oil lamps), rangoli (symmetrical and ornate decorations or sand art) and door garlands.  Our Room 9 Educational Assistant, Ms. Monika also presented about how she celebrates Diwali with her family.  We were interested to see her traditional clothing.

Ms. Perez, our Principal, visited us a few times to share about her Mexican heritage.  We learned where Mexico is located, the story behind the emblem on the Mexican flag, why sombreros were worn and that piñatas originated in Mexico.  Students learned a few words in Spanish and about the “Day of the Dead” festival.  She even taught us how to make quesadillas.  Olé!

In December, we learned about the celebrations of Hanukkah and Christmas with stories, our poem of the month, card making, games of dreidel, sensory play, art and plenty of fun in our Drama Center turned, “Holiday Home”.  Mrs. Buchalter, the Gr.1/2 teacher came in to teach us how she celebrates Hanukkah with her family.  She brought in her menorah, taught us the “Dreidle song”, read stories and then we danced the “Hora”.  It was so fun!

 In January our Drama Center transformed into a traditional Chinese home and grocery store. Students practiced trying to use chopsticks with ‘noodles’ and ‘dumplings’.  We explored various artifacts and noticed that the writing in Asian languages looks different from our English Alphabet.  Students used their senses in the water table to make tea with real tea bags and lemons.  We learned about the Chinese horoscope and found out that 2024 is the Year of the Dragon!   Students made fire breathing dragons to dance with at our Lunar New Year party.  The children took home “red envelopes“ which is customary for families who celebrate.

Stay tuned for the continuation of our year-long learning journey!

 Fall of 2023, Mrs. Buchalter's Grade 1/2 class has been learning how to say the word PEACE in different languages.