Accessing HistoryStudents engaged with multiple articles, books, and videos throughout this project to gain perspectives and understanding of whose stories were being told and whose were silenced. From the beginning, students identified who were the changemakers of our history and began developing their own identity as a changemaker for an inclusive and just future. Below, you will see some of the resources they accessed in order to deepen their knowledge. You will also see a few student reflections on their learning.
My recommendation: Molly of Denali: Grandpa's Drum It is about the Boarding Schools where the primary objective was for the Native Americans to assimilate into the Euro-American culture. It allows for students to have a deeper understanding of our country's history. Molly and her friend Tooey begin investigating the reason why Grandpa Nat no longer sings or plays his drum because of an old photograph found. They begin to learn more about their heritage and cultural identity. |
Coming Soon!STAY TUNED! This project is currently happening which means the final products are not yet here. A recording of the students' spoken word and public art installation will be posted after our exhibition on June 15th! Students have established their word for the public art installation which will be created through origami-making. The entire fourth grade created some options for what they wanted to represent the project and then voted on which one they wanted most. Here is their chosen word...*drum roll please*
PeaceThe video above is a clip of me in the classroom teaching the fourth graders about "I Am" poems. This lesson fits into the project because our final product is a spoken word where students will share their responses to our essential question of the project: How can we learn from the past to lead our community to a more just and inclusive future?
Before the clip, students listened to an exemplar 'I Am' poem while making note of: - what do you notice? - what do you wonder? After revealing the type of poetry to students, we began using our classroom as the topic to co-create an I Am poem. You will see how some students gave options for the "I Am" statement that we would use throughout the entire poem, and as a whole class, we voted on which one we would use. The statement that majority voted for was: I am a 4th grader. We then continued through the structure and students shared with a partner what sentence they would create for "I wonder". Later on in the recording, each table group adds 2-3 of the sentences to our class poem. After adding all of the sentences together, I read aloud the co-created poem and students were very excited and proud. Check out their poems below! |