Category: Social Studies
Third Graders Discuss Their Comprehensive Study of U.S. States
May 20, 2015 by
Every third grader at JPDS-NC gets to study their own state for the whole year. We did a lot of research and worked on different projects. We studied the land forms and animals, and then made dioramas and designed logos about our states. “We learned about Native Americans in our state, and went on research […]
- Project Based Learning
- Student Stories
Fourth Grade Unit on World Religions Includes Site Visits and Making Educational Board Games
May 13, 2015 by
Fourth grade is studying World Geography this year, and at the moment, we are learning about different religions. First, we learned about different religions as a class, and then we split up into research and project groups to find out even more. The study groups focused on Islam, Hinduism, Christianity and Buddhism. In the groups, […]
- Project Based Learning
- Student Stories
Kindergarten Project to Help the Homeless
April 1, 2015 by
In the Gan Tmarim class, we are learning about people who are homeless. When we learned that homeless people may not have a job, money, clothes, food or toys, we were surprised and sad. To learn more, we read a book about a girl who lives in a shelter and doesn’t have any toys, so […]
- Project Based Learning
- Student Stories
- Tikkun Olam
First Graders Conduct Research and Present their Oceans Studies
February 25, 2015 by
We came up with “big ideas” that we wanted to learn about: the human body, technology, recycling and the ocean. We took a vote to see what we should focus on, and the ocean won. We read books and decided to research ocean animals. We chose to focus on sharks, dolphins, fish, jellyfish, silver gulls, […]
- Project Based Learning
- Student Stories
First Graders Script and Perform a Play about Endangered Gorillas
February 11, 2015 by
We started learning about endangered animals. We decided to learn about mountain gorillas. There are only 700 mountain gorillas left in the whole world because of the wars surrounding where they live and poachers. We wanted to make a play that showed our feelings about mountain gorillas and other endangered species. We voted about doing […]
- Creative Writing
- Performing Arts
- Project Based Learning
- Student Stories
Kindergarteners Create a Code for their Secrets Time Capsule
December 24, 2014 by
Our Kindergarten class has been interested in the idea of telling and sharing secrets. We thought about the Harry Potter book called Chamber of Secrets, and that gave us the idea to make a time capsule for our class. We are burying a box and the box will hold the secrets we want others to […]
- Project Based Learning
- Student Stories
Fifth Graders Re-create a Colonial Village in School
December 3, 2014 by
The fifth graders just wrapped up our Colonial America unit. We wrote essays about Jamestown, performed skits about a colonial child and a modern-day child meeting, and debated a freedom of the press case from the 1700s. The two culminating events of that unit were a field trip to Mount Vernon, and transforming the school […]
- Project Based Learning
- Student Stories
Messy Learning, Clear Objectives: Fifth Grade Teacher Published in ASCD Express
October 27, 2014 by
Our own Lisa Schopf recently published an article about Project-Based Learning in ASCD Express, a professional publication that highlights innovative solutions and best practices in education. In her article, “Messy Learning, Clear Objectives,” Lisa uses a recent project from her Fifth Grade classroom about the American Civil War to examine project-based learning as a valuable tool for engaging […]
- Awards
- Project Based Learning
Fourth Graders Put On a World Expo
June 11, 2014 by
The fourth grade prepared a World Expo on June 2, which included many wonderful exhibits, videos of dances, country projects, pen pal letters and more. Every fourth-grade student researched one country and learned about its physical features, holidays and landmarks, cuisine, clothing, famous people and challenges. Students decorated posters with flags, pictures, maps and essays. […]
- Project Based Learning
- Student Stories
Third Graders Conduct Research about the Fifty States
May 14, 2014 by
Each year, students in third grade at JPDS-NC get to do a project about the 50 states. Students learn about their states for three months. First, each child reads a book about their state and composes four questions. After that, it’s time to start to make our own books. Students write about what their state […]
- Project Based Learning
- Student Stories
