Olden Time Photo Shoot

All throughout our project, the children were fascinated with the old photos we would see. They frequently commented about how serious everyone looked and theorized about why parts of some pictures were blurred out. Was it edited like the children see on TV? We realized that a single photo could communicate so much about the times in which it was taken. So one day, towards the end of our project, the children dressed up at their characters and set out to take "historical photos" that communicated information about the times in which the characters lived. Anna brought her camera and served as our photographer. With Anna's help,the children tried very hard to have their photos be as accurate as possible by making them grainy and black and white. They removed modern objects that would not have been present. They tried to match their clothes to the times and even chose books to read that would have been published in the days of their characters. Classmates stood in as family members or friends as needed. They often had to take pictures several times to get the serious faces they had seen in photos from the past (we're so used to giving a grin when we get our picture snapped). 

Nina Watson reads A Little Princess to her daughter, Moses, at bedtime.
The story was a popular one of the time. 

The Snyder family from Germany.
They look quite serious. No smiling in picture back then!

Joan Adwent hosts a tea party with new friends from America.

Bernard Bunnell poses with his copy of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.
The story was a hit in his day and so good that it remains well known today.

Rosa Maria De Rosa sleeping in her tenement building.

Kirsten Johnson sews her mothers ripped bonnet.

A Peek Into Our History Project

Our People: A look into history through the stories of our ancestors from Sabot at Stony Point on Vimeo.
A class of third graders learned about ancestors who immigrated to America. They did historical research to fill in unknown details. The truth about their ancestors, mixed with their research, helped form new characters. While their stories are part fact and part fiction, it may surprise you which parts are true (one child's ancestor did actually get captured by Algerian pirates and another's ancestor was split up from his brother when their ship sank and they were rescued by different boats passing by). There are other pieces that are completely fictional, like the characters' stories intersecting, because obviously our ancestors didn't know each other ... or did they? While individual stories may be hard to follow, I hope this video can be a glimpse into the knowledge and understanding the children gained and the power of taking on a character for the purpose of learning



A few teacher reflections on the project this year

• Taking on a character: There is something magical about becoming someone else for a moment. It is the natural way that children make sense of things and try the world out. We think about this a lot in very young children, but it is still very alive as the children grow older. Making room for that way of learning to be part of the official classroom work and not just saved for the playground has been important. We harnessed the power of their natural way of thinking to help accomplish the goal of learning how to do historical research. I heard one student, new to Sabot, stop to think about how much the playfulness of our project helped her to learn. While all previous years lead to strong investigations about immigration, the years in which the children created characters have been more compelling. The children are just that much more invested in their work when the development of their character depends on it.
• What they know vs. what they show: I've noticed over the years that there is often a large gap between the level of conversation and discourse during class and what ends up on the pages of something like the scrapbooks we made this year. When looking at the books alone it can be underwhelming. I know how much the children have learned. I see how far they have come in both their understanding of periods in history and in research skills. One of our ongoing goals is to help the children communicate what they know more effectively. That is a major part of an education. I also continue to ponder how to help reveal all that I've seen and trust about the work for others to marvel and enjoy with me. I suppose that is the Reggio way, to try to unlock the process, the thinking, and share it with the world. I'd been thinking about how to share more about this project when Cat (our math specialist) came for a visit. Listening to the children talk to her about the story of their characters revealed the depth of ownership and understanding. That conversation inspired this video as a supplement to the scrapbooks-- a window into just how well the children have come to know the character and their context.