We have been enjoying spending time in the school's garden. The kids are enjoying caring for the plants and are learning to make observations and notes of the various vegetables, flowers and herbs growing in our garden.
The students really enjoyed this project and had fun learning more about where their families originally came from.
We started the project by conducting primary research – interviewing family members to learn more about how their families came to live on Maui. Students also worked with their families to create a family tree. Back in the classroom, students used their research to write a 5-sentence paragraph about their families’ immigration story (we’re working really hard to master the 5-sentence paragraph this year – starting with a topic/main sentence, then adding three key details and finally wrapping it up with a concluding sentence.). Students also used the mobile computer lab to practice their research skills, researching information about one of the countries their families immigrated from originally. Students had a lot of pride in learning important facts about their countries of origin and enjoyed coming across familiar facts and photos. Later, students created a poster that included their family tree, a map showing their families’ immigration pattern and their 5-sentence paragraph. As a class, we also created a large, world map in the back of the room. Students labeled continents and oceans on this map. Then, students connected a piece of yarn from their families’ country of origin to Maui. This provided a powerful visual, showing how we all started in different places, but wound up on the same island, together. Finally, the students created their own passports and passport “stamps.” Students took turns visiting each other at their desks, where they presented their posters and told classmates about their families’ immigration stories. As students visited each other, the “host student” presented the visitor with a stamp for their passport. By the end of the afternoon, everyone went home having learned a little bit more about their classmates and with a passport full of stamps. Standards addressed in this project: |
About Mrs. Macario
Aloha and welcome to 3rd grade! Third graders and their families are welcome to check in here frequently to find out what's happening in our class. Archives
August 2016
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