On April 9, Oakwood 5th graders presented Voices of America, an event that grew from their studies of US History. The fifth grade curriculum focuses on the critical examination of sources and the promises and problems of America in relation to its diverse population. They look at how the story of American people has been told, evaluating bias and attempting to understand how multiple perspectives can build a more complete truth.
Topics they examine through this lens include theories about the first peoples of the Americas, European exploration, the Thanksgiving story, colonial history, settlement areas and displacement, the slave trade, and immigration.
Throughout the school year, all of these topics are framed by personal stories and these essential questions:
- What are the hopes, promises, and problems of America in relation to different groups of people?
- What or who do we consider contributions to America that represent the mixing of cultures?
The Voices of America performance gave students a chance to explore and express these questions. They created an art gallery featuring interpretations of American poetry, performed a concert with songs and poems representing different eras, cultures, and struggles of our nation, and hosted a fair with booths based on student research into core questions from their curriculum. Guests at the event also enjoyed a display of books that fifth graders will study in their final unit of Social Studies.
