We studied different countries' tea party traditions.
We learned about Japan and China's tea ceremonies, and England's tea parties. Did you know China tea ceremonies do not serve any food? China's tea ceremony is not about drinking the tea--it is about MAKING the tea. They might have a tea ceremony to say sorry to someone, to show respect to elders, or for weddings. Japan has many steps to making their tea as well. They do lots of cleaning and warming their pots during the ceremony. Japan only uses green tea, or matcha, in their ceremony. England has less steps to make their tea and it's most similar to American tea parties. England has tea parties for fun! People dress up for tea parties.
After researching, we made presentations to display at our Family Tea Party. We also made a list of tea etiquette rules to follow at the tea party. Second Graders got to host at the tea party. They greeted guests, took them to their seats, and told them the rules they should follow during the tea party. If our family came, we got to join them once our job was done. Fourth graders were the servers at the tea party. Third graders planted the plants and made the tea from those plants. First graders made the invitations. The food and tea were delicious! The money that we raised at the tea party will be donated to help build a new school and orphanage for our sister school in Sierra Leone. We raised $1,000! We had so much fun with this project, and we would love to do it again next year!
Questions:
1. What flavors of tea do you like to drink?
2. If you came to the tea party, what was your favorite thing to eat?
3. What was your favorite part of the tea party? If you did not go to the tea party, have you ever been to one before? What was it like?
Sincerely,
Mrs. Holliday's Class