After reading several folktales from Russia, we spent some time learning how to read an atlas and then used it to find out about habitats in Russia. This led to exploring books about polar bears, reindeer and walrus facts as well as attempting to learn how to count in Russian. (We were very lucky this year to have Leo, a 5th grader, come down to help us on our Travel Day and assist with counting to 10 as Leo speaks fluent Russian.) One of our centers on Travel Day was a Russian counting book activity; students made matching flag amounts to a given page with a Russian number word.
After all of that counting, a trip to the Russian Polar Bear Cafe was needed to refuel with a blini pancake ! Many thanks to all of the parent volunteers who contributed their time and supplies to make all of this happen- we could not have done any of this without them!
Next it was on to making a puppet to go along with the folktale...
Last but not least, all students made their own version of a gold Faberge egg- studded with the jewels of their choice. It is hoped this small Travel Day will spark reading and writing activities as we explore polar regions throughout January! 
