My school does our “International Studies” unit a little differently every year. We are still tweaking and finding the best way to make this meaningful for students. The Enrichment/ Specialist team (music, art, etc.) is in charge of this task since we teach all students. I am listing the following thoughts purely to document and so that I can remember. I’ve included a few ideas from my other schools as well. If it is helpful to someone else, great!

• In 2019-2020, I did a Museum Exhibits project and invited parents to visit which, while unofficially International Studies, was along the same lines.
• One year, every grade level classroom was assigned a country or region of the world, and students learned about and decorated their room accordingly. The final presentation included everyone (students and parents) visiting all rooms and getting their “passports” stamped.
  • Several grade level classrooms regularly invite parents to give a presentation on some part of the world that they either know about personally (grew up there), or have traveled to. They will bring in food, do projects (e.g., Ebru/ Turkish art of marbling and HERE), and talk about different language(s), music, sports, traditions, and customs of the country. I honestly wish I could attend all of these presentations, but alas, I need to teach in my own room!
  • In 2018-2019, I invited parents to give country presentations. I would love to get back to this.
• In 2022-23, each Enrichment teacher was assigned a country or region of the world, and we studied some aspect of that place. This culminated in a presentation. I collaborated with the STEAM teacher, and we did a unit on Mexico and Chichen Itza. Second graders also did a presentation on Volcano Boarding in Nicaragua.
• One year, we all forgot about International Studies because the year had been so crazy. However, for “Teacher of the Day,” or when a student acts as yours truly and shadows me for the day, we put on a skit. Here, I said (at Flag, or our ‘Morning Assembly’), that I “didn’t feel like teaching” (as a joke), and that someone else would have to do it. A student ran up to me with “names of applicants for the Spanish teacher position,” and I “interviewed” them in front of everyone.
  • Each student said a few words in another language (either from their ethnic background that they had learned, or a language they spoke at home with their families)–and I would reply, “Wow, you speak [Arabic/ Polish/ French/ ASL/ Greek/ etc.]?! That’s amazing. But I’m looking for a Spanish teacher…” The very last student in line said something in Spanish in the microphone, and — obviously relieved — I answered, “Oh, phew! You can teach Spanish for me today!” It ended up being a very “worldly” skit, and while I hadn’t thought of it as “international” at the time, my colleague pointed out that it most definitely was.
  • For the 100th Day, we also did THIS one year (related).
• In 2023-24, we chose a country — Iceland — and each Enrichment teacher tapped into said culture from his/her own subject area. Initially, this was a little tricky for me, the Spanish teacher, as not many people in Iceland speak Spanish. However, I put on my thinking cap, and ended up focusing on word loans.
  • Based on actual historical events, first graders acted out a comical script about what it would have been like for a Spanish-speaker to show up in Iceland, that is, “what happens when two languages meet” (e.g., concepts and loanwords like tortilla are transferred/ borrowed). The skit was about Christopher Columbus (who knew Spanish) showing up in Iceland, after repeatedly asking the Catholic monarchs–Ferdinand and Isabella–for money to fund his overseas voyages. There is historical evidence that he may have landed at some point in Iceland, but as far as I could tell, this has not yet been definitively proven. Students learned about the Northern (and Southern) Lights and that the zorro/fox (arctic fox, specifically) lives in Iceland.
  • LINKS: Winter in Iceland, Medieval Iceland Timeline, International Trade Between England and Iceland, Christopher Columbus’ Heritage, Who Funded His 1492 Voyage?, Did Columbus Know, Rumors- Presumed Stay in Iceland
• In 2024-25, the hurricanes resulted in International Studies not being on the radar for anyone. We’ll pick this up again next year.