Good evening, beloved Kossacks. Here's hoping you are having a wonderful last evening before the calendar turns tomorrow.
Tonight's art gallery is full of the best pagodas I could find on flickr. When I return to work on Monday, I am beginning a unit on oriental architecture in my classes and I would appreciate some help. Since we will be comparing eastern and western design, we will also have a chance to compare philosophies and culture. I adore the stark differences between the Tao and the Cross, and I can't wait to discuss it with my students. Here is my question to you.
If you could share the best of Eastern philosophy with a bunch of eager kids, what would you choose to tell them about?
(Photographs by EugeniusD80, Kamoda, Bravo Whiskey, Crashmaster007, Clint Koehler, telmo32, and Cocoabiscuit.)
Part of the reason I am doing this theme is the fact that our couch has a pink, yellow, and orange pagoda patterned fabric. I can't wait to see how much stuff in my students' daily lives has an oriental flavor.
There is a fairly large Chinese community in our neighborhood, with quite a few kids who will be able to help me out directly. The smiles on their faces will make each lesson extra rewarding.
The whole "eastern vs. western" philosophy thing has always helped me personally to classify my attitudes, how real does it seem to you?
We shall see how well first and second graders can paint pictures of pagodas. I am fairly confident that they will pick it up quickly and make cross-cultural masterpieces.
Sculpture would obviously be nice, but with 400 students per week I will be lucky to survive the paint. Whatever comes out of it, I will share it here with you in one of my eye candy diaries.
I hope the pretty pictures made your eyes happy for a moment, and I look forward to any suggestions you might have for the body of the lesson. And if I don't see you tomorrow night at midnight...
Happy New Year!