3rd grade program

We did it!  Our second annual 3rd grade culture program was yesterday and I loved it!

(I'm not biased or anything.)

The entire third grade sang three songs together, "The Alphabet of Nations", "I'll Be Nice" (which has a Ghanaian part), and "This Land is Your Land." Miriam's class sang an African song and did an African drum song.  My class sang de Colores (all those kids who speak Spanish are a huge help, but all of them did great singing in Spanish) and danced the Mexican Hat Dance.  Hannah's class did a Samoan sasa.

Here's my class doing the Mexican Hat Dance:

I didn't get many pictures of the event at all because it is kind of a full contact sport.  I was handing out flags for them to wave for one song and leading the music and directing students on and off the stage.  Phew!  It was exhausting but also really fun.

Please notice the balls that were a whole EFFORT to blow up (including driving home for our air compressor) and the flags which were another effort.

Miriam is 6'2" or 6'3" (yes, she played college basketball) so she managed the lower flags but, though we tried, the huge ladder was too heavy for us.

I had to ask and cajole and remind the custodians, but they hung the top flags for us.

The finale of our program is every student saying in unison:  We are better together!  Then, we sing "This Land is Your Land."  You look into the earnest faces of sweet kids with roots in Europe, Africa, Mexico, Central America, South America, Asia and Polynesia and try not to cry watching them sing "This Land is Your Land."

It gets me.

If I were in charge, my immigration policy would be this land is your land and the more the merrier.

During one song, I had a vantage point to watch the parents and it was delightful.  They were grinning.  I also loved the appreciative hooting and cheering of some islander parents during the sasa.  

It was a good time.

And now we only have to finish the school year, including all the end of year testing and prepare for the dance festival.

No big deal.....