Grade 8 students at Viola Desmond Public School in Milton took storytelling to a whole new level through a recent mixed media exhibit called Our Voices.
The school held the exhibit to show students, staff members and parents/guardians work created by Grade 8 students. The open house displayed various forms of storytelling including written word, sculptures, cartooning, podcasting and more.
The project is based on inquiry work the students have been doing in Language Arts, History, Science and Visual Arts around the idea of stories and using Viola Desmond PS’s guiding questions, “What is my story? What is our story?”
“We have explored the importance of perspective and even connected this work to the UN Global Goals,” says teacher Christine Vanderwal. “Students came to the conclusion that when stories are shared and heard, we build more empathy in the world, and we concluded this is tied to the UN goal of peace, justice and strong institutions.”
Through guided inquiry and knowledge building, students examined stories, why they are important, and why they matter in the school, local community and world. They worked on developing memoirs and then brought them to life. Most of the pieces that were text based were mounted on larger paper boards to make it easier for others to view.
“In our ‘Readers and Writer's Workshop’, we looked closely at the structure of short memoirs,” says teacher Sarah Patterson. “Students chose a small moment that they wanted to focus on in their lives that they felt comfortable sharing publicly. They worked on ‘lifting their work off the page’ and thought about how they wanted the audience to experience their story.”
Grade 8 student Alexia Gordon created a podcast and art piece about becoming a fan of the South Korean music group BTS. She says the group addresses many societal issues that resonate with her and she wanted to share that passion with people.
“Stories are created every single moment,” she says. “I feel the best way to connect to someone is not just by looking at something but by hearing something, to feel the emotions you are bringing.”
Grade 8 student Ahad Razzak told his story of being lost in a store for a short time at the age of five through a graphic novel/short story and how he felt at the time.
“The terror filled inside me,” he recalls. “I might lose hope but hope will always find me. Through this project I learned I can always create stories, that my writing will never be done.”
