Submitted by Sylvie Allard (Lester B. Pearson School Board)

Did you ever try to represent any family members using only colours and textures? How could I best symbolize the essence of the person? In which order do I place my family since it is linear? Do I represent my mother's side or my father's side? What if the person is dead? What about those who are not born yet? Could I include my friends, my pet? These were some of the problems and questions the students had to resolve.

Educational Aim : To enable students to take part in the democratic life of the classroom or the school and develop an attitude of openness to the world and respect for diversity

Solves problems
Exercises critical judgement

Creates personal images

Materials:

• 3 meter long cord for each student
• Students bring leftover material from their home that could be wrapped such as: yarn, ribbon string, wire, foam, plastic wrap, aluminium foil, lace, felt, leather....
• glue, needle and thread, stapler and other tools for attaching the objects onto the cord

	Listen to SNK reflect on the project.
	Listen to JJ reflect on the project
	"I chose to make my family spread out on my rope because we are not the type of family who talks to each other everyday and who tells each other everything. I also did it because we all live in different areas of Montreal and we do not see each other often. There is also an empty space at the end of the rope because my uncle just got married so I left space for my cousins, if they decide to have children. My roots are short and there are few because my family has been living in Canada for only 2 generations. My grandparents were born in Italy and moved here before they had my parents. We do not have very long roots." CC	"The textures reflect not only the kind of person they are but also the feeling one gets from being with them. Similarly, the colour reflects how they stand out or blend -in when around other people. I started my roots for my tree. I'm using the rope to represent an actual family tree. At the top are my grandparents, because they start the tree, then as it moves to the bottom are my parents and my generation. The older roots are thicker because they have had time to grow. I was surprised that it was so easy to get into this project and I was able to analyse my family much deeper and from a different point of view." RS