Grade 5 Students Travel Back in Time

Earlier in the year, our Grade 2 students created personal time capsules as part of their Unit of Inquiry with the central idea: "Personal histories help us understand who we are and where we come from." This year marked the fourth year the Grade 2 teachers did this project, which means our current Grade 5 students were the first class to create these mementos. Since the time capsules were meant to be opened at the end of Grade 5, the students recently brought them in to school, and the current Grade 2 students were invited to come watch their older peers open them!

After breaking through the many layers of duct and washi tape, Grade 5 students were intrigued and surprised to find what they had included. Since these time capsules were created in early 2022, there were still many references to COVID-19 (such as masks). There were also news articles from 2022, family pictures, letters from parents, and a letter that the students had written to their future selves.

When asked what emotions they felt when looking through their time capsules, Grade 5 students responded:

• "Joyful, because I remembered some of the things I wrote, and I got a picture of me from Grade 2."
• "I felt really happy that I was seeing this after many years, and I laughed at myself because I kept writing 'myself' in my note. My writing has changed a lot!"
• "When I read the note that my mom put in my time capsule, I was a little sad, but in a happy way." (The class later identified this emotion as nostalgia.)
• "I felt joyful and the note that I wrote to myself was pretty funny, because it said 'I love Roblox' and I don't really love them anymore."
• "I thought it was hilarious. A lot has changed since then. I found it really nice to read back at what I used to think. I also might have been in a fight with my parents because I told myself to tell my parents that I still love them—I don't know what was going on."

As the Grade 5 students wind down their time at the Primary School, this activity was a nice reflection on their experiences over the last few years, and the Grade 2 students are now more excited to open their time capsules in 2028!