Making Connections in Middle School Literature
The eighth grade literature classroom at Westchester is an incredible place where all of the pieces start coming together. Students really begin to use their skills in analysis and writing to make connections to the sciences, history and current events in a very meaningful way.
Throughout the year, the books, short stories and poems we read together encourage students to explore self, community, country and world.
I see it every year. As these eighth graders prepare to take flight in the great transformation from Middle School to Upper School students, they gain a greater sense of themselves, the human condition and treatment for others.
During the second quarter, we studied WWII and the Holocaust as we read an adaptation of "The Diary of Anne Frank." We also studied Pavel Friedmann's famous poem "The Butterfly," which has been memorialized in an art exhibit at The Houston Holocaust Museum. My students decided they wanted to turn my classroom into an art exhibit that recreated the original exhibit in Houston. They created dozens of butterflies displayed on the walls in the video below.
Eighth grade student Chase Sutton also wrote the following passage which explains the nature of the classroom exhibit:
Our Butterfly Project here at Westchester Country Day School is an attempt to recreate the exhibit from HMH for the purpose of raising awareness about the 1.5 million children who lost their lives in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. We hope that when you view our collection of butterflies you are able to experience the kind of hope and happiness that Pavel Friedmann talked about in his poem, even though these feelings were in short supply for Friedmann and scores of people like him during this dreadful time in history. Sincerely, Mr. Morelli’s Grade 8 Literature Class |
The Butterfly Project is an art exhibit that was created to remember the 1.5 million children that died during the Holocaust. The project originates from Pavel Friedmann’s poem, The United Nations General Assembly has designated Jan. 27, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The U.S. Congress has also designated a Holocaust Remembrance Day corresponding with Yom Hashoah, observed on April 28 this year.
Our 8Lit class invites you to join us in reflecting on these days of remembrance, and come by our classroom in Rives Hall to view this project.
Frank Morelli
Middle School English
