Grade 2 and 3 students at Viola Desmond Public School in Milton created a ‘Community Weave’, in which they revealed important traits about themselves as a way to show they are an inclusive and supportive classroom.
Students in Helen Arsicot’s class each designed a strip of paper, drawing a repeating pattern of up to four things that are important to them. The class discussed what they had chosen and why. Each student then brought their strip to the board in the classroom and wove them together.
“Every year at Viola Desmond Public School, the whole school focuses on a statement to guide our ongoing learning, and this year the statement is, ‘We are interconnected’,” she explains. “This reminded me of a community weave we did together as a staff in our very first year, and our French Immersion classes have adapted it for the classroom. It is a very simple yet powerful way to bring a community together.”
“Students all recognize how we are all different in so many ways, and still we all come together as one community,” Arsicot says. “The way the weaving activity intertwines every member of the class together shows how we are all inclusive. Every child in the class feels that they are a part of this creation. This activity helps to create that sense of community where everyone belongs and feels safe, and from that start, we can successfully approach our learning together.”
Through this weaving activity, Arsicot says she hopes students learned how to connect with one another.
“The process of making the weaving highlights connections between students, and the action of weaving them together reminds us how we all come together as a community, with all our similarities and differences, and together we are stronger.”
“I drew the Pakistani flag because it is important to me,” says student Aleena.
The curriculum connection to this activity included ensuring students feel they’re learning in an inclusive and supportive classroom.
“This was done as a community building activity, for the important work of setting up our classroom as an inclusive and supportive place where everyone feels they are able to learn. While there is also a connection to the math curriculum with patterning, and developing our French vocabulary and sentence building skills, this was secondary to the important work of connecting and including all members of the class.”
The finished work is on display at the front of the classroom, where all students can view it.
