6th Grade

6th Grade Portal Link

November 9, 2014

Hungarian Revolution of 1956:

This week the students of sixth grade were honored to have Mark's grandfather who was a twenty two year old student a the University of Technology during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 come and share his memories.  The students connected immediately to Mr. Sardy as the book 'Fall of the Red Star' has a character who was also twenty two and at the University of Technology and so from the first moments of meeting Mr. Sardy they were 'captured'.  The following reflection of hearing what Mr. Sardy shared with us was written by Debby (Dai Gao) and so perfectly captures the memories shared.  The photos tell another story.

Ms. Suzanne

November 6th, 2014

Story Written by: Dai Gao

I was there with Mr. Sárdy, I was was taken back. I was at the Parliament building, I was there chanting in unison with the massive crowd of people. I was there, gazing at the darkening sky, which made it all seem gloomy, but the crowd’s spirit didn’t falter, they continued shouting the same mantra over and over again,

“ Get rid of Stalin’s statue!”

“ Tear the red star down!”

“ Ráckocsi! Ráckocsi!”

The voices echoed through the square, the protesters were not giving up, I looked around, I could see determination and willpower in all of the eyes, they were no longer as afraid, they courageously yelled at the Parliament, even though they were not getting a response, they continued on.

    I look over to Mr. Sárdy, who had the same dedication in his eyes as everyone else, he chanted along, his strong voice filled with bravery. I continue chanting along with everyone else.

    Suddenly a truck drives up, along the street next to the Parliament square. The sky was darkening now, and the air was dampening, I could feel rain coming. I shivered, I wondered if I was cold or if I was scared. A few young men and women from the truck pulled out blood stained shirts, and waved them at us as the truck drove around the square over and over again. The protesters at the Parliament square all gasped in confusion. I wrinkle my forehead, trying to think of what this meant, what was happening at the radio building right now?

    Voices of fear and confusion rise up around the whole large square, and the truck continues driving around the square, not giving any hints or clues, just waving the shirts with the blood stains on them.

    The confusion continued, I whispered to Mr. Sárdy, “ What do you think this means?”

    “ I don’t know, maybe-”

    A male voice cut him off, the voice shouted so loud the whole square could hear, “ The protesters at the radio building are in danger!”

    Snip.

    The line between confusion, panic, and utter chaos was cut in half, everyone erupted in worry and terror. Some were calm, but it was obviously an act.

    Nobody was speaking in unison now, I try to listen intently to my neighbors, and some of the loud shouts.

    “ The radio station has been burned, and bombed!”

    “ Everyone is dead!”

    The accusations became crazier and crazier until they were just impossible, or at least it would take a long time to achieve.

    “ Whole Budapest is going to be destroyed!”

    “ Everyone will die!”

    I stay quiet, I gaze at the truck again, and then the protesters in the truck shout out, “ We’re being shot at! It’s no longer a peaceful protest! Run! ”

    Everyone was shocked, fear and terror ripped through the crowd. Everyone scattered in all directions and they tried to run for their lives. I was afraid for my own life.

    Only a few people escaped before the tanks came.

    The rest of us were standing there, frozen, paralyzed in fear. There was a dead silence, and the first bang at the Parliament building erupted.

    Bang!

    A middle aged woman a few feet away from me fell, dead.

    I put my hand to my mouth and gasped, everyone started running trying to hide, or maybe play dead.

    Mr. Sárdy grabbed me and we ran, dodging and avoiding bullets, we ran for as long as had the breath and energy in our legs, soon we were forced to stop by our own bodies, we walk slowly along the now disastrous Budapest-

Suddenly, an agonizing pain shot through my chest, I look down at my chest, a splatter of a scarlet colored flower showed on my chest, Mr. Sárdy eyes widen-

I snap my head, and blink, I was sitting on the patterned carpet of Ms. Suzanne Humanities class. I look around, most of my friends had an amazed look on their faces. I look back towards the front, a much older version of Mr. Sárdy sits in front of me, with his daughter. I rub my eyes.

“ And so I think the Hungarian Revolution is something we can all learn a lot about it, I hope my story taught you something.” Mr. Sárdy concluded, but he was looking straight at me, as if he knew about my elaborate daydream. I look down at the floor in confusion. I flip through the memories I had, then I had one thought as Mr. Sárdy exited the room.

Maybe I could write a story about it.



October 13, 2014

6th Grade Field Trip: The Fall of the Red Star

The Fall of the Red Star

We walked the streets that used to be walked on by the people who fought the revolution. As I looked at worn down walls, and cobblestone paths, I thought of the life the people had in 1956. I thought differently before, when I didn't study and learn about it. I thought it was just a Revolution, no big deal. Then when I actually looked at the Budapest streets, and read the book , I understood that something tragic happened here and that we should remember what Budapest and Hungary went through, and not just Hungary, but other countries too, who fought for freedom. 

Submitted by: Zosia East 6th Grade Student

Sixth Grade "Hungarian Revolution' Field Trip

As we walked into the streets of the 1956 Hungarian revolution, we were buzzing with excitement. Mr. George, Ms. Suzanne, Mr. Savic, and Mr. Scanga led us to The Corvin Theater. This was where the street battles between Hungarians and the Soviets took place. Around the theater black plates of the revolution were plastered on the walls. Each one of them had some information about the terrifying event. Some of the little black plates represented memorials for freedom fighters that gave their lives to make Hungary free

As we moved along around the streets that, some years ago, had been littered with dead people, we moved to the spot to where the Killan Barracks were built. Little walls made of cobblestones to defend the Hungarian citizens from tanks. Next to that, there were huge walls that had balconies from where the AVO officers shot at fellow Hungarians. As we sat there, we wrote a little story that was based on ‘If the walls could talk, what would they say?’ We wrote about what the walls would say about the event if they could talk.

Details about the revolution packed in our minds, we went to the Magyar Ràdio building. As we stood there, we remembered from our book about the revolution, Fall of the Red Star, that told us this was where the people of Hungary wanted to publish the 16 points, and this was also where the whole revolution started.

We moved on to more streets of where the freedom fighters stood to save Hungary. A little bridge came and we saw a statue of Imre Nagy looking towards the Parliament. As I creeped towards him, BAM!, I immediately, thanks to the teaching of Ms Suzanne, knew that it was symbolic. Looking at the great Parliament building symbolized hope.

We then reached to the Parliament. A building in front of the Parliament was littered with iron knobs. ‘What are those?’ I asked myself. Then I remembered. They symbolized the people who had died. Hundreds of them died, if you could just see how many iron knobs were scattered. Sadness crept onto my heart.

We moved further on to the Parliament and then our journey of the 1956 revolution was over.

We took a ride to Margaret Island, and ate our lunch. Then to finish of the trip we played Szám Háború, the game the main characters and friends played at the beginning of the book that we were reading.

Now I look at the Revolution differently than before. I understand how important it is to the Hungarian people. I understand the story.

Submitted by: Zahra Zulqarnain 6th Grade Student