After reading Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold, my third grade students considered what it would be like if they could fly, just like Cassie, the main character in the book. In Tar Beach, Cassie imagines that she can fly and that whatever she flies over, she will own. The story takes place in Brooklyn, pre-Civil Rights, so Cassie flies over the Union building to help ensure that her father will always have steady work. I asked my students to consider life today; what could they fly over and own that would help either their own family, our community or our world? They sewed these beautiful wall hangings to represent their wishes for improving our world, near or far.

3rd grade, January-February 2013