One of the first activities we did as a class this semester was bringing in 5 artifacts that culturally define us as a person. At first the assignment seemed pretty easy in thinking of what to bring in, but after a short time in thinking about it, the ideas became fewer and fewer. It was a lot more difficult to see what culturally defined me. Who am I? What represents me best? The artifacts I decided on ended up representing my cultural background from a young age to who I am today. Each of the items can tell a story of who I am and how it represents me. For my artifacts, I brought in a ceramic Japanese doll I received from our first exchange student when I was five, a Dopey doll which was the first Disney movie I saw and the first movie I saw in the theaters, a cookbook my great-aunt from Mississippi put together, the book
Tales of the Fourth Grade nothing which was the first chapter book I read, and a piece of tile and Mardi Gras bead necklace I found in the rubble after Hurricane Katrina hit the Mississippi coast. Each of these artifacts represents some part of who I am.
As a class, we shared some similarities. Some people brought in cell phones, ipods, a variety of books, and many other different things that represented who they are. This activity showed our many interests and likes. It also showed how we are all connected in some way with the artifacts we brought in. With an activity like this one, you can have students see similarities and differences between one another. We had a chance to learn from one another, see what they found valuable and meaningful to them and it made us learn more about ourselves. Like we did with this activity, a writing prompt about a classmates' artifact that stood out to them the most, what you want to know about it, and why it has meaning to them is a good why for students to think about others artifacts and integrates Language Arts into this activity.
