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By DONNA WINCHESTER
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 27, 2001
ST. PETERSBURG -- Darby Siviter's kindergarteners lined up on the sidewalk outside their classroom Wednesday morning, passports in hand, ready to take a trip around the world.
In four hours, they toured China, parts of Africa and Japan. They explored the Florida Everglades and a Brazilian rain forest. Without boarding a plane, they watched a traditional dance in Spain and snacked on chips and salsa in Mexico.
The whirlwind trip was part of Melrose Elementary School's multicultural fair, a schoolwide celebration that showcased the communication magnet's "slice of life" curriculum. Children from each class chose a country or culture they had studied during the year, created exhibits, and invited students from other grades to share their knowledge.
Curriculum coordinator Delores Wesley said the exhibits were not "parachute drops." Rather than being sprung on the students without warning, the assignments were aligned with lessons that had been taught all year.
The exhibits also combined fun with learning. Ms. Siviter's kindergarteners began their trip in one of the other kindergarten classes, where they found it difficult to follow their teacher's instruction to "look with your eyes, don't touch with your hands." They were mesmerized by the Mexican serapes crafted from brown paper bags and the maracas made from juice bottles.
But they found a greater temptation in the intricately woven African cloth and the colored beads on display in Lula Love's second-grade class. Five-year-old Charnell Whitson couldn't resist reaching out and caressing a rainbow-hued necklace.
Meanwhile, Carol Deese's third graders inspected reproductions of Seminole Indian chickee huts made with Popsicle sticks and yarn by Heather Stofer's fourth graders. They moved on to Debbie McDonald's fourth-grade classroom and listened as Erin Dennin, 10, explained how a Timucua Indian village is organized. Then they stepped into a recreation of the Florida Everglades, enhanced with animal sounds and flashing lightning, in Margo Evancho's fourth-grade classroom.
Across the campus, outside Ms. Deese's room, Marlene Brinkley's first-graders sat on the sidewalk and watched Alexa Volland and Samantha Thach, both 9, and Madison Jamison, 8, perform a traditional Spanish dance. Dressed in authentic costumes researched by Alexa and constructed with some help from her mom, the girls kept a steady rhythm with their homemade castanets -- pennies glued to circles of cardboard, attached to their hands with strips of elastic.
Chris Rickling, 9, stood next to a model of a Spanish castle, complete with a drawbridge and moat, that he made from cardboard boxes and brown wrapping paper. Nine-year-old Jamilyn Whitmeyer stood at a Spanish food exhibit, explaining that plantains only look like bananas.
Ms. Deese said her students began their research in earnest as soon as the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test was behind them. They brainstormed ideas, spent time on the Internet, and prepared reports on everything from Spanish art and music to sports.
She said that in addition to learning about Spain, her students benefited from the event because it gave them the chance to teach other students.
Kindergarten teacher Shira Danieli said being able to share what they have learned was important for her students as well. They populated their classroom with leopards, frogs, snakes and toucans made from construction paper to create a Brazilian rain forest and offered their guests small squares of chocolate, a product of Brazil.
"They take so much pride in their work," she said. "They've been taking a lot of ownership of this because they've been working very hard."