| Introduction:
From South to North or from East to West, our region is full of customs
and traditions. A lot of them have long histories. Some are funny and some
are strange, but they all are interesting.
Our ancestors in Rome or
Dacia celebrated festivals that came from beyond antiquity. Many of them
were deeply rooted in the customs of our agricultural forbears. The roots
of ancient customs survive just beneath the surface of many modern holidays.
The folk customs and traditions
are part of our spiritual life. They can be dedicated to divine forces,
people, animals, and plants, or to earthen and heavenly phenomena, which
take place at different moments of calendar. Some of them took name of
saints, others are strictly connected to Christianity or assimilated by
the Romanian Christianity.
Project
Description: Its main goal is to preserve our own customs and
traditions as an important matter of community culture. Students are encouraged
to describe the customs and traditions from our own region. In this way,
they are learning how to respect the folk culture.
The project tries to cover
as many different traditions as possible that occur during people's lives,
as well as in their surroundings. They may be regional, religious, or related
to solstice, harvest, winter, etc.
The vehicle language is English,
but students are encouraged to write in Romanian, too. The project shows
how it is possible for both teachers and students to learn together.
Possible
project/classroom activities:
The students interview relatives
or other adults in our community about how they take part in some traditions
in our region. They ask questions about the specific ways in preserving
them. Students then will describe the folk customs, traditions or festivals
celebrated by their parents, grandparents, or relatives. In the next step
of the project the students try to illustrate the web page of the project
with drawings, photos, computer graphics and midi music files representing
Romanian authentic music. Students will learn to use an adequate Soft (MidiSoft
Corporation) to create the simple midi files for background sound.
Expected
outcomes/products: web page
Project
languages: English and Romanian
Curriculum
area: History, Social Studies, Music, Arts, Computer Science
and Language
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