This fun unit gave the students a chance to learn not only about wild animals but geography as well. Since most wild animals live in Africa, "Aafreeghaa" was talked about a lot this quarter! But that is not the only continent we learned about. Our Wild Animals Trivia book, with its focus on the animals' native continent, along with our catchy song "Haftaa Ghaare-ye Donyaa" (7 Continents of the World), helped the kids learn their continents.
Each week we focused on a specific animal. "Zaraafe" (Giraffe) week was a favorite for all. We had visit from our 6 foot inflatable giraffe. Each student became "negahbaan-e baagh-e vahsh" (zoo keeper) and fed the "zaraafe" leaves. It was very easy to tie in Math for this week as we measured everything! First we measured our very tall giraffe, then ourselves, then the little toy giraffes. For pictures for this week, including our fingerpainting "zaraafe" art project, check out our school's Facebook Album.
In addition to the "7 Ghaare-ye Donyaa" Song, this quarter the kids had a few other favorites, found on our handout. Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed translated to Persian and "Ye Feel-e Bozorg Hastam" to the tune of the "Muffin Man" were both tunes we couldn't get out of our heads!
In addition to the flashcards we have for each quarter, we added "Haafeze" (Memory) cards that kids love to play. This game greatly reinforces vocabulary.
Lastly, we learned that although we can't go to Africa to see these animals, we can go to the zoo and see them there! A beautiful Persian song about the "baagh-e vahsh" can be found here on Itunes.