On one of those rare days when I needed my spirit lifted beyond usual measures, I paid a visit to the fifth grade wing. I didn't go with the intent of looking for inspiration, but I found it. Specifically, in Mrs. Dean's Process and Product display. I won't show all the pieces here, and will let the photos speak for themselves, but needless to say this historical fiction unit centered around the novel The Watsons Go to Birmingham was well done, meaningful, and allowed students to make connections to other ideas, other times, and other places, all rooted in the early civil rights movement. The student created art, the rationales and descriptions for their art, and, most importantly, the student reflections on all they had learned over the course of a few weeks moved me...and I hear has moved others as well. For me, it really hit home that right there, on those concrete walls, our ready to promote babies, those fifth graders, are showing us all the people they are becoming. People we're glad to know. People I'm glad to know. And that's goose bump kind of inspiration.
Much gratitude fifth graders for who you are and the promise you hold for all of us. Consider my spirit lifted!
