When I interact with roses, I feel like I am influencing them through my attitude and approach to caring for them.
~ words from Maria that keep us thinking and wondering ~
Not hers. Not yours. People are always more than the chapters anyone could share. Hold what is here gently. Approach with curiosity, before judgment.
Notice what you notice. Wonder what you wonder. There is no quiz, no right way. Read until something stays.
this film has no words. notice what you notice. notice what you wonder. wonder out loud. and don't forget to notice what you feel, too.
Contemplating Community
Have you ever heard of the term “fair trade” before? What do you think that means? Can you think of some ways that businesses can be “fair”? Who are all of the different people that might be involved in a business model? To whom would the business be “fair”?
Another way we can write the 10% of the sales that goes toward the workers’ association is by converting that percentage to the fraction 10/100. Can you help me figure out how to write 10/100 = ✩/10? This will now help us write it as a decimal!
Now, let’s say in a given week we make $1,000 in sales. Usually it is more, but this is good practice! How could we figure out what is 10% of those sales? This will help us keep track of how much goes to community projects! Hint: remember how to rewrite 10% as a fraction? And if those sales were common each week, about how much would it be in a month?
I know how difficult it is to walk for hours to get to school, and that's why I fully support programs such as providing transportation for kids. How have the challenges in your life inspired you to make a difference in the lives of others? Have you ever suggested a way to help those who are in need of support? Did you find that you identified with the people you were helping? If so, in what ways?
I am one of the association board members, and I have a lot of responsibility when making decisions because it impacts all of the “Be My Rose” workers. Do you have any advice for me on ways that I could approach decision-making? What are some things that you think of when making a decision that affects a group of people?
Can you share with me some different organizational tips that you use in your life, so that I can use them when tracking the association’s money? Do you make lists, or write notes to remind yourself, or store items in certain places, or something else?
Have you ever heard of the phrase I said, “One hand washes the other hand”? What do you think that means?
To create focused space, start the session with 2 minutes of collective silence.
“How do you define your community?” Assure students, “There is no right answer! Communities can look really different, and you may even feel part of many communities!” Give students a few minutes to silently write or draw about their community, and then invite them to share.
Set a positive example by sharing a personal definition of one or more communities to which you belong. Let them know we’re going to be thinking and learning about communities and how we might contribute to ours!
With your group, engage with Maria’s concepts of community by watching I am Maria and reading, “Maria Impacts Her Community.” Before watching the video, encourage students to, “Pay attention to how Maria might define her community.” After the video, share some ideas and then dive deeper by reading the Learning Journey, “Maria Impacts her Community.” On page 1, Maria describes how the workers at “Be My Rose” feel collective ownership of the business because of a workers’ association.
Consider asking students, “Do you think Maria considers the people at her work to be part of her community? Why or why not? How might the workers’ association make the workers feel more of a sense of community? How does the ‘fair trade’ concept come into play here?” Continue reading, and Maria describes a couple projects the workers’ association designed on page 2. To check reading comprehension and dive even deeper, point out to students, “Maria doesn’t necessarily live in these communities where they decided to do projects. In what ways might Maria and her co-workers feel that these communities are part of a larger community that they are part of? What inspired Maria to engage with these projects? What are some benefits to supporting people who live outside your own community?” Create a connection to the students’ own lives by asking, “What are some communities to which you feel loosely connected?” You could use the example of your classroom: students may feel more of a sense of community within your class than within the whole school, however, they could see how each classroom community in the school is connected to the next. Using whatever example you choose, ask, “In what ways do our actions in our community impact the communities nearby? How do we overlap?” To brainstorm this concept visually, choose two communities and use venn diagrams to highlight areas in which they overlap and areas in which they are independent.
Work with fractions and decimals by helping Maria calculate how much money will go towards the workers’ association’s projects. On pages 1 and 2, Maria discusses the 10% of sales that the workers’ association can put toward community projects.
She begins by converting the percentage to a fraction; from here, practice working with fractions that have a denominator of 10 and 100 as well as converting fractions and decimals. Ask students, “How might these conversions help the board members figure out how much money is going toward their projects?” She provides a sample weekly sales amount ($1,000) and asks for help determining how much would go to the workers’ association each week. Encourage students to figure out how the equation calculate 1/10 of $1,000 in order to practice multiplying fractions by whole numbers. To make the problem easier, you could calculate 1/10 of the sale of each rose, and change the price to practice different amounts ($1, $2, etc.). Once they determine 10% of the weekly amount ($100), they can multiply it by 4 to practice multiplication by 100s. Feel free to shift amounts around to practice multiplying by 10s and 1000s as well. You could also ask, “If they need $3,000 for a new project, how many months will it take to save that amount?” Be sure to point out to students that these numbers are fictional for the sake of practicing these math concepts, and that the foundation makes closer to $50,000/month.
