Students Produce Poem from “The Golden Rule”
A third grade team of students at Muddy Brook Elementary School in Great Barrington, MA are working on a thoughtful project that relates to kindness and the Golden Rule. It is “to develop a unit of study based on Norman Rockwell’s and living illustrator Jerry Pinkney’s work. The unit examines qualities of a meaningful life, persevering over time, and working with passion and a personal mission.”
This is great. The students studied the Norman Rockwell painting, “The Golden Rule.” They looked at the details and observed their feelings. The team then put their feelings into words in the form of a wonderful poem, which is below. More than that, the students marched through the school holding up a “The Golden Rule” print for the whole school to see!
The hope is that this ripples through the country and world, like it did with their classroom of students, inspiring all!
This is from a letter to the editor in my local newspaper, the Berkshire Eagle.
THE MARCH OF HISTORY
A crowd of people
Everyone looks different
White skin, black skin, brown.
Red hair, black hair, brown hair, blond hair, white hair.
Boys and girls
Babies. Men and women
Children.
A very old man.
Someone is holding a cross.
Someone is holding a gold bowl.
Someone is holding a sword.
Someone is holding a baby.
Many people are holding their hands together.
I think they are praying.
They are praying for us to follow The Golden Rule:
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
We are treated unfairly because we are girls.
We are treated unfairly because of our skin,
Because we are boys, because of our beliefs,
Because of our age.
Because our grade.
Because of who we love.
We are treated unfairly because we are small.
These people come together.
They feel big and powerful when they come together.
They stare at us.
They tell us something.
They tell us, “You should follow The Golden Rule.”
It makes us feel nervous.
It makes us feel awkward.
It makes us feel weird and nerve-wracking.
It makes us feel like hiding.
But we peek out and read the words:
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
We will do it!
We will ALL do it!
It will be hard.
We will march.
We will march through all the grades.
We will march across the earth.
We will march through the hardness.
Our hearts will pound with love.
While we march we will say The Golden Rule.
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
With teacher Meagan Warner, students who teamed in writing the poem are Miles Allard, Caroline Becker, Juan Cambi, Lexi Carpenter, Ty Colli, Brooke Decker, Harmony Estrada, Logan Hartzell, Sadie Honig-Briggs, Brenden Hunt, Isaac Rodriguez, Leilana Salvini, Sani Schollenberger, Emma Seward, Francesca Stanmeyer, Dioniso Vivarelli and Ryder Winters.
Have a Great Day. You are invited to share this as much as possible. <3
