(upbeat music) - On "Read, Write ROAR!," discover the history of the I-496 Freeway and its impact on Lansing's African American community, exploring the effects of urban renewal and displacement.

Then explore Detroit's largest arts object, the Fisher Building, uncovering its rich history and architecture.

Let's go "Read, Write ROAR!"

- [Announcer] This program is made possible in part by the state of Michigan.

(upbeat rock music) And by... And by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(upbeat rock music) - Did you know that there's a building that is almost a hundred years old?

It's an official historic place in Michigan, and it's often called Detroit's largest art object.

I'm Mr. Peterson, and today I'm going to share research I completed about the Fisher Building in Detroit.

Then, together, we will complete a graphic organizer, and then write a short informational text with the most important points from the research.

You can later use this as an example to help you write your own informational text.

Let's get started.

I am personally excited to learn more about the Fisher Building.

You probably don't know this about me, but I'm a beekeeper.

I have beehives on the roof of a building that is directly across the street from the Fisher Building, so it'll be great to learn more about a place I often see while I'm beekeeping.

(upbeat rock music continues) In order to learn more about this building, I need to find reliable sources.

A reliable source is a source that is trustworthy and accurate.

These sources could be books, articles, videos, or webpages.

I'm going to use this graphic organizer to help me take notes on the facts I want to include in my writing.

By identifying the who, what, when, where, and why about the Fisher Building, I can gather all of the most important information to write an informational text that will give a clear description of what I researched.

I found the Fisher Building website by doing an internet search.

I'm going to use their history section as my first source.

"With limited space downtown for their central headquarters, the Fisher Brothers of the Fisher Body Corporation settled in New Center in the 1920s.

In 1927, they hired a legendary architect, Albert Kahn, to create a magnificent building as a thanks to the city that delivered their success.

It was to be an ode to the American work ethic and to American artisans.

(upbeat rock music continues) The Fisher Brothers spared no expense in its creation, encouraging Kahn to hire world-class architects, engineers, builders, craftspeople, and artists.

As a result, the Fisher Building's marble-clad facade, three-story, hand-painted, barrel-vaulted ceiling, spectacular mosaics, and extensive bronze detailing has earned it recognition as 'Detroit's Largest Art Object.'"

Phew, that's a lot of information, so let's take notes and put them into the graphic organizer.

Notes do not need to be in complete sentences, we'll turn them into sentences when we write our final report.

I'll put "History of the Fisher Building" at the top, as it is a reminder of the topic of my research.

Let's start by putting, "around 1927," that's when, so I'll write that in there.

New Center neighborhood of Detroit, that's where, so I'll fill that in.

"Fisher Brothers," that's part of the who, so I'll put that there, and I'll add a money sign since that's who paid for it.

"Many world class engineers, builders, artists, and architects," more for the who.

"Legendary designer Albert Kahn," wow, one more person to add to the who.

That's a lot of people that helped get the Fisher Building built.

"Marble hand-painted mosaics and bronze detailing," hmm, I'd say that's part of the what, since that's what's in the building.

"Detroit's Largest Art Object," I'll put that with what as well.

Another source I found is the Historic Detroit website.

The article there matched the facts from the first source, and also gave me a lot more information about the brothers, and the building.

I already read this and put notes together.

"Seven Fisher Brothers made a fortune making car bodies," I'm going to add this to the who after the money sign, and also add seven in front of Fisher Brothers, since these details are important to know.

"The fishers hired Albert Khan, and told the architect to build them the most beautiful building in the world," I'm going to put this after why, because this is what the brothers wanted.

"The building was for the company's headquarters, as well as shopping and entertainment" this will go under why as well, because it's how they plan to use it.

"Constructed of steel, concrete, and different types of marble," more for the what.

"Largest marble clad commercial building in the world," also more for the what.

"The building has a golden tower, originally covered in gold-leaf tiles, now green terracotta tiles," again for the what.

"The building houses the Fisher Theater, which opened in 1928," probably under why, since the brothers wanted the building to be for entertainment.

So now that I have all of my researched facts organized in this graphic organizer, (upbeat rock music continues) I'm going to write my informational text.

"The Fisher Building is an important and beautiful building in the New Center neighborhood of Detroit.

It was built by the Fisher Brothers around 1927.

This building is so special that people call it 'Detroit's Largest Art Object.'

The seven Fisher Brothers made a lot of money by making car bodies for the booming car industry in Detroit.

The brothers hired many world-class engineers, builders, artists, and architects to help them build the Fisher Building.

One of the most famous people they hired was Albert Kahn, a legendary architect.

The Fisher Brothers told Kahn to build them the most beautiful building in the world.

