Melbourne Dreaming Day

Melbourne Dreaming Excursion on PhotoPeach

We are learning about Melbourne and Aboriginal culture.  We travelled to the city by train so we could visit the Koorie Heritage Trust. Len was our presenter and he taught us about many Aboriginal traditions and artefacts.  

We visited the Flagstaff Gardens because this is where the Aboriginal people used to live before it was settled by the European settlers. It was a special meeting place for the five tribes of Victoria.  They used to fish in the Yarra River and trade up on top of the hill with other clans.

In Victoria, the early Aboriginal people had to keep warm with their possum cloak.  In summer, the fur would be worn on the outside to keep them cool. They had a special relationship with the land and used only what they needed.  There were many traditions that were passed on from generation to generation through stories.

Birrarung Marr was a great place to visit too. We listened to Dreaming stories, sketched, played, reflected and observed the beautiful patterns and designs of the special artwork.  It was a fantastic day!

Our Special Visitor, Steph!

Learning About Sembalum, Lombok!

 

On Friday, 2TM had a special visitor.  Steph did some work with 2TM last year.  The children (who are Year 3’s now) made some picture storybooks for the students to use in their very small library.

Steph has done lots of work with the Community Development Centre in Sembalum, which is in Indonesia.  She has spent a lot of time in Sembalum and has a passion for teaching the students and adults how to speak English.  The children and families are so happy and have beautiful smiles.

The school in Sembalum is very different to our school.  The walls are very bare and the teacher has a blackboard and chalk.  Many of the young children walk to school for many hours and they have a special mat where they sit to do their school work.  We tried to skype with them earlier this year, when Stef was in Sembalum but their internet connection is very unreliable in the village. 

 Steph showed us a powerpoint about life in Sembalum and we learned so much about their culture.  We made a Slideshare which tells about all the interesting things we learned from Steph.  Stay tuned as we are keen to make more picture storybooks for their library.

Chinese Museum

We learned about Chinese Culture when we went visited the Chinese Museum in Melbourne. It was so interesting. We found out lots of information about Chinese dragons. Our guide Christine, told us that if you touch the dragon’s scales during Chinese New Year celebrations, you will get good luck for the rest of the year.  She also told us that the dragon is the male and the Phoenix is the female partner.

 

Chinese Museum on PhotoPeach

We have learned a lot about Chinese Culture at the Chinese Museum.  What can you tell us about your culture?  Do you know anything about other cultures around the world?

Cultural Day!

Class Culture

This term, we are learning about other cultures.  Ms. Tieppo organised a Cultural Day where parents from different backgrounds spoke to us about the country they have come from.   We had parents from Vietnam, Poland, Mauritius, Sweden, Italy and England.   We really enjoyed listening to the new information and some speakers even brought some food for us to taste.  It was also fun dressing up in clothes and colours from different countries.  Here is a record of our day.

 

Cultural Day! on PhotoPeach