An American Story… 5th Graders Explore the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Great Depression Through an Informance... and by Sewing our Very Own Depression Era Quilt to Sell at the Lafayette Auction!

Song, poetry, visual art, dance, tableau, and music helped 5th graders experience a deeper understanding of some of the events that took place during the early part of the 20th century. They shared their learning with parents last Thursday in a culminating Informance!

5G re-imagined the Great Migration Story by Jacob Lawrence with drawings to tell his story and through a giant map recreating the routes travelers took to the northern cities…

…5JL drew the well known artists, musicians, and writers that became the faces of the Harlem Renaissance, then created 6 word poems to describe their contributions. In music, all of us learned to sing and swing dance in the style that became popular during the Harlem Renaissance.

…5JB let Dorothea Lange's photos speak to them visually and then responded with haiku poems as they experienced the Great Depression through her eyes. And 5C shared their learning about the murals created as a result of funding by the Works Progress administration through an engaging and witty Reader's Theater. Our learning in 6 classes all culminated in a moving evening Informance for our parents last week.

…and finally, our quilt in progress made in the traditional flying geese pattern with fabrics mostly donated to Lafayette!