The Fisher Building is made of many materials like steel, concrete, and different types of marble.

It is the largest marble-clad commercial building in the world.

The building also features hand-painted mosaics and ceilings, along with bronze details.

The golden tower, which was originally covered in gold-leaf tiles, is now covered in green terracotta tiles.

The Fisher Building was built to be a headquarters for the Fisher Brothers' company but also a center for shopping and entertainment.

In fact, the Fisher Theater opened there in 1928.

It is a lasting landmark that continues to attract people today.

Now that we completed a research project about the historic Fisher Building, I challenge you to do the same with a different historical place in Michigan.

You can choose from almost 2000 places listed on the National Register of Historical Places.

Research your place using multiple sources, and use the graphic organizer to find your who, what, when, where, and why.

Then write about your research, and share it with a friend or family member.

(upbeat rock music subsides) (calm light music) - Ms. AP here to help restore your energy.

Today we are going to be learning how to do some basic yoga poses, but before we do, let's start with our warm up.

Since we already learned how to do a squat in the last unit, let's do three squats to warm up.

One, two, three.

Nice job.

Now that we've warmed up our bodies, we are ready for our exercise.

Today we are gonna learn a child's pose, which is a movement where we are down on the floor.

So as we begin, we're gonna begin on our hands and knees, heels, hips to the back, and we are gonna start to lower our chest down to the ground.

Arms straight out in front of you, palms down to the floor.

You can feel that stretch.

Remembering to breathe.

Coming back up for a reset, take a deep breath in, and return those hands back down stretching out that back.

This is our child's pose.

Returning back to the middle and centering, give yourselves a big clap-clap.

(claps hands) Nice job.

Let's cool down by taking two deep breaths, deep breath in, deep breaths out, deep breaths in, deep breath out.

Great job.

(upbeat rock music) (upbeat hip hop music) ♪ Know yourself, be self aware ♪ ♪ Check your feelings, show you care ♪ ♪ Manage actions, keep your cool ♪ ♪ Reach your goals, follow the rules ♪ ♪ See your friend, understand their view ♪ ♪ Share a smile, that's what we do ♪ ♪ Make good choices, think it through ♪ ♪ Make good choices, think it through ♪ (gentle music) - Greetings, friends, I'm Ms. Yarnell, your 21st century skills coach.

What are 21st century skills?

21st century skills are the skills and knowledge you need to do well, be happy and keep learning in school and in life.

And today, we are setting sail on an exciting adventure to unlock the magic of two extraordinary powers and skills you all have, creativity and imagination.

Are you ready?

All aboard future captains.

Creativity is more than just a hobby, it's a way of life.

While a hobby is an enjoyable activity done in your spare time, such as playing a sport, gardening or reading, creativity involves thinking of new ideas or making something uniquely different.

Creativity is not limited to making art, it can be a daily tool to make life easier and more exciting.

Examples of creativity include writing a story, drawing a picture, or finding an innovative way to solve a problem.

When you create pictures or stories in your mind about things that aren't real or haven't happened yet, you are used in your imagination.

It's like having a movie playing in your head where you can be anywhere, do anything, and see amazing things you dream up.

Imagination unlocks new possibilities and brings them to life, allowing you to dream big and make the impossible possible.

Five ways to use creativity and imagination to solve problems.

Share and discuss various ideas with friends, and test them to see what works.

Try different ideas and learn from mistakes.

Experimenting helps you find the best solutions.

Create pictures or diagrams to visualize the problem and potential solutions.

Pretend to be someone else to see the problem from a new perspective.

Look for ideas in books, nature, or conversations with others who have different skills to spark new solutions.

All right, friends, it's journal quest time.

Your mission, reflect on a time when you used your creativity or imagination to solve a problem or see things differently.

What problem did you face?

What creative or imaginative idea did you come up with to solve it?

For example, my family struggled to keep track of everyone's schedules, causing missed appointments and confusion.

We used our creativity and imagination to solve this by buying a dry erase calendar, and assigning each family member a different colored marker for their activities.

This made organizing our schedules fun and creative, and now everyone can easily see the weekly plan and stay organized.

As you write, include who was involved, what you did, why you did it, and how it solved your problem.

Ensure the sequence of events is clear to help your audience understand and follow your story.

The more you explore, the more you can discover.

So dream big, think creatively, and let your imagination soar.

Thank you for spending this time with us.

Until our next adventure, we will close with a poem by Miss Melody Jones, titled "Creativity & Imagination."

- "Through Creativity, we find our way.

In a land of dreams where where can play.

Imagination brings new ideas.

And helps us conquer all our fears.

So cherish that spark.