Debrief this lesson by working in small groups, or as a class, to brainstorm a project plan that would support a community to which students feel connected.
Ask students to answer, “How do you decide what type of community project to support in the first place? What are some ways that you can include the perspectives of the people who will be impacted by the project? Why this project? What are the first steps you’d need to take to bring it to fruition?”
This is one way to teach this story. You could also weave your own way, threading two or three other people the AI finds for you alongside.
Want to weave a full lesson around this story?
The weaver finds 3-4 real people whose stories thread together with this one.
Weave a lesson →Giving Love
I don’t think that how I described myself to you earlier really tells you every single aspect of who I am, but it might help you understand some of the different roles in my life, such as how I am both a mother and a daughter. Can you tell me a bit about some of the various roles that make up your life?
Have you ever done something that you thought was not a problem, but it concerned your parents? What was their reaction? Was it that way because of a misunderstanding, or were they worried about your safety, or was it something else? How did it make you feel? Did you do anything after this happened so that you were able to reconcile and forgive each other?
Have you ever been in a position where you were asked to do something that you thought you were not qualified for? What was your initial reaction? Did you try it out anyway, or did you walk away? Can you tell me what you learned from your experience?
I told you earlier that I had 15 days to learn the planting process at my work. If there were 30 days in the month I started, then I had 15 out of 30 days to learn. Without using a calculator, can you show me how you write that as a fraction and as a decimal? How can we write this in words and show it in a grid? How do you think I did during those first 15 days?
When I interact with roses, I feel like I am influencing them through my attitude and approach to caring for them. Do you think that you influence the world around you? Can you give me some examples of how?
Begin this lesson by sitting on the floor in a circle with your students and lead them through a deep breathing exercise.
“How do you show your loved ones that you love them?” Invite your students to share their ways of demonstrating love, encouraging them to recognize the ways in which they may show it without even realizing it.
Point out, “There is a lot we can show through our actions without even using words.” You could share a personal example, and let them know that they’ll be exploring mindfulness, fractions, and decimals by learning about Maria, an Ecuadorian woman.
Continue the previous conversation, asking “Do you think showing love looks similar or different in other cultures?” Then watch the video, I am Maria.
After watching a short clip from Maria’s life, ask your students, “What do you notice about the way she shows love? What similarities and differences do you observe from your own?” Then read the story, I am Maria. On page 3, Maria talks about why her work with roses is meaningful to her. Considering pointing out, “Maria provides an example of mindfulness in her belief that being at peace while working with flowers is important, because the rose will pick up her energy and be carried to whoever receives the rose.” Then ask students, “From this example, what might mindfulness mean?” One definition of mindfulness is: “The basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.” After discussing what mindfulness means, ask students, “How might being intentional about how we show our love to family and friends be considered a type of mindfulness? What are other ways we could practice mindfulness? What might be some benefits?” (Excellent teacher resources here)
Let’s practice decimals and fractions with Maria! On page 3 of “I am Maria,” you can explore with students introducing decimals and common decimals and fractions.
Students can help Maria figure out how many days she had to learn about the planting process at work. After students are able to convert the numbers into decimals and fractions, you can encourage them to think about the difference between “quantity” and “quality”. “What do you think those terms mean?” You can share that “quantity” refers to a numerical value, and “quality” means the standard of how good something is. “Does the amount of days she had to learn represent the quantity or quality of her learning opportunity?” Once students determine that it represents the quantity since it is a number, you could ask them, ‘What are some ways you can figure out the quality of a learning experience?”
You can explain to students that you want to make mindfulness a prominent part of their classroom experience, and then ask them for ideas of how to do so.
“How can we remind ourselves to be ‘fully present’ throughout the day?” You can explore what this would look like as visual reminders in the classroom (such as a poster or drawings), or if students would like if each class started off with a moment of silence or reflection to focus before starting the lesson (that could be led by you, or students could take turns). This will empower students to make mindfulness purposeful rather than an afterthought, and to get excited about making decisions about how to creatively integrate it everyday!
This is one way to teach this story. You could also weave your own way, threading two or three other people the AI finds for you alongside.
Want to weave a full lesson around this story?
The weaver finds 3-4 real people whose stories thread together with this one.
Weave a lesson →Not hers. Not yours. People are always more than the chapters anyone could share. Hold what is here gently. Approach with curiosity, before judgment.
If a moment stayed, follow it. If a question rose up, hold it. The quiet teaching is still teaching.
Three or four real stories woven into one lesson, your topic, your time. Maria is one. The weaver finds the others, threads the math, the literacy, the values, the reflection.
Open the weaver →