Culture/dance assembly

The eighth grade students at my practicum location attended a cultural awareness assembly this morning. The students attended this assembly instead of going to their morning electives. An African American/Nigerian dance troup visited Twenhofel Middle School to give the students insight into their culture and traditions. At first I was slightly skeptical of the use of time, but the meeting seemed to be effective for the students. The group introduced dance, music, and facts about Nigerian and African traditions. One of the teachers told me learning topics about dance are a part of the Core Content for the eighth graders so they decided to bring in a group. I think this ended up being an effective activity that not only helped to meet the curriculum guidelines, but also gave the students an experience with diversity. By the end of the meeting the students were speaking words in Swahili and dancing traditional moves! They learned a great deal and enjoyed it very much...........especially when their teachers (including the practicum students) had to learn one of the dances! I do not remember that being in the syllabus! :)