We have had a really fun week exploring Omani culture through our field trips and in class activities this week. Sunday began with our trip to the Sultan Qaboos Mosque where we were met with a docent who guided us around the mosque and told spoke to us about hit’s history, architecture and design. It was amazing to learn that the tiles, carpets, pillars and other items came from all over the world. It’s a stunning building and the students were in awe of its beauty. We were fortunate to visit the library which houses over 10,00 books in a variety of languages.
After our return from the mosque, the students wrote in their Oman Week booklets about what they saw and enjoyed, plus they drew a picture of their favourite parts of the mosque.
After lunch on the same day, we were able to visit some camels which were really fun to see.
The students observed Arabic/Islamic geometric designs at the mosque so later in the week we looked at some research and found other Arabic geometric designs on building around the world. From there, we followed a structured drawing session in which we drew stars with a triangular background. Students then coloured these according to their own imaginations.
It seems we all enjoyed our surprise day off and returned to school on Wednesday for another field trip. This time we visited tow places: Sohar Fort and the Museum of Majan. In both places we learned so much about Oman, Sohar and how Oman eventually became its own country. At the fort we found out that it is 750 years old and it was originally a Sultan’s house with added protection. We learned about the clay bricks and were amazed to hear that there was a 28 km tunnel from the fort all the way to Wadi Jizi in order to keep the supply of food and water continuous in case of a siege. At the museum, we met another docent who guided us all around the museum where we found out about traditional handicrafts and jobs in Oman. The museum is build as if it were a traditional Omani house built of palm fronds with woven walls and ceilings. The students really liked the texture and patterns they saw. There were Portuguese guns, Khanjar from different Omani places and handbuilt boats. It was a great learning experience for all of us!
This morning, we painted our hands which we had made prior to the holiday and had been baked in a kiln. The students chose different colours to highlight their henna designs. Then Ms Nahla taught the boys and girls traditional Omani dances – another fun activity for us all!
Another newsworthy event happened for Grade 2SB, Abdullah Al Mamari joined our class this week. He attended Grade 1 last academic year and was in Ms Guinee’s class. Fortunately, Abdullah already has lots of friends in Grade 2 and is making a positive transition back at ABIS.
Next week, we are looking forward to getting back to our normal routine and beginning new units for our UOI, maths and literacy.
Please see here for photos.