| 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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