WHAT TO EXPECT

When a program from The Cultural Kaleidoscope comes to your school, this is generally what you can expect for the day:

In an elementary school, we usually divide the students into two assembly groups. The K-3rd grades are scheduled for a 45 minute to one-hour assembly and the 4th-6th grades for a one-hour assembly. Both of the assemblies are the same basic program, but they are geared differently to be age appropriate. Following the assemblies, the balance of the day is spent in workshops that run 30-40 minutes.

The assemblies set the tone and are the background for the day and that is why we like to do them as early in the day as possible. It doesn’t matter to us how early the first assembly is, as we will arrive at your school one hour and thirty minutes before the first assembly to set up and organize for the day.

Elements that are used to teach about another culture

Assemblies … The assemblies are a formal presentation for larger groups of students. They are multi-media and interactive. The presenting artists give a visual understanding of the country through a combination of slides and video. Most of their time will be spent demonstrating folk music, musical instruments and dance. The students will also be given an introduction to the geography, history and language of the country. The artists will invite students to play musical instruments and participate in simple folk dances.

Workshops … The workshops are intended for smaller groups of students. They will feel more like a classroom session as they are informal and conversational. The students will see a beautiful assortment of folk art plus other miscellaneous sources of information that will give an in-depth look at the people and their culture. There is always an open question and answer time for students and teachers.

How many students are in each workshop?
Workshops are designed to be informal and conversational and we offer four workshop opportunities during the day. Depending on the size of the school and the age of the students, we can have up to 100 students per workshop. They are most appropriate for 1st grade and older. We do not recommend them for Kindergarten. In large schools, certain grade levels or selected students are chosen by the staff to participate in the workshops. We can also schedule an additional day so that all students in a larger school can have the workshop experience in groups of a manageable size.

Teachers can prepare students for the program
All Kaleidoscope programs are educationally based, but are structured to be a fun and exciting learning experience. The value of what the programs bring to a school is enhanced by even minimal preparation by the teaching staff.

For example:

Use lessons from our Teaching Resource Guides – Our guides are designed to be a tool to assist teachers in connecting our presentations to the curriculum in order to enhance the students’ educational experience.

Discuss the country in the classroom – Each teacher can introduce some aspect of the people and their culture in the classroom … such as geography, history, art, music, games and sports, famous people, etc.

Formulate questions ahead of time – Teachers and students can work together to formulate good discussion questions that are meaningful and interesting.

Make the day an “event” – Some schools have played music from the country over the intercom during the day or had a sample of ethnic food at lunch. Use your imagination and have some fun with your “Kaleidoscope” day!

What does the day’s schedule look like?
The first assembly should start as early in the day as possible. Please allow time for the students to arrive and check in with their teachers and actually be seated in the assembly room so we can start on time. After the first assembly, allow a 15-minute break before the start of the second assembly. After the second assembly, allow another 15-minute break. Allow a 10 minute break between each of the four workshops.

The only other element you need to work into the schedule is a 45-minute lunch break for the program presenters. We ask that you provide us with lunch and that you plan for us to eat in the teachers’ lounge rather than with the students.

It is important that we have your schedule at least four weeks before the program.

Where should we have the assemblies and workshops?

Assemblies are usually held in the gym or multi-purpose room. We prefer to present from the floor level rather than on a stage because of the interactive nature of the program. Students sit on the floor or in the bleachers. Because slides are shown in some programs, it is important that this room can be darkened.

Workshops should be in the same location as the assemblies as we have a considerable volume of materials. We can usually work around breakfast or lunch schedules in your multi-purpose room.

Moving to relocate workshops to another area, is not desirable. But, if you must, than sufficient time has to be allowed. Relocating from the assembly room will require a minimum of 30 minutes. If you decide it is necessary for our program to move during the day, please visit with me ahead of time in order to work out the details.