What was the best seed idea that you had that evolved into a component of the exhibit? What text evidence supported that thinking? How does this idea connect to your book’s essence?
The best seed idea that I had that evolved into a component of the exhibit was the idea of an anonymous paratrooper parachuting into a forest fire. It was inspired by the poster my group made on our last silent literature circle meeting. It depicted some paratroopers jumping into a forest fire. In the book, the Triple Nickels were assigned the job of smokejumpers in an effort to prevent them from fighting in World War II because “The Army did not trust the black soldiers… he [black soldiers] didn’t have the intelligence” (Page 42) to fight in the War. Additionally, I wanted it to symbolize the society at the time, so I thought to make the parachute white and the anonymous paratrooper black, showing that the white people thought they were above the African Americans. It would also symbolize how African Americans in the army had no say during the times of segregation because it would be anonymous, therefore the voice would not be known or heard. The parachute and paratrooper would also be the most eye-catching part of our display because it would have to be above the forest fire.
In our final museum display, we kept this idea, but instead of the burning trees of the forest fire, the letters of the word “racism” would be the burning trees, symbolizing the African Americans trying to fight the fire of discrimination and racial segregation in the U.S. army during World War II.
This idea connects to the book’s essence because it shows how society was at the time, and how the African Americans were trying to combat that belief.
Other ideas came up that you didn’t think of during the process of creating your museum display. What was the best one? What made it so effective? What text evidence supported that thinking?
One of the best ideas that was thought of that I did not come up with during the process of creating the museum display was Rui’s idea of how the letters of the word “racism” could be on fire and would replace the trees of the forest fire. This would symbolize how the African American soldiers fought the fires of racism, discrimination, and racial segregation in the United States army, while still maintaining the image of a literal forest fire. This idea was very effective because it would also create an ideal base for the anonymous paratrooper/smokejumper that would not look out of place with it. This idea represented what the book was about more than a specific piece of text evidence.
Don’t look at the rubric. Think beyond the “grade.” What did you learn by completing this project? Ideas include discussing the creative process, collaborative process, or yourself as a creator, contributor, and artist. Give evidence to support your answer.
By working on and completing this project, I learned to include other people while working on the project. Usually, when a project involves making a physical thing, I say my idea is the best, then proceed to create the whole thing without letting my partners help out. During this project, I let my partners come up with their own ideas and actually work on the project with me, and this allowed for new ideas to be used that I would never have come up with and our project being completed on time. I also learned that putting in some extra effort, determination, and focus can really help you in the long run. Over the weekend, I bought the supplies for the paratrooper/smokejumper, made that part at home, then brought it to school. By doing this, I saved a great amount of time, which could be spent on painting the whole thing. However, there was a lot to paint, and my group feared that we would not finish on time. Because of this, Rui and I decided to stay after school on Monday to paint most of the project, namely the base and the fiery letters of the word “racism” that would be used instead of burning trees in the forest fire. This saved a huge chunk of time, which was spent putting on the finishing touches on Tuesday, and we finished our project on time.
Take a look at your lit circle reflections (last two meetings) and think about how you worked with your group as you developed your curiosity cabinet (over the last few days). Over the course of your NNF literature circle work, how have you grown as a contributor in discussions? Specifically, how did you NEGOTIATE ideas? You can refer to our mini-lesson on Thursday, January 21, if needed for help. Give evidence to support your answer.
Over the course of our literature circle meetings, I evolved from being an observer to more of a conversationalist. During the first two meetings, I mainly just listened to my group’s ideas, sometimes piggybacking on something one of them said, but most of the time I did not contribute. Strangely, during our last literature circle meeting, where we had to be silent and create a poster depicting the important parts and the message of our book, I had contributed many great ideas, two of them being two out of the three main focuses of the poster. This made me realize that I could contribute good ideas, so I was inspired to start contributing more and more in the Curiosity Cabinet project meetings. Without this, I would not have come up with the parachute idea. However, I did not dominate the conversations, and I let the other people in my group talk and share their ideas too.
Our group worked very well together. We pitched ideas, bounced them around, and it either turned into a new idea from piggybacking, became the inspiration for another idea, or was completely scrapped. We also made sure that everyone was clear on what we were going to do. This was to avoid confusion and mistakes that could not be reversed in the future. All of this helped our group work quicker and more efficiently, resulting in a better Curiosity Cabinet museum display that was completed on time.
