First Grade 'Bears' Witness

During one of our Meeting for Worship preparation times the first graders made collages on large bears about the many ways that they use their bodies to show witness (this year's all school Quakerism theme).  We love "Bear Witness" from the Catbird class and thought that it would be exciting to each have our own.  And it proved to be true!

It was absolutely amazing to hear all of the ideas that went into their collages and how well they understood the meaning of witness, not an easy concept to grasp. Some of the ideas that became parts of their bears included: picking up trash with my hands or planting flowers to help the environment, using legs to be a partner to a friend who needs to go in to use the bathroom or walk a dog,  using my brain to learn, using my heart to love my family and using my body to travel to learn about other places. Very impressive thinking for students so young!

Once our collages were finished, Amanda allowed us to use the art room to paint the other sides.  And guess who our model was for painting a bear?  None other than "Bear Witness" theirself!!  What fun it was to paint these big bears!

Finally, we got to take our bear witnesses on the road!  We visited "Bear Witness" and the Catbird class and loved hearing that they shared some of the ways we show witness.  And, our third grade Meeting partners had the opportunity to hear about our bears and then very excitedly shared the many ways that they show witness in their lives.  This was such an enriching and deeply thoughtful experience for the first graders, and for the Catbirds and third graders as well! It is such a wonder how deeply connected they all are to the theme of witness!