HQIS Middle School Week Without Wall 3 Day field trip! Official Blog: rbischina.org/content/week-without-walls Editor: Anna Keil Photography: Andrew Bell, Anna Keil DAY 1 Early Thursday morning, the Middle School Students set off on a 3-day field trip to a village called Dongshan. Dongshan is near Suzhou and located next to Taihu Lake. The “Week Without Walls” experience started with a walk around the village where the guesthouse was located. Students brought their cameras and took pictures of the animals, architecture, and agriculture. This was followed by a traditional village lunch, including 2 fish dishes only found in Tahihu Lake. The village guesthouse quickly turned into the classroom and teachers held classes both in and around the guesthouse. For math class, they learned about perimeter and measured the size of the different gardens in the village. Science class focused on the different types of plants and animals that were found in the area and humanities tied it all together by exploring domestication. For Chinese class, they went off on a search to meet the villagers and talk to them about their life in the village. Following class, the guides from Yejo Circle demonstrated 3 different ways to make a fire in the wild. Students experimented with every method, and then they used this information to come up with their own method. The night ended with a night walk and mini lessons from the Science teacher about the different species that they saw along the walk. DAY 2 The second day was all about culture and community. Students were divided up into 3 groups, and each group had a chance to work with a local village family to complete daily tasks in the village. Students planted in the garden, fed the chickens, drew water from the well, started a fire in the wood burning stove, washed clothes by hand, made dumplings, and did the dishes after the meal was over. The students had a unique opportunity to learn about the local culture through participating in the daily routine. The single subject teachers joined us in the evening and we set up the tents and learned how to collect wood for a campfire. Day 2 ended under the stars. DAY 3 The last day was full of personal challenges and teamwork. The students set off on a 2-hour hike up the hills of Dongshan and ended at the temple on top of the mountain. At the top, they learned how to trust each other through a team building activity and then set off back down the mountain. They were rewarded by ice cream at the bottom of the hill and piled back in the bus, exhausted from the journey. This was our first annual “Week Without Walls” and we can’t wait to build upon this experience next year!
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 02:36:36 +0000
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