The sixth grade class at Fisher Grade School chose Denmark for their "It’s a Small World" project.
They completed several activities associated with Danish traditions and customs. During Christmas the class decorated
the Christmas tree in their classroom with the Danish customs of red candles, the Danish flag, and an interwoven paper
heart made by the students. In Mrs. Kukovec’s class the students even tried
the Danish tradition of rice pudding, and the student with the hidden almond received a prize. In Mrs. Lammle’s class
the students learned "Silent Night"
in Danish and sang the song while holding hands around the Christmas tree, a custom still observed in Denmark.
Mrs. Lammle’s Social Studies classes contacted schools in Denmark via the internet to ask for their
participation in a "Holiday Exchange" project. Through the use of e-mail the class sent information about the history,
traditions, and foods of Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter to a school in Denmark. The e-mail address for our Danish
counterpart is st@foraeldreskolen.dk. The school in Denmark sent
information of their holidays back to us and the students used this to write Christmas reports which they displayed at the World’s
Fair. The class even tried Danish recipes, which ranged from Danish Kringle to rice pudding. Mrs. Lammle read "Bright
Candles" to her Social Studies class. It is a novel of the Danish Resistance by Nathaniel Benchley. Another class read
"Number the Stars" by Lois Lowry , a story of the German occupation of Denmark during World War II.
With the assistance of the U. of I. Department of Continuing Education in International Affairs, a foreign
exchange student from Denmark, Jacob Stentebjerg-Old, spoke to both sixth grade classes. The students had already
received instruction from a representative from the Early American Museum at Mahomet to learn how to ask appropriate
questions when interviewing. While in the six week Study Skills class, the students learned how to take notes, make
an outline, and write a research paper about a topic pertaining to Denmark. In Mrs. Rountree’s art class, the students
made clay replicas of Danish buildings. In the Language Arts class, the students wrote Danish poems called "grooks", and
wrote letters to Danish pen pals. The students in Mrs. Lammle’s class also studied the cities and geographic features
of Denmark on a computer program called PC Globe. All these learning experiences, with the aid of technology, have
helped the students realize that with all this information at their finger tips, that "It is a Small World After All".
Denmark's
Small World Project