- [Echo] Cherish it.

- [Melody And Echo] Let it grow.

- Fuel your dreams.

- [Melody And Echo] Let your colors show.

(upbeat rock music) - Hi, scholars.

Have you ever heard of the Interstate 496 Freeway?

I'm Mrs.

Mask, and I live in Lansing, so I know all about I-496.

But if you don't live in the Lansing area, it might be new to you.

I-496 goes to the middle of Lansing, Michigan's capital, and connects to I-96, the main freeway between Detroit and Grand Rapids.

Although this is a convenient road to travel between major Michigan cities, there was a cost to its construction beside money, and that is the homes and businesses of many African Americans in the Lansing area.

One opinion is that the building of the I-496 freeway was unfair to many African American people.

It's important to have facts that support opinions, firsthand accounts, or narratives can be a great source of them.

First, let's go over a few words that will be very important to know.

"Entrepreneur," that's a person who takes the risk of starting their own business or company.

Displaced," to be forced to leave your home or business.

"Financing," raising money.

"Commercialized," when something changes from its original purpose to be more about business.

Now let's hear from Bobby Husband, a business owner who personally experienced the building of the I-496 freeway.

While Mr.

Husband shares his first-person account, please listen for details, factual examples that support the opinion that the building of I-496 freeway was unfair to many African American people.

(mouse clicking) - We were in business, I had a barbershop off Butler Street a long time ago.

But in that barbershop upstairs, upstairs barbershop, downstairs we made it into a restaurant called the Bar-B-Q-Pit.

- [Interviewer] Oh yeah, I remember that.

- Remember Barbecue Pit?

- Yeah, I do remember.

- [Bobby] Okay, me and my brothers owned that.

- [Interviewer] You know what, you're right.

- We had that going on.

We knew we had to move from there on St. Joseph Street together to go to the highway, and we worked that restaurant, and we didn't take any money for ourselves, we just saved all the money.

And so, we went down to City Planning, and asked at City Planning, we're seeing some houses that may be be for sale on the north side of St. Joe, near the Sycamore area, and ask them verbally, "How hard would it be to get this area commercialized for a business?," because we'll be uprooted by the highway, and they said they didn't think there would be any problem.

So anyway, we saved all our money and bought some houses there on the north side of St. Joe near Sycamore Street and tore 'em down, we didn't have any money, if we bought it, we didn't have any money to have 'em tore down by bulldozers by somebody else, so we'd tear 'em down ourselves, nail to nail, we tore 'em down ourselves, the house.

- [Interviewer] You're saying were you and who?

- My brothers.

All my brothers, it was five brothers.

And we tore it down, (indistinct) out about three houses we tore down, And then we had a builder that was going to build this plaza for us, like a building for us.

We had commitments from a lot of the businesses in that corridor that would rent from us once they was uprooted by the highway - [Interviewer] Because Fay Leff's was down there too.

- Yeah, Fay Leff's was up and down there.

They had drug stores, they had highway stores.

- [Interviewer] That's right.

- All kinds of stores there, you know?

And so we tore those houses down, and after toring 'em down, we went down to City Hall, to City Planning.

- To get a permit and stuff?

- (indistinct) permit and do this.

they just told us no.

- [Interviewer] You know why?

Because of Downtown.

- And we were Black.

- And you were Black.

The excuse they had was that plans for the highway had been changed, and there was gonna be an exit there coming up where we had bought this property, and the traffic would be too congested in that area to put any kind of business in in that area.

So they cut us down, they just told us flat, no, we couldn't do it.

We lost there, we lost everything, and I cried like a baby because we couldn't get it back.

- [Interviewer] What's next for that?

It never came, did it?

- Never came, never came.

But it was hard for us to gather together financing, and the girl mother was going gonna help us out.

But after that, that's why we don't have any Black business here now, you can't get financing.

- What factual examples do you hear in the video that support the opinion that building of the I-496 freeway was unfair?

Here's what I heard.

Many African-Americans were displaced and had to move to other parts of the city of Lansing where they did not feel wanted.

Black businesses were lost and never able to reopen, which caused financial difficulties.

The African American community faced many challenges where they were forced to move, which caused them to become separated.

Were our examples similar?

Hearing a personal story is a powerful way to get information.

Next time you're together with family or friends, seek out stories to learn about your heritage.

(upbeat rock music) (quirky music) - Hey there, it's Ms. Meg.

Great characters make great stories.

I wrote "Alex's Last Day of Fifth Grade" so that we can read it together, and dig deeper into how language helps us learn more about characters.

Let's get started.

"The hallway is loud, buzzing with students excited about summer break.

