Campfires made of cardboard were set up on each set of desks around the room and on the carpet, recorder and drum music played softly, a screensaver on the whiteboard was of far off mountains, a Native American Indian man seated next to a campfire and tipi. As the students in Michelle Marzziotti and Danielle Recine’s fourth grade English Language Arts classes entered the room, there was audible excitement.
The room had been transformed for their Writer’s Celebration.
“We are here to celebrate the end of our non-fiction writing unit and you,” said Marzziotti, “let’s snap-clap for you.”
The sound of forty students snapping was like the Native American rainstick they had just learned about.
Some students had written essays on Native American survival and culture; others had written about housing and foods; and others still on Native American games. No matter what the topic, the artwork for the essays was colorful and detailed: braids, lacrosse sticks, jewelry, dreamscapes, three sisters gardening, longhouses, corn, bears, bows and arrows, fishes and fires.
“We had to read articles and books on our subject, come up with a main idea, write a rough draft, make edits and then a final draft. We had to include three details, a glossary, a conclusion and push your thinking ideas,” explained Olivia S who wrote her essay on games, “did you know Native American lacrosse balls were made of deerskin?”
“Push your thinking ideas are ideas that inspire students to think about the subject on a deeper level and more personally,” said Marzziotti.
Students shared their essays and artwork with their seatmates.
“Have you ever wondered how the Iroquois people fished? They used hooks, spears and cages. I didn’t realize they used torches at night from their canoes. The light attracted fish and the fish would get caught up in the nets,” explained Milan De La Rosa.
Students then wrote compliment cards addressed to one of their seatmates, making sure to capitalize the first letter of each sentence, and including three specific sentences about that person's story.
One example read: Dear Ben, I liked your story because it had a great lead and was easy to understand. I learned a lot about the Native American Indian snake game.
As a reward, at the end of the presentations Recine and Marziotti passed out cornbread and apple juice. “You all did a great job writing and sharing,” said Recine, “let’s eat!”