One Thousand Cranes

(little cranes, little cranes, everywhere i turn, i can see them.... hum this slightly changed song from the musical, Annie as you read!)

Karen has just finished a two week stint in the fourth grade! The full time teacher had a death in her family and returned to the States for the funeral. Karen covered her class for her while she was gone and what fun they had! The crane fun began while reading the book, Sadako (I forget the author, sorry!) but it's the story of a Japanese girl, Sadako, who ends up with leukemia as a result from the effects of the atomic bomb dropped over Hiroshima in August, 1945. While sick in the hospital, Sadako begins making origami cranes with the hope and belief that if she reaches 1,000, she would be cured. Tragically, she dies before reaching her goal. To honor her and to complete her goal, her classmates finish the cranes and actually go on to establish a memorial for her, which can be seen and visited in the Peace Park in Hiroshima. (Jeph and I were just there in November!) In the midst of reading the story, the students decided that they not only would like to make 1,000 cranes but they would like to have them done in time to surprise their teacher upon her return. The students went wild and could be seen folding cranes in every spare moment- on the bus, on the playground, in the cafeteria, during math class (opps!), etc. and they did it!!! Here are a few shots of the cranes, the room and some of the kids!

During some of our folding 'parties', we talked about what our 'wish' could be and what we would like to see happen in the world. After tons of ideas and discussions, the kids decided that their wish was for: A World at Peace and it had to include people taking care of the environment and each other. I thought that was a pretty good wish!

So, my days in fourth grade are over (at least as a full-time sub) and I now move on to 'regular' subbing. Tomorrow it's high school science before a few days of second grade. Never a dull moment!

Here's one more photo- I just had to throw this last pic in! This is one of my favorite sites that I pass on my walk to school. I pass these workers every day and they never fail to make me smile- here they are doing their morning stretches- complete with music and a leader!