This morning we were able to observe Morning Assembly (in Hindi) at 7:00am. It starts with attendance, a prayer/invocation, and the observation of two minutes of silence. Then the students recite a pledge, "India is my country and all Indians are my brothers and sisters". Next a student presents a thought for the day and another student shares one item from the day's newspaper. Then special items are shared such as today's introduction of Janna and me. The day's assembly then ends with the national anthem. The grade 8 students in Ms. Sharma's 2nd period English class asked us to play "Guess the Question". They asked a question in Hindi and we had to try to figure out what they were asking in order to answer them. So they might be asking me, "What is your favorite color?" and I would answer "I have one brother and one sister". Of course there was plenty of laughter all around!
Today was an incredible day! The students and staff of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Pushp Vihar made us feel so welcome.
Humayun's tomb is the tomb of the Mughal Emperor Humayun. The tomb was
commissioned by Humayun's first wife Bega Begum. A select group of children were already at “practice” when our bus rolled up at Purnapramati School. There were lots of smiles and waves as we got off the bus, and then it was time to learn the game of khokho. A mixed group of 8-12 year olds showed us how to play this game of “runners” and “chasers”. Then we followed the student-athletes down the street to their school. Those students not on the Sport Team arrived for school on the back of a family member's motorcycle or the yellow school bus (size of a large van). As we took off our shoes and entered the school, our
cameras were all out in preparation for the morning assembly. The first step to navigating in another country is using their currency. As of today's exchange rate 10 rupee is 17 cents. ATMs are the way to get the best exchange rate and usually distribute 100, 500 and 1,000 notes. (Note to my students: when I travel I always call my bank beforehand to tell them the dates of my travel and what countries I will be visiting). Currency is a great tool to bring back to the classroom to teach art, politics, economics, etc. The current Indian banknotes also make a great souvenir because they honor Gandhi (in 1996 the Mahatma Gandhi series was issued); I know a lot of teachers that would use this banknote in their classrooms! For some reason I can stare at this banknote for a long time - something I rarely do with my American dollars. Like the Nelson Mandela banknotes I brought home from South Africa last summer, these Gandhi banknotes are art to me. Why aren't I in as much awe of American banknotes? George Washington and Abraham Lincoln deserve just as much of my admiration and yet they aren't laminated and hanging in my classroom.
The Indian rupee symbol'' (officially adopted in 2010) is derived from the Devanagari consonant "र" (ra) and the Latin letter "R". The amount (and the word "rupee") is written on the front of Indian banknotes in English and Hindi and on the back the name is listed, in English alphabetical order, in 15 other Indian languages. So already you can see that diversity of language is a significant part of life in India. Thoughts for Classroom Discussion: * When comparing U.S. and foreign currency, what do you notice? * Do you think the U.S. properly celebrates our diversity with our current currency? Why/why not? * Should we have more languages represented on our currency? Should we honor the Native Americans of our past or the languages most spoken in our nation today? * Where are the women in regards to portraits on currency (of all nations)?make U.S.dddwome e tee the t. |