Giving Thanks with Stories
Dear Families,
With the Thanksgiving Break receding into the past and the Winter Break just ahead of us, I thought I’d take a moment and share with you some of the highlights of our recent Thanksgiving Assembly. As one teacher commented to me after the assembly, “this year the students’ voices were so present.” And indeed they were . The assembly was a veritable feast of stories offered by each grade and as a collective group.
The fifth graders shared stories of thanks written to important people in their lives. These stories focused in on the individual they were thanking and through rich description brought that person and why he or she was important to life for their listeners.
The sixth graders shared a collective poem that focused on those things for which they were most thankful. The poem touched on the personal and the global and built to heartfelt shared expression of thanks.
The middle of the ceremony was reserved for what I hope will become a new tradition for our assembly. During the weeks leading up to the assembly, Middle School music teacher Matt McLean worked with classes to create an original composition focused on the spirit of giving thanks. The sixth through eighth grade classes sang their verses and the community joined in on the choruses, which were composed by the fifth grade. Click here to read the lyrics of our “Thanksgiving Song.”
The seventh graders who earlier in the morning held their annual food festival offered stories about food that were connected to their family, their heritage or their past. Following the assembly, the sixth graders joined them in the cafeteria to continue the communal “breaking of bread.”
As has become our tradition, the eighth graders offered their revision of the Byrd Baylor story I’m in Charge of Celebrations. Their revision reflected the collaborative work of the entire eighth grade class. While adults provided some general context and support for the work, the process that gave rise to its writing and the final product were truly student-centered efforts and reflective of our progressive practice. I hope that the their version of “I’m in Charge of Celebrations” gives you as much pleasure as it gave us. Enjoy!
I also hope that your Thanksgiving like our assembly was filled with stories both new and old.
Best,
Mark