What's Worth Fighting For?

5/11/2019

My colleague and I offered fifth grade students this writing prompt as part of our current unit of inquiry - Who We Are. Our central idea is "Conflicts transform communities," and although I have some hesitation defining "who we are" with an emphasis on conflicts, it does make for an interesting lens as we study the Civil War, food webs and interdependence, and persuasive arguments.

I notice many of the students personalized the writing, rather than connecting it explicitly to the curricular standards, but I love seeing the diversity of students' responses, so with their permission, I'm sharing some of them here.