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Further Activities/Plans The beauty of organizing the school year around a long term unit is that it can go in many directions according to the interests and skills of the class or the questions that arise. I like to have an opening plan in mind and then a list of possibilities. Here they are, with a few websites that looked helpful for resources. Himalaya Culture Make butter tea, milk tea, grind barley for tsampa Yoga postures (tree, mountain, child, warrior, cobra – with breathing) Make prayer flags http://www.fourgates.com/flags1.asp Burn Butter candles, try making them in clay bowls Design floor patterns on paper, or with sand and glue – Rangoli for Diwali http//www.diwalifestival.org/making-rangoli.html Make Mandalas for protection - design on paper, talk about traditional structure, Henna patterns on hands – Mehandi (google Mehandi images for designs) Spinning wool, carding, weaving Circumambulate the building, our garden, a collection of trees in the park Use the Rubin museum's ExploreArt website with small groups. (Download flash program if nec.. then restart computer) Pretend to be in Tibetan school - memorize and recite (poetry) Make stupas with legos, blocks, or dough and molds Meditate, Chant mantra, Burn juniper Present khatas for a good day, a job well done, a special reward Learn hand Mudra http://www.buddhanet.net/mudras.htm Listen to, then make up Jataka tales –esp, good thing/bad thing, a story from the Cook simple dishes,have a Newar feast http://asiarecipe.com/nepfood.html Take care of a Refugee family – talk about Tibetan refuges Learn about Gandhi, Dalai Lama – consider non-violence in own lives Watch Indian dance, learn Nepali or Tibetan folk dance Learn to dance with cymbals, use cymbals for transition sound Invite monks to visit, chant? Explore spices, smelling, naming, tasting, cook with them, discuss, map silk route and spread of religion/objects/ideas through trade . Explore, copy patterns in Indian fabrics, Try on Nepali, Tibetan clothing Play Games from India (chess, Tiger and Goat) Discuss how we pass on culture- “in the last 5 years I’ve learned…” Everest Read Everest stories (lots already in classroom) Consider dangers, invite doctor to talk about altitude and human body http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/history/nepalese.html Facts http://www.mnteverest.net/history.html Practice teamwork by taking turns being blind Carry heavy loads – calculate percent of body weight (cf. Sherpas) Hear and speak like a Sherpa http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/history/nepalese.html Blindfolded, use fixed lines Sherpa – Project Adventure game Burn juniper, make offerings (for wisdom in taking Iowa tests?) Look at photos of Kailash, talk about pilgrimage, prostrations and the difference between reverence (Kailash) and conquest (Everest) More info at http://www.sacredsites.com/asia/tibet/mt_kailash.html Earth science/Geography/Geology/Biology I’ve done this a lot and have many resources for rock collecting and investigating or modeling plate tectonics. A few possibilities: Look at physical maps, volcano and earthquake maps Make Big Map of classroom, school, then Himalayas Mountain building song ??? http://www.songsforteaching.com/chrisrawlings/somemountains.htm Look at a quick mountain formation movie http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0303/quickflicks/ Model earth layers –learn consistence of layers and movement of plates Learn terms/vocabulary for physical landscape – Draw ammonites, investigate with magnifying glass Collect rocks, learn basalt, granite, many possible activities for exploring proerties of rocks Eventually learn continents, find highest mountain on each… Short Reports on animals and plants of Himalaya
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This site was created by (insert name) at the NEH Summer Institute "Cultures and Religions of the Himalayan Region," held at the College of the Holy Cross, Summer 2006