Character Gallery
Our Character Committee worked with homeroom teachers as well as the Art teacher to transform our annual parent appreciation event into a "Gallery" event, which utilizes students' abilities across the curriculum to represent their understandings of character. For example, one year, we used the book "Swimmy" by Leo Lionni as an image of how character develops within the context of community, and not as a singular activity. Another year, we used "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle as a way of demonstrating that, like the emerging butterfly, children also "grow" in their character over time. In each instance our graduating Grade 4 students left a "legacy" piece of artwork for the school which memorializes their time and character growth here. Children participated in readers' theatre, narrative, reflective and poetic writing. Sculptures were created from small boxes in the image of the artist Mondrian, and students place items inside the small boxes which represented THEIR character; the idea being that the development of character is an "inside job" and that it's difficult to always be able to assess a person's character by simply looking at them.