Ties that Bind, Ties that Break

Year 8 have been working on a unit about customs and traditions around the world.

Final Preparations on the Exhibition

The unit stems from the novel Ties That Bind, Ties That Break by Lensey Namioka, set in China in 1911, about a young girl who fights the tradition of foot binding.

China

In addition to reading and talking about the issues raised in the novel, learners have also worked collaboratively to research customs and traditions of a country of their own choosing. In teams, they decided on a country and set off to find out about it in order to produce an exhibition at the end.

The unit has covered essential information literacy skills as learners explored strategies about how to search for information, as well as how to evaluate the information they found. They also explored how they best take notes, and how to use and reference the information they find.

Mexico

In order to present their information clearly, learners also looked at how to use presentational devices such as headings, sub-headings, labels, diagrams, bold and bullet points to guide their readers to relevant information. They analysed some non-fiction and focused on how the visual layout can help you understand a text and locate specific detail. Using these skills, learners went on to develop a display using their research and non-fiction knowledge.

Japan

Each group had to fill one display board and include:

- a title
- a clearly labelled map
- one piece of non-fiction, informative writing per person with references
- at least six images with caption and references
- one relevant physical object

The exhibition has been set up in the reception and will remain for a fews weeks to be shared with the school community.

See the full unit at bit.ly/nisstiesthatbind.