Monday, March 05, 2012

Incredible India: The Spice Trail

I recently worked on spices with my students. I hate classes that deal only with grammar, vocabulary, composition etc. I feel cultural exchange is very important in modern classrooms. French students have a zest for discovering new cultures. The thing I love most about living in France is that you will have an audience for anything you want to share. India is of course a victim of many stereotypes but at the same time she invokes curiosity, dreams and mystery. I'm constantly trying new methods to introduce new vocabulary through interesting cultural sessions. In this lesson, I brought about 15 of my spice jars to class and I wanted the students to learn names of spices and their various uses. The goal

  1. To understand the history of spices within India, identify the spice routes, etc
  2. The benefits of these spices 
  3. How to introduce spices in your diet 

In the beginning of the lesson, each one had to take a jar of spices. They had to identify the spice that was presented on the slide through the sense of smell. They enjoyed the lesson especially since they each received a piece of halwa for correct answers :) They were amazed not only by the number of spices India has but also by the amounts we use in our food! I hope this post can help others understand the rich history of India and try to understand the importance of spices for our health!

4 comments:

  1. Brilliant.. Wish I had a teacher like you.. By the way I have the same spice jars from Ikea though. I have been meaning to tell you..The name of the blog caught my eye and I love your notes at the end of the post. From the first day I read your blog.. Paro had been in my prayers.

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  2. Hi Kajal, thanks so much for your kind comments. Ha! My spice jars are from IKEA too :D when i saw them, I thought they were the perfect replacement for my hundred sachets that keep spilling everywhere.
    Paro was really exceptional, she wanted to go to school and couldn't because there wasn't a spot for her :'( Sometimes I feel like a waste of time and should be teaching children who REALLY need my help. But that will be soon, I know it :) Thanks again Kajal! my best x

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  3. What a lovely class, would have loved to be part of it...talking about all those spices...

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