We began our new Social Studies unit, "Holidays Around the World"! We started by talking about important vocabulary words such as wants vs. needs, traditions, celebrations and culture.
To help deepen our understanding of the word culture, we read the book, The Sandwich Swap. This story is about two best friends, Lily and Salma, who like each other very much but tend to eat very different things. Salma is disgusted by the sight of Lily's peanut butter and jelly sandwich and Lily is repulsed by Salma's hummus on pita. The food differences turn into a huge argument and pretty soon the whole school is involved. It ends with the two girls trying each other's sandwiches and enjoying it very much. This gave the two girls and idea...
They'd have a sandwich swap party where everyone brings in their favorite food. I love this illustration from the last page. You can see the buffet table with different foods and flags from the country the foods represent! The Sandwich Swap showed the kids the importance of learning about each other and their cultures. It is such a great message!