Blue Point Elementary School students in Ms. Kelly’s class celebrated the Lunar New Year by making Chinese lanterns and fortune cookies.
Before the celebration took place, the students learned about China and facts about the country, including the Great Wall of China, how chopsticks are used, the panda bear, how to say hello and the importance of the Lunar New Year. The students then separated into two groups. Ms. Kelly’s table learned that fortune cookies usually contain a message and wrote their own inspirational message. Using an origami technique, Ms. Kelly then guided the students while they made their own fortune cookies out of colorful paper. They also learned about Chinese table manners and how they differ from American table manners. With Ms. Monahan, who assisted with the celebration activities, the students learned to make red construction paper lanterns. They had to carefully follow the instructions written on a whiteboard before cutting into the paper to construct their lanterns, which will hang as decorations in the main hallway. The lesson culminated in a fortune cookie taste test.