October 25th
Planting Seeds, Growing New Friendships… A Student Reflection
In seventh grade English, the GUS students have been reading Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman, examining the essential question, “How do we build a community?” They spent time discussing the novel and how the characters built community through a garden in an abandoned lot in Cleveland, Ohio. Through learning about metaphor and comparing our class to a garden, they had a chance to discuss what aspects of GUS they really appreciated and what we do as individuals to make this a community that we value. To name only a few aspects that students value about GUS, they said that they feel free to express themselves, they are encouraged to work together, they play team sports, they are exposed to different teaching methods, their effort is valued along with their talent, they have excellent resources like green space and technologies, and they interact with other students across the school.
On Friday, October 23, twelve students from Mother Caroline Academy, an all girls’ school in Boston, came to visit the seventh grade. These students had also read Seedfolks. When they arrived, all the students played get-to-know-you games. For one game, they played a type of Bingo that required them to find different students who met the twenty-four different categories from areas of academics, athletics, and pop culture. It was fabulous to see all of the students running around asking each other if they like history or spoke another language. The competition broke down any hesitancy the students had in talking with new friends, and soon the GUS and Mother Caroline Academy students were introducing themselves and signing each other’s Bingo cards.
Students then broke into twelve different groups formed around the characters in Seedfolks. While half of the groups went to the greenhouse to plant bulbs, the other half stayed to discuss Seedfolks. In the English classroom, the small groups discussed their assigned character. Towards the end of the period, they began exploring the qualities they would like to cultivate in themselves and an action they could commit to that would strengthen their community. Many students talked about their “exemplary human” project that they had done in social studies and the qualities that are important to be a leader. In the greenhouse, students made a science connection and learned about plant cultivation. They then had a hands-on experience of planting bulbs with their groups. When the students from Mother Caroline Academy come to visit in the spring, we will have the opportunity to watch the bulbs appear and grow.
The groups then came together again to play some relay races. The cold soon drove us inside. As a closing activity, we examined our differences and similarities through a silent circle game based on themes in Seedfolks. In their small groups, students were then able to share their personal stories and reactions to these questions, getting to know each other a little better. Although we were beginning to get hungry for pizza, we played a continuum game that examined some of our interests and provided a visual for what we have in common. For lunch, GUS students mingled in groups and sat with their new friends. Watching GUS students invite the girls from Mother Caroline Academy to eat with them was a nice illustration of how we do build communities. By the time the students from Mother Caroline Academy had to leave, students were already talking about the next visit and when they would see each other again.
