Taking Action: Speaking Up for Earth and Animals
Table of Contents:
1. Selecting something in nature
2. Creating masks and "I speak for"
3. Masquerade Parade
4. Sustainable practices in the classroom
1. Selecting something in nature
2. Creating masks and "I speak for"
3. Masquerade Parade
4. Sustainable practices in the classroom
Selecting something in nature:
After our initial lesson on advocacy and activism (as seen on previous section A Discussion: Taking Care of Earth and Animals) I collaborated with the Atelierista and French teacher to interview students about what part of nature they felt most passionate about and wanted to protect. In collaboration with the Atelierista images of the animals and parts of nature children wanted to protect were printed and used to help them sketch their initial ideas. Since many children in early childhood aren't yet writing they are encouraged to make their thinking visible through drawing (as seen below). Those drawings would then be used as a model for creating a 3D mask for them to wear at our masquerade march.
Creating masks and "I speak for"
Once each child had drawn their initial draft idea for their mask and verbalized who they were and who they would be speaking for they utilized recycled and repurposed materials to begin designing and creating their own masks. This took an immense amount of coordinating with the Atelierista (art studio teacher) and time in the classroom thinking of ideas to use while creating their final product. Recycled materials were intentionally setup to create their masks as an environmentally friendly way to engage with art which connected with our previous lessons and ideas.
Once the children's transformation of their initial design was complete in their mask they were displayed for the whole school community to view. This was in preparation for our all school Masquerade party that coincided with Mardi Gras (the children also take French class). The children were thrilled that they were going to not only celebrate as a whole school but also embody the animals and parts of nature they so loved.
Masquerade Parade
The idea of a march came about due to prior reading we had done related to marches and advocacy. We reminded children that in order for others to support our advocacy we need to make it public. After re-reading a book from earlier in the year the children recalled insights around the book We March by Shane Evans. They recalled that when people work together as a community to bring about awareness issues like environmental justice can begin to change.
Photos from: https://www.amazon.com/We-March-Shane-W-Evans/dp/1250073251/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1523714629&sr=1-1&keywords=we+march
In order to make their advocacy public I helped organize the children in our all school parade for Mardi Gras where they would wear and embody the part of nature they most cared for. We invited the whole school community to come join us and cheer us on as we paraded around the school. The ideas of the children leading up to the event were posted throughout the school so that community members could see their sketches and read about what the children were standing up and speaking out for.
Sustainable Classroom and Schoolwide Practices
To ensure that our ideas that we had discussed about the book and our actions related to it were not just a one off but actually informed our everyday lives in the classroom we continued to implement recycling of paper and cardboard, rinsing of recyclable materials and composting biodegradable foods. The children were an inspiration to me throughout the process and have been essential in continuing to make these practices sustainable knowing that they will ultimately end up benefiting the earth, the animals they love and themselves. These practices shown through the images below aren't just isolated to our own classroom but since my class has embraced these ideas many other classrooms have asked us how we are able to sustain these practices. We have been able to share them with our other Pre-K and Kindergarten classrooms and we've collaborated with our Food Prints teacher to encourage other classrooms to begin recycling, composting and using reusable napkins and platters instead of paper or plastic ones that get thrown away.
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Our advocacy also inspired our entire early childhood team during our annual cherry blossom field trip to encourage families to pack using reusable containers rather than paperbag lunches. This is an email that went out below from myself and other collaborating teachers:
Conclusion
The children used their discussions about what they care about on earth and the lessons I engaged them in about Isatou Ceesay to share their passion with the community during a masquerade parade but that was just one of many actions they have committed to. The children in the classroom continue to recycle, reuse and compost on a daily basis to make sure that they are continually protecting and speaking for the parts of nature they love. They used their voices both in discussion and in action in big and small ways. They ultimately inspired and created change throughout the school building and on collaborative field trips with multiple grade levels.