Maasai Magic

So, what should you do after finishing a unit on Africa?  Invite a Maasai chief to your classroom!  My 6th grade students recently completed an unit on African art.  We created portraits of Maasai people, African sunset landscapes, and African masks.  I do this unit every year as part of our social studies infused rotation.  A member of our school community had stayed in Kenya and lived among the Maasai as part of a relief effort.  She was hosting 3 Maasai visitors in her home and they offered to speak at our school.  The visitors were Joseph, the chief and schoolteacher, John, a social worker, and Sarah,a homemaker.  They described their daily life as a semi-nomadic people.  They live in mud huts with thatched roofs, have no running water or electricity.  The men tend to the cattle herds and hunt, while the women milk cattle, take care of the children, and create beaded jewelry.  Joseph described how he and his children walk 2 miles every day to their one room schoolhouse.  It was a wonderful experience for everyone present.  They ended their presentation with a dancing and jumping demonstration.  For more information on the Maasai tribe, go to http://www.maasai-association.org/maasai.html