Category Archives: Zimbabwe

Cinderella Story: Around the World

Posted on October 11, 2012 | 15 Comments

What do you know about Cinderella? Perhaps the blonde-haired, blue eyed, Disney princess? Maybe you’ve read the Brothers Grimm version from 1800′s Germany, or even farther back to the late 1600′s with Charles Perrault‘s version. Did you know that Cinderella stories are not limited to a Western European perspective, and in fact appear in more than 500 versions around the world? No one knows the true origin of the famous folktale and its universal theme of good versus evil- but we can enjoy all of the unique twists and learn about cultural values, as we read the diverse stories.

Kid World Citizen is proud to collaborate with some of the best multicultural and educational blogs on the web to present “Cinderella Story Around the World.” While this international project is only a small sampling of the versions of the folktale that are available, we worked together to provide a cross-cultural selection suitable for elementary classrooms. Continue reading →

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Posted in Africa, Asia, Australia, Australia and Oceania, China, Europe, Greece, Iraq, Korea, Literature, Martinique, Mexico, Thailand, The Americas, United States, Zimbabwe

Tagged Appalachian, Cinderella Around the World, Creole, fiction children's books, indigenous, Native American, Ojibway

Map the Book: “Africa is NOT a Country”

Posted on September 6, 2012 | 20 Comments

“We have kids from Nicaragua, Guam, and Africa in my class…”
“We made masks from China, Peru, and Africa…”
“He is been to England, Africa, and Italy”

I have a pet peeve. It makes my skin crawl when I hear people referring to Africa as a country, instead of an immensely diverse continent. Did you know Africa has well over 2000 languages and innumerable ethnic groups, in its 54 countries!? My goal is to help parents and teachers dispel stereotypes by teaching a variety of stories from different countries in the continent.

One great book that counters stereotypes, “Africa is Not a Country,” gets to the heart of modern Africa: rural and urban families, living contemporary and traditional lives, and children in their homes, with their families, going to school, and playing with their friends. In this activity- which touches on 25 countries in Africa- kids will be locating and coloring countries on the map as they hear them mentioned in the story. Continue reading →

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Posted in Africa, Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cote D'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Geography, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Literature, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, People, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Zimbabwe

Tagged fiction children's books, maps

Interactive Country Tables for International Night

Posted on March 26, 2012 | 3 Comments

Our school recently held an International Night, to culminate a week of fun activities: classes did lots of art projects, such as making Multicultural Dolls and Diversity Quilts, every student made a flag of their heritage, they sang tons of songs from different genres around the world in music class, we shared bread from around the world on our International Bread Day, and held a colorful parade of traditional clothes through the hallways.

During International Night, I called for parents to coordinate “Country Tables” that were to be set up in the cafeteria during our spring Open House. I began months before, looking for volunteers to be the leaders of a particular country: we have large populations of families from China, India, Pakistan, the Middle East, and Indonesia, and I needed at least one person to be “in charge” of each team of volunteers. Continue reading →