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 trip to the Smithsonian. Then we made our own museum about the Hopi, Sioux, Cherokee, Iroquois and tribes of the Pacific Northwest, and invited other students to visit and learn about our projects,” said Rachel.
We also wrote books about our states that will be bound. “I liked writing the state booklet because it gave me an opportunity to share everything that I learned,” said Simon.
Another project was planning a 5-day trip to our state and designing a trifold board advertising the trip. “This was my favorite project because we could make it however we wanted, and it’s fun advertising the activities in my state – Pennsylvania,” reported Juju. “My parents are taking me to Vermont because that is my state and we are going to see things that I learned about,” shared Adam.
Miriam noted that there were also some surprises, like learning about the annual Watermelon Festival in Hope, Arkansas where they claim to have the world’s largest watermelons. Alex felt the 50 state project was really important because we learned about America and our history. “So many things happened in each state that we would not have known about,” said Alex.