Our Field Trip to Norköping

Yesterday I chaperoned the fourth graders on their field trip to Norköping! We went to a museum and learned all about the working class revolution in Sweden. At the Museum I saw a sign and was actually able to read and understand it! I was so thrilled I called over a few students who have been teaching me some Swedish. They were even more excited than I was. They took me all around, pointing to signs and words and teaching me what they mean by drawing and pantomiming. They are such wonderful little teachers. I am so proud! This is the sign I read:

Svenska: "Vi som hoppas. Vi som längtar efter. Vi som vill ha. Vi bär på idéer om framtiden, i det stora och det lilla. Vi behöver varandra och vi behöver kunskap. På denna väg, vad drömmer du om?" 
English: "We who hope. We who yearn. We who want. We are carrying on the ideas of the future, in the large and the small. We need each other and we need knowledge. On this road, what do you dream of?"
I'm really glad that my first read words in Swedish were so beautiful.

After the Museum we visited the famous Swedish Orchestra who will be celebrating their 100th anniversary this Saturday! 

We got to go on stage during rehearsal and meet the orchestra! They played for us and even let the students try to play on their instruments. This is not something that is allowed for any class on a field trip. As a special school for students who are extremely gifted in music, Folkungaskolan gets to do a lot of exciting field trips like this. 

 

The students even got to try their hand at making and playing their own instruments using household items.

Many of the children who were still very shy, really opened up to me on this field trip. We had such a great time! My favorite part was when we all sang and danced the "YMCA" song together. 

There is one little girl I've been meaning to mention. Every time we are standing somewhere whether it's in the cafeteria line, in class, or outside before school, she is always dancing. The girl has got some moves. I love to watch because you can just tell she is going to be an incredible dancer one day. She has music in her heart. In many schools, this behavior might have been stifled rather than facilitated. She may've been reprimanded for not sitting still or waiting patiently and she could have even ended up with a false diagnoses for. She would've been taught that this passion she has is nothing more than inappropriate behavior. I'm really thankful she is at a school that encourages her creativity. This little girl is a reminder to me of the creativity children are capable of, as long as we give them opportunities to express it.