Ahhhh... it feels good to feel good enough to come back.
After a lovely, inspiring, re-energizing (however exhausting) Opal School summer symposium, immediately followed by a night spent in the hospital with Stella who caught a cold bad enough to want to keep her from breathing, and a couple of recovery evenings of sleep, I'm beginning to stand back up on my feet again. So, with a yummy rhubarb and cherry brown betty baking in the oven, the first of many recipes I'll try this summer from my new copy of Rustic Fruit Desserts... here I am.
I want to take some time over the next few days to share these incredible dioramas created by the Opal 3 students during the spring. They were created in response to the wondering: What would it be like to look through a window into the era of American history that you're studying? The children knew that was a very complicated question-- that the answer depended on where you were standing, and who you were. At any point in history, there are myriad ways to look at the world. So their task was to create an image that would explore and express that complexity. After measuring the space in the classroom where they would hang, and building the boxes, they used mixed media to create the dioramas. Following the photographs of the finished product, I hope you'll take the time to read the artist statements written by the children who worked on each "window".
Here is the classroom set up for a symposium break-out presentation. You can see the dioramas hung on the wall at the back.
Here is the window into 1780-1799:
Artists' statement:
The
Revolution basically created the new country with George Washington as the
first President. The Revolutionary
War helped America to be an independent country instead of England trying to
rule over America. One of the
conflicts in America at that time was class discrimination and unfairness
because of stereotypes. There were
lots of class conflicts because not everyone had the same rights and the same
resources. At this time, only white, male, landowners could vote and to own
land you needed money. Not
everyone had that.
This diorama represents the different perspectives of the wealthy and poor and what people might have in their homes. Learning about issues and conflicts, helps to understand and have empathy for people in the 1700’s.
When you know the stories of history, you have empathy and know what people have gone through. When you know history, you don’t have to repeat their mistake because you know the causes and the effects.
Knowing,
understanding and having empathy for people in history will benefit the
children of the future by letting them understand that they are setting
examples for the century ahead of them, so they can choose to make the country
a better place.
