Martin Luther King, Jr

We spent most of the month of February celebrating Black History and Martin Luther King, Jr. We wrote biography poems about him, and then created a hand portrait with oil pastels. Our artwork turned out beautiful!

Freedom Quilt

After reading several picture books about the Freedom Quilts that the slaves used to make, we learned that each quilt pattern was a secret message for the slaves that were planning to escape.

The quilt patterns, used in a certain order, told the slaves when to leave, where to go, and which paths to take. The quilts were hung over fences and out of windows. Because they looked like an "ordinary" quilt, the slave owners didn't know what the patterns really meant.

We each created our own quilt square following one of the patterns we learned about. Our class quilt turned out beautiful!

Rosa Parks

One of the famous black Americans we learned about was Rosa Parks. We learned that in 1955 she was a seamstress, and was taking the bus home after a long day of work. She refused to give her seat to a white man, and this started the historic event called the Montgomery Bus Boycott. It's hard to believe now, that people could've been treated so unfairly. We're lucky to be in this time, and in this place!

Black History Month

Another thing that kept us busy in February was learning about many famous African Americans. This month it was the 2nd grade's turn to "perform" at the Friday Morning Meeting. Using the letters from Linwood's monthly theme - cooperation - we created a presentation about African American history.

Some of the kids read the information, while others held up the letters.

They all did a great job! And, it went along great with our weekly story, "African American Inventors".