Empowering Our Native Hawaiian Students Through Project-Based Learning
Help me give my students the opportunity to interact with a subject matter expert in the native Hawaiian community to further their knowledge of the Hawaiian culture.
FULLY FUNDED! Ms. Johnson's classroom raised $962
This project is fully funded
My Students
I teach 6th grade English Language Arts in the community of 'Ewa Beach, Hawaii. My students are excited and curious to learn about the world around them. Many of the street names and cities in Hawai'i are labeled in the Hawaiian language. Often, students will ask what are the meaning of these words and why.
Students want to learn about the world around them, and I want to provide opportunities to provide them with experts to answer their questions.
Hawai'i has a rich history and I want to empower students to be proud of their Native Hawaiian culture, and also, to understand their surrounds and the place where they live.
My Project
Aloha! This year in my 6th grade classroom, my students will be participating in a year-long project based learning unit. Our unit is related to examining personal identity in relation to the place we call home - Hawai’i. The essential question is “How can we feed the land that feeds us?” In Hawaiian history, the ‘aina or land is a very important part of our indigenous culture and our students will ultimately build a garden within our school.
Almost half of all my students are native Hawaiian and our team of teachers wants to create a curriculum that reflects their culture.
Rather than reading and researching literature from a host culture, we want to revive the Native Hawaiian culture that was lost to colonization almost 200 years ago. The need for this project is based on my students' needs. Often, students will ask me specific questions about certain Hawaiian place names and the meaning behind them, and even with research, I can’t find the answer. Native Hawaiians passed down their knowledge orally instead of through writing. When students start to research online about their heritage, they might not be able to find this specific information in writing. I would like to empower my students with Native Hawaiian knowledge about their culture and raise their academic achievement in the classroom.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I will not be able to have a guest speakers in person but I want to invite a virtual presenter. Professor Jessica (Kahealani) Lono is an expert in the Native Hawaiian community. She will be used as a research support in my classroom. Students will prepare questions and have a discussion with her about translation of Hawaiian words into their deeper meanings, native Hawaiian mythology, and native plants.
Half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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