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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other significant Civil Rights leaders 1/14/22

Happy new year! It’s been great being back with the children in the classroom. Since our return from vacation we have been learning about the Civil Rights Movement and people who were instrumental in it. We have been busy learning about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. , Rosa Parks, and Ruby Bridges. The students have been engaged in many read alouds and rich conversations about each person and how they were key figures in the movement. In this study children also learned about what a quote is, how to use it and also about character traits during reading and writing classes.

Our culminating project was a paper quilt where each student created their own patchwork piece. On their individual patch they used a border to reflect the beautiful artistry of author Fath Ringgold as she was a pioneer in arts equity. Each student also chose a quote by a leader studied that resonated with them and included a trait about that leader. Lastly, they used a symbol of peace, love or equality that they knew or one they created.

In addition, we were fortunate enough to have Shai’s grandfather, Joel Tarr, zoom with us and share his experiences during the Civil Rights Movement and about his time at the Freedom March on Washington where he heard Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s famous I Have a Dream speech.

In art, we have been talking about diversity and biodiversity, viewing images of the trees and plants associated with Tu B’Shvat, and noting similarities and differences within the varieties of each plant. We are also making detailed observational drawings of one of the types of plants. It was fun discovering that some of us have fig trees near us in Brooklyn, and that these also grow in many places around the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Music class, Second Graders read and had a discussion about the book “We Shall Overcome: The Story of a Song” by Debbie Levy. They learned about the history of that powerful song, how it changed over time and the lives it has touched. They also learned to sing the song in both English and Hebrew.