World Studies

Pack your bags! Fifth graders in World Studies learn about various cultures around the world with particular focus on countries and regions that speak Japanese, Hmong, and German. We spend a short amount of time at the beginning of the semester reviewing global geography. We then travel nearly half way around the world to the country of Japan, where we learn how we can understand a culture's values by looking at their traditions and ways of life. From there, we are off to the countries of Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. We explore the history of the Hmong people, the challenges of immigrants and refugees, and the struggle of preserving a culture's traditions while assimilating to new cultures. Last stop? Germany! In Deutschland, we'll discover the influences Germany has had on the United States, as well as the influences of the United States on Germany! That's a lot to see and do, and we're bound to meet a lot of interesting people along the way! Bon voyage!

In sixth grade, we spend time learning about French culture and language, and studying Spanish and the culture of Mexico. Students will learn several vocabulary study methods and strategies so they can be a successful, lifelong language learner. Vocabulary covered in both languages includes introductory greetings, numbers 1-31, days of the week, and months of the year.