Students at Columbus Avenue Early Childhood Center in Freeport rang
in the New Year Chinese-style with their very own dragon parade. As a
staff member, dressed in a Chinese dragon costume, snaked his way through
the halls, the students joined behind him, carrying lots of hand-made
Chinese lanterns and noisemakers.
But the celebration wasn't just a fun day at school-it was a multicultural
learning experience. In the classroom, students learned how Chinese New
Year is similar to our New Year's celebrations, and how it is different.
Everyone read books about the holiday. Some classes learned how to make
Chinese characters, some practiced eating with chopsticks and others
made up fortunes for fortune cookies.
Ask any child at Columbus Avenue and they will tell you that "Gung Hay
Fat Choy" means "wishing you good fortune and prosperity" in Chinese.
Students will tell you that the Chinese make lots of noise in the dragon
parade to scare off bad luck and bring good fortune in the New Year.
They know that in China , red is the color of happiness. |
Click the Picture to Enlarge
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| Pre-K students at Columbus Avenue
School in Freeport show off the colorful Chinese Dragons they
made as part of their study of Chinese New Year, as teacher
Susan Warren reads them a book about the holiday. |
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