Journal Entry 5 - Friday at School

What a Busy Day

Today at school I taught my first real lesson. Our new point on inquiry is conflict, so my lesson was about the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima. There is a monument dedicated in memory of a girl named Sadako. For my lesson I provided information about the historical bombing and the effects though her story. I showed about fifteen pictures that I put on a Power Point presentation while I told the story. I have included some of my lesson plan including the story of Sadako and a few pictures below.

Introduction: They called it the Flash: In the hospital you could see skin melting off of the patient’s bodies. There were also purple hemorrhages and rapid hair loss. Australian journalist, Wilfred Burchett wrote, “Hiroshima does not look like a bombed city. It looks as if a monster steamroller has passed over it and squashed it out of existence.”

Body: How many of you are familiar with the atomic bombing of the cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Yes, on August 6, 1945 an atomic bomb called Little Boy was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later another atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. Together the bombs killed at least 100,000 people and destroyed both of the cities (Encarta CD-ROM 2007)

- I’m going to share with you a story about a girl who lived in Hiroshima at the time of at the time of the bombing.

- Share PPT pictures and read story.

- Slide 1: August 6, 1945. The world's first atomic bomb detonated in the sky over Hiroshima. Sadako's family also experienced the bombing.

- Slide 2: It was a hot summer morning. On August 6th, air-raid sirens sounded just after 7:00 a.m. After a while, the all-clear sounded and people began to move about their daily lives again. Sadako, her grandmother, her mother, and brother Mashahire were eating breakfast together. A blinding flash, then a thunderous blast attacked the family.

- Slide 3: The walls of the house toppled, and Sadoko and the others were thrown. Mashahiro and grandmother were injured but, miraculously, Sadako and her mother were unharmed. Somehow, all escaped from the collapsed house and fled toward the river. Along the way, Sadoko’s grandmother turned back to get something from the house. She was never seen again.

- Slide 4: Fires were igniting here and there. Someone helped the family into a small, decrepit boat to save them from the fires. Though only four at the time, Masahiro remembers desperately bailing water out of the boat. While the family was on the boat, rain began to fall. The rain left black splotches on Sadoko’s clothes. (What do you think this was? – ashes)

- Slide 5: 1949-1954. Though an atomic bombing survivor, Sadako was a healthy, energetic child who never missed a day of elementary school due to illness. She was a gentle caretaker of her younger sister and brother. She loved singing and sports-in fact, could outrun anyone in her class.

- Slide 6: The war ended and peace returned. Gradually, buildings were erected, people returned to the city, and the Sasaki family reopened their barbershop in the heart of Hiroshima.
Soon her younger sister Mitsue was born and the year after Sadako started in Nobori cho Elementary School, her younger brother Eiji was born. The Sasaki family now had six members. With the parents busy running the barbershop, Sadako and her brother were put in charge of keeping the house clean and taking care of the little ones. It was common for children to help with housework in those days. Everyone in the family pitched in to do what needed to be done.

- Slide 7: Sadako was an exceptional athlete in any class. On spring Field Day there was a class relay. Sadako’s team, the Bamboo’s, fumbled the baton pass causing them to come in last place for the entire 6th grade. The Bamboos decided to practice relay racing every day after school. The fleet-footed Sadako shone at these practices. Even the fastest boys could not keep up with her. Thanks to those practices, when the fall Field Day came, the Bamboos easily outran every other class and claimed the victory.

- Slide 8: 1955. Ten years after the atomic bombing, life returned to normal for Hiroshima City and its people. However, something was wrong with Sadko’s body.
Soon after winning the relay on Field Day, there were signs that something was wrong with Sadako. She caught a cold and felt a stiffness in her neck. When the cold went away, the stiffness stayed. By early 1955, Sadako's face looked swollen. After undergoing various tests, the doctor told Shigeo in February, "Sadako has leukemia. She has a year left at the most." Sadako was admitted to the Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital.Hearing the news, Sadako's friends in the Bamboo class discussed what they could do to help Sadako. They decided to take turns visiting her in the hospital.

- Slide 9: In August, 1000 paper cranes folded by high school students in Nagoya were delivered to the patients in the hospital. Sadako's room was brightened by cellophane cranes folded in many colors. Receiving those cranes and hearing the legend, “Fold 1000 paper cranes and your wish will come true,” Sadako began to fold paper cranes herself. She threw herself into the task, folding into each crane the desire: “Let me get well.”

