Remember having a pen pal in elementary school? This week, MICDS second graders had the opportunity to connect with fellow students from afar but through a more modern channel: Zoom. Through the video chat platform, our Rams got to meet a class of students outside of this country and even outside of this continent. They chatted in real-time with a class from Whitestone School in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, which is located in southern Africa.
As part of the Lower School social studies curriculum, each grade spends time during the year studying a location outside of the United States. For second grade, that’s southern Africa. This year, students are learning about Zimbabwe in particular. “We think a lot about ‘windows and mirrors’ in designing our Lower School classes,” JK-12 History & Social Sciences Department Chair Carla Federman said, “and studying another country is one way for our students to expand their horizons and think about similarities and differences around the world. Our social studies theme for second grade is ‘Cities,’ with the students using St. Louis as their primary case study. By partnering with Whitestone School, students will be able to see the topics that they’re investigating with fresh eyes and through a different lens.” Fortunately, Middle School History Teacher Robyn Williams was able to connect the MICDS teachers to peers at Whitestone School (of which she is an alumna), and the students will be regularly Zooming with the school throughout the year to discuss their social studies work.
Our classes asked about the time, the ages of the students, their grade level, and how many students are in their class. They learned that there is a seven-hour time difference between St. Louis and Bulawayo, the second-largest city in Zimbabwe. They compared the weather: the temperature is sunny and hot in Zimbabwe now while it is colder in the United States. The students they chatted with were eight years old and in what the school calls Grade 4, which is the grade level a student is in when they turn nine years old. The class sizes were similar with 18-20 students in them each. They compared what subjects they’re studying and found out what one another is learning in science, math, PE, and computer class.
Although there were many similarities between the classes, students enjoyed learning about their differences, too. At Whitestone School, a student’s birthday is celebrated by singing, eating cupcakes, and wearing party hats. At MICDS, we celebrate by having a small dance party, watching a video of the birthday song, and by giving the birthday girl or boy a birthday shirt signed by everyone in the class. MICDS students do not wear uniforms while Whitestone School students do. They compared their favorite sports: a student from Whitestone School said she loved swimming while Jackson C. ’32 at MICDS shared his love of ice hockey.
After chatting through the prepared questions, students could raise their hands to ask more questions. One MICDS student really wanted to know how long the Zimbabwe peers get for recess (30 minutes, which is the length of recess at MICDS). Another student from Whitestone showed off a recent science project.