Big Idea :

Inquiry Questions

Conception/ Introduction

Project change and motivations

Educational standards met

What was learned

Grade Level: 5th grade

Teacher Name: Tracy Netter

Artist Name: bAnansi Knowbody

Big Idea: Quilting/ Stitching our stories, finding lines of connectedness.

Inquiry Questions:

• What experiences of 2020 do we share or have in common?

• How can our individual experiences be shown or reflected through cross-stitch?

• How can sewing help us to self-reflect?

• What is the relationship or intersections between cross-stitching and technology?

• How are mandalas employed to enhance mindfulness and meditation?

• How can graph paper be used to make mandalas?

• How can drawing and coloring mandalas be used to increase focus and calm anxiety?

—1—

How did your team conceive your project? How was inquiry introduced to students and how did you integrate the inquiry process into your project?

Originally we spoke with the 5th grade social studies teacher Ms. Washington who wanted us to incorporate textiles into her class's exploration of the past year's events. She also emphasized the idea of quilting and connectedness of shared individual experiences.

—2—

From the initial proposal to the midyear report, to the project conclusion, how did your team’s project change over the course of the school year? What motivated each change?

The project changed pretty dramatically throughout its run. Time was cut short and divided into two classes. We'd planned to use cross-stitching in place of quilting. We attempted to initiate class discussions through prompts. Students were asked to divide papers into quadrants and to mark each space with a word describing an emotion; (excitement, anxiousness, anger, or relief) and to use the space below to show where or how they experienced that sensation during the 2020 year. Some of the students were engaged, most remained silent. bAnansi gave an introduction to cross-stitch and weaving and then we showed videos introducing the class to cross-stitching; first as a crafting item and then as fine arts profession. The students learned about cross-stitcher to the stars Emma Mckee, famous for the cross-stitch fashion items she produced for Chance the Rapper and Kanye. Students were shown a demonstration of how cross-stitch patterns are made with a needle and thread. Next, they were shown graph paper is used to sketch out a pattern before it stiched. Students were introduced to pixel art where they made connections between video game graphics and graph paper illustrations. Students really gravitated to a graph paper drawing of a mandala, commenting on the colors and repeated patterns. Overall they were still mostly disengaged. As we were approaching the half-way mark of our class sessions and still had not ordered or received the materials we thought we would be using, we decided to shift focus. Instead of trying to draw out or recreate scenes or experiences from 2020, we directed our attention to focus; mindfulness through mediation. Prompted by drawing and coloring mandalas. While we waited for graph paper to arrive the students learned about what mandalas are and how they are used as a form of self-expression, to relax the body, and quiet the mind. Students appeared to be gaining a general interest in the idea of expressing themselves through the shapes, patterns, and colors that make a mandala. Students were reminded about the word prompts they'd been given previously and asked to assign a color to four emotional states. These colors would be used however they wanted in illustrating their own personalized patterns for their mandalas. However, we hit several unexpected bumps on our road to mandala production. With many of the students still lacking basic supplies (coloring utensils, paper), the limits of virtual communication (concepts lost in translation), as well as physical limitations (many found it difficult to fold their papers evenly and grew noticeably frustrated), forced us to move at a much slower pace and in some cases to shift our focus again completely to the patience and focus needed to communicate and receive instruction.

—3—

How did the project end? Considering the goals you set for yourselves in your proposal, did you achieve what your team sought out to do?

The project ended with some great breakthroughs, Jazlyn, Khalil, JaEl, Lavery, Antonio, and Marisol are some of the students who demonstrated an actual interest in mandalas, working with graph paper, and expressing emotions through color.

—4—

Choose 1 standard that you worked on and discuss how the standard intersected with a part of your project.

—5—

What did you learn about your students and how they learned? What did you learn about the way you teach?

• We learned that the students like to work hands-on. They learn better in person and thrive on tactile relationships with materials.

• We saw better results customizing class and focusing on individual interest as opposed to the broad experience of the past year's events.

• We supplied students with individual attention and tried to keep the project individually focused letting the singular voice be heard and provided them with ample time to work.

• We realized that we have to take into account individual student environments and their impact on student engagement.