- Slide 10: Sadako never talked about her pain or suffering. She simply folded her prayers into the paper cranes. Despite her efforts, the disease progressed. She began to get fevers, and some days her pounding head kept her from sleeping. Even then, she folded cranes fervently. In the morning of October 25, Sadako's life finally ended. She was 12 years old. It was exactly a year since the Bamboo class had won the relay on Field Day.

- Slide 11: Sadako's death came as a tremendous shock to the members of the Bamboo class. Many of them, like Sadako, had experienced the atomic bombing. They were filled with fear, regret, and a sense of helplessness.

- Slide 12: After Sadako died, her Bamboo classmates said to each other, "Let's do something for Sadako." That they, her friends, were able to do nothing for her left a painful feeling in their hearts. Someone said, "Can we erect a gravestone for her? If it is nearby, we can visit it every day."

- Slide 13: "What if we make a monument in Peace Memorial Park? Not just for Sadako, but for all the children who died from the atomic bomb.""Do we have what it takes to do something like that?" The students were worried."But I really want to do something for Sadako.""I want to get rid of atomic bombs."
These were the emotions that moved the group to action. Sadako's former Bamboo classmates began a movement to raise funds for a monument. Their call elicited a huge response that they had not anticipated. More than 3000 schools around Japan sent money and letters saying, "Please use this to help build the monument." In January 1957, it was officially decided to build the Children's Peace Monument in Peace Memorial Park.
The statue was completed on Children's Day (5 May) in 1958, two years after Sadako Sasaki's death. Though Sadako and the other children who had passed away would not return, the inscription carved into the stone in front of the monument at least carried the hope, "Let no more children fall victim to an atomic bombing."

- Slide 14: This is our cry.　This is our prayer.　For building peace in the world.

- Slide 15: Almost half a century has passed since Sadako's short life ended at the age of 12. The Sadako story has touched many hearts, and letters and paper cranes continue to be sent to the Children's Peace Monument from around the world.

-Slide 16: Conclusion of Story: Books and films have brought Sadako and the Children's Peace Monument to people around the world. Untold numbers have learned through her story that innocent people continue to suffer many years after the bombing - that atomic bombs eat away at life in a particularly cruel way. Though Sadako is gone, because her hopes and courage touch people's hearts across the boundaries of nationality and time, she and the cranes have become a symbol of peace. Nevertheless, nuclear weapons have not disappeared from the Earth. Wars that carry the threat of their use continue to break out around the world. Entrusting to it their dreams of a peaceful future, people of the world still offer paper cranes to the Children's Peace Monument.

- Slide 17: The figure of Sadako holds a paper crane, lifting up the hope that no more children anywhere will lose their lives to war (Sadaku and the Atomic Bombing).

-Slide 18: Show pictures of Cranes

-Why do you think I shared this story with you? Think about what we briefly talked about yesterday with the conflict and peace pictures. (The cranes are a form of art that is used to express oneself as a result of conflict).

ACTIVITY:
- Now you all are going to get a chance to make your own paper cranes.
- (Read the directions on the pdf document and make one crane together with the students)
- (Time permitting, allow students to try and make one additional crane on their own, leave directions up on the SMART board.)

My interest in this topic was particularly high because in seventh grade I actually went to the Peace Museum in Hiroshima. When I returned I completed a History Day project on the bombing of Hiroshima. I read personal accounts and researched some of the controversy behind Truman’s decision to drop the two atomic bombs on Japan as a result of their attack on Pearl Harbor.

I had a lot of fun teaching the lesson and I thought that it was a huge success. I thought I would only be teaching the lesson to Ms. Lisa’s fifth grade class, but then found out that the other year six students wanted to join in on the lesson. This meant about 50 ten year olds in one small classroom. There were two students to one chair. After the story and pictures, we split back up into two classrooms for the making of the cranes. This part was interesting. I started by picking a small group (five students) to make the cranes with out in the hallway. We made the cranes together, step by step, and they were all successful. I told the students to go back to their classrooms and bring out two friends. Then this group made the cranes and the first group stayed as helpers. At the end of the second round about 15 students were done, great 35 left to go… I finished up by giving directions to two remaining groups Ms. Lisa’s class and Mrs. Hartland’s class. It got a bit chaotic because it is a challenging origami project with some complex steps. Also, it was the end of the day on a Friday and it was my first time teaching them. They were very chatty and it was hard to re-focus them for the next direction. “Hey look at mine so far, wicked!” “Ms. Rachael is this right, does this look good?”

At the end of the day I think they all learned about Hiroshima, the bombing, Sadakos story and an introduction to origami.