Spicing It Up

Today I pulled out my two 5th grade regulars and showed them a powerpoint on hippies, as I had promised.  They had no idea what they were in for.  I told them this was Burning Man; one of the biggest Carnivals in the world-- and if the world were to end, this is where I would want to be.


Here were some of their responses to the photos:

Intro Slide.  I explained to them that Burning Man is known for lighting a tower like structure of a Male up in flames.  They asked me if it was a real man burning, and I said, "No! Of course not!  That is inhumane!"  

It takes place in a Desert in Black Rock City, Nevada.  I showed them it's location on a map of the United States.

It is a five day festival.  The community builds a City to live in.

People bring their Families.  The Hebrew word for family is "Mishpaha" 

(a very important word to know).

People ride around on auto buses.  They know the word auto bus because it is a Hebrew cognitive.

People also ride on an a man made elephant.  Elephant is one of the first English words that Israeli children learn.

And of course, there are fire dancers.

They got all excited when they saw the astronauts.  Astronaut is also a Hebrew cognitive.

People climb on countless structures, such as this butterfly.  I taught them the word climb because they are into Spiderman.

This is one of many examples of what a person wears to this kind of festival.  The first thing out of my student Idan's mouth was, "AIDS" (as in the disease).  AIDS for some reason is a word in his vocabulary, that he finds funny and shouts out often.  I shook my head and told him she was dressed up as a dinosaur.

This is a typical costume for a male.  The kids relentlessly teased me about this picture, shouting out that he is my boyfriend.  Very funny, but I don't think so.

And most importantly, Burning Man has a "Leave no trace" policy.  Members of the community are required  to keep their waste and bring it out of the desert.  Then I taught my kids the importance of not littering.

It is safe to say my students minds were blown.  They asked me if I have ever been there, and I told them that I would be going for the first time once I got back from Israel.  They were excited for me and asked me what I would dress up like. I told them I would be a ballerina mermaid fairy.  I will be testing them on the vocabulary they learned in this powerpoint.  I am hoping that the visuals will assist them in remembering better.