As everyone cleans their lockers out, all Alex can think is, 'Next year, there will be a real lock on my locker.

One that I'll have to remember the code to and if I don't, I won't be able to get my things.'

At lunch, he thinks about how long the lunch line might be and how he and his friend might not always have the same lunch table every day at the middle school.

'We might not even have the same lunch, you know,' his friend Nell says.

'Don't say that," Alex panics.

Nell isn't afraid of middle school at all.

She has four older sisters who liked middle school.

Alex wishes he had an older sibling to help him through middle school."

Now let's pause and talk about Alex now.

We learn what Alex is thinking thanks to third person narration.

He's anxious about middle school, particularly with his locker.

(quirky music continues) How do we know this?

Let's look back in the story for evidence.

Did you find it?

"All Alex can think is, 'Next year there will be a real lock on my locker, one that I'll have to remember the code to and if I don't, I won't be able to get my things.'"

Maybe you felt just like Alex before when you got a locker for the first time.

We also learned that Nell is not afraid of middle school, and has more confidence thanks to assurance from her older sisters who like middle school.

"Instead of recess at the end of the day, middle schoolers come to each fifth-grade classroom to talk to the students.

Right now they're all seventh graders, but in the fall, they'll be in eighth grade themselves.

Nell's older sister Ashley is one of the students visiting.

The other student is Nick who is very shy and speaks very quietly, unlike Ashley who projects her voice so everyone can hear.

Ashley enthusiastically answers all of the questions while Nick passes Maplewood Middle School shirts out."

"Ashley projects her voice so everyone can hear.

Ashley enthusiastically answers all of the questions too."

What does that tell us about her?

Yes, she's very confident.

Nick, however, is very shy and speaks very quietly.

The narrator's descriptions of the actions of these two characters help us understand how different they are, and allow us to picture the classroom scene better.

Which character are you more similar to, and connect more easily with, Ashley or Nick?

"'Hey, we have the same backpack,' Nick says with a smile.

Alex looks across the room to see that Nick is pointing to the same exact backpack.

Both are blue with sharks on them.

Alex laughs, "That's cool."

(quirky music continues) 'Sharks are the best,' Nick says.

'The middle school has a ton of books about them.'

That seems exciting to Alex.

He's always wanted to read more about sharks.

He's read all of the ones in the elementary school already.

'I can't wait,' Alex says.

He's surprised to say it."

The dialogue and conversation is important.

We see Alex bonding with Nick over a similar interest.

Nick gives Alex something to look forward to at middle school and we can see that he's starting to feel less nervous and even a bit excited about middle school.

"When Ashley finishes answering all of the class's questions, the fifth graders get loud.

There are only a few minutes left of the school day.

Alex puts his backpack on and walks over to Nick.

He's very nervous, but relaxes when Nick smiles at him.

'Can I ask you a question?,' Alex asks quietly.

'Yeah, of course,' Nick tells him listening intently.'

'Were you nervous for sixth grade?'

Nick nods, remembering what that first day felt like.

'I was super nervous.

Are you?'

Alex nods back, 'I am.

Mostly about the lockers.'

'So was I but don't worry, there's always someone that can help you open it,' Nick tells him.

'If you ever see me around and you need help, don't be shy.

And remember, it's everyone else's first day too.

We all get a bit nervous, but it's a lot easier when we all help each other.'

Suddenly middle school doesn't seem so bad.

Nick is right.

It's a new experience for everyone and there's always people who will be there to help you if you need it.

Alex hopes that one day, he'll be able to help other kids like him before they go to middle school."

We see that Nick's kindness is comforting to Alex.

Alex is realizing that it's okay to be nervous about this change, but it will be okay.

Phrases like, "School doesn't seem so bad," and, "Nick is right.

It's a new experience for everyone.

There are always people who will be there to help you if you need it," proof that Alex feels better and is not as nervous about starting middle school as he previously was.

(quirky music continues) "Alex's Last Day of Fifth Grade," a narration of the actions and thoughts of the characters show us that being helpful to fellow students really makes a difference.

Thanks to Ashley and Nick's guidance, Nell and Alex are both confident about going to middle school.

Thanks for reading "Alex's Last Day of Fifth Grade."

What book are you reading right now?

Think about what the characters are doing and what they're thinking.

What does this tell you about them?

Happy reading.

(upbeat music) - Thank you for watching.

For videos, activity guides and more, please visit our website, MichiganLearning.org.

And don't forget to "Read, Write ROAR!"

(upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) - [Announcer] This program is made possible in part by the state of Michigan.

(upbeat rock music) And by... And by viewers like you.

Thank you.

(upbeat rock music) (delicate piano music)