This week Mrs. Conklin's thrid grade class made patches for a "hundred family coat" to offer at the PTSA auction. A Chinese story tells of Boachu, who went to find the missing sun. The people of one village wanted to help him, but they were very poor. Each person cut off a piece of their clothing and from all these pieces, they made a warm coat for Boachu. The coat kept him warm when the demons tried to freeze him.
We talked about the patches of the coat as symbols of each person's strength. We brainstormed our own strenghts, and each child drew something that symbolized their strength on a piece of silk. My job now is to sew them all together into a "hundred family coat" of our own.
Here is a sample of some of the patches: Rhiannon loves music, Lauren is a writer who looks for "just the right word". Jake loves speed; he is showing flames on his dirt bike. John feels "tough". Talia loves her sister, who loves snakes. Mason is pure energy!
