Well okay, not really. But Global Guide Helgi and his workshop about Iceland and Vikings did! Helgi met with 3rd grade students at the Virtual Y after school program at PS 22 to introduce his home country of Iceland. The students learned the differences between stereotypes and reality of Viking lives. For instance, most Vikings were excellent seafarers, craftsmen, and traders.
Each student also learned how to write his or her own name in Viking runes, ancient letters that Vikings often carved into rocks. If you’d like to see what your name would look like in runes, you can go to this website: http://www.sunnyway.com/runes/write_in_runes.html.
Helgi also taught the students how to say basic phrases in Icelandic, and everyone was fascinated to see beautiful waterfalls and hot springs in Iceland. Students were amazed to discover that because of tectonic plate movement, Iceland is actually getting bigger every year, whereas North America is shrinking. One student commented that he wanted to move to Iceland immediately!
All of the students had a great time and took home copies of the Viking alphabet and their own name written in runes. When asked about his experience, global guide Helgi had this to say: “I would recommend it to anyone. It is fun and enlightening for me and hopefully for the kids also!”
Kelly Brooks
Global Classroom Coordinator
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