Category Archives: Project

ELA, Math, Project, Standard 2 - Learning Differences, Standard 3 - Learning Environments, Standard 4 - Content Knowledge, Standard 5 - Application of Content

Virtual Field Trip :: National Museum of African American History and Culture

On Friday, February 10th, the 4th graders at my school took a virtual field trip to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.  Students started out with an overview of the newest Smithsonian museum, followed by scenes from the opening ceremony.  For maximum engagement, student also got to compete in a “Presidents for Equal Rights” Kahoot game and an equality quote match on Quizlet.  After these activities, the museum was open to be explored by students with their iPads.  Around the museum were various QR codes that would give access to the content:  a document, image, or video.  The students were engaged in this virtual field trip, and you could see students working with peers to complete writing, reading comprehension, and math activities inside the museum.  The highlights were hearing students say:  “This was the best field trip I’ve ever gone on!” and “Ms. Payne, I didn’t know that there were that many black people that did so many great things!”

Specific skills in the museum:  ordering decimals, compare and contrasting different passages, editing a writing passage to correct errors, identifying fact and opinions in literature.

Virtual Field Trip

ELA, Project, Standard 4 - Content Knowledge, Standard 5 - Application of Content, Standard 7 - Planning for Instruction

Black History Month Project 2.0

 

Ever since I was in Washington, DC, I did some type of Black History Month activity/project, and my students have always learned a lot through the process.  Last year, when I taught 6th grade, I knew that I had to take this project to the next level, so I planned out how I could make this better and more relevant for them.  We used plenty of apps on our iPads and got really familiar with the Google product family!  I made sure that we had plenty of library books for research purposes, and we took a journey from Africa all the way to present day.  Some of my students’ work is featured below.

Black History Month Black History Month Black History Month 12642669_1259267154087554_8886785361444924054_n Black History Month Black History Month Black History Month Black History Month

ELA, Project, Standard 4 - Content Knowledge, Standard 5 - Application of Content, Standard 6 - Assessment, Standard 7 - Planning for Instruction, Standard 8 - Instructional Strategies, Writing

End of Year Hero Project

At the end of the school year, I like to have my students complete a research unit.  Last year, we focused on HEROES! Students had to complete 3 assignments with this project:  A Hero Tale, a Hero Newspaper, and a Hero Poem.  My colleague and I created graphic organizers for each part of the project.

 

You can click the image below to enlarge.

My Hero Project Overview

My Hero Tale Scoring Rubric

Hero Story Map

Hero Newspaper TemplateStudent's Hero Newspaper

Hero Poem by Student

ELA, Math, Project, Review Activity, Standard 4 - Content Knowledge, Standard 5 - Application of Content, Standard 6 - Assessment, Standard 7 - Planning for Instruction

Black History Month Activities : 2015

This year, I decided to spend 2 months covering black history events.  We started in Africa in the 1300’s – 1500’s, and then we traveled to the United States in the time of slavery.  We got through the Civil War and the Reconstruction period.  We then covered the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights Movement, and where we are now as it relates to equality.

Students were assigned one or two individuals to research and create a digital board as well as a tri-fold presentation board.  All of the reading lessons were tied to a skill and a the week’s study.  We found facts and opinions in a newspaper from the time of slavery.  We compared and contrasted kings and queens in Africa.  We looked at the elements of drama through a play that focused on the Greensboro sit ins.  We planned out a new Civil Rights Museum using area and perimeter concepts.  We converted fractions to decimals and found equivalent fractions for our Black History Timeline.  The students absolutely LOVED this unit, and it was a joy to be able to help them learn about a part of our country’s history that is all too often skipped over.

The students also created an Equality Quote Quilt with famous quotes from important figures in the fight for equality.

At the end of the unit of study, I organized a commemorative Selma to Montgomery March, which was 50 years after the actual march in Alabama.  In our march, 4th and 5th graders marched around the school, singing “I ain’t gon’ let nobody turn me around” in harmony.  The march ended in the library with a beautiful slideshow of images from black history with “Lift Every Voice” – the National Negro Anthem – playing in the background.  The students all sat quietly glued to the screen, where many of them saw these images for the first time.

I remember days later, one of the 5th grade teachers came up to me and told me that next year, we really need to plan (even earlier) to incorporate more black history into our lessons.  I could not agree more!

Mary McLeod Bethune Presentation Board (student)WEB DuBois Presentation Board (student)Frederick Douglass Presentation Board (student)Alex Haley Presentation Board (Teacher Model)Equality Quote QuiltBlack History TimelineCivil Rights MuseumCivil Rights Museum ExhibitSelma to Montgomery MarchSelma to Montgomery MarchMarch PostersMarch Posters

ELA, Math, Project, Standard 5 - Application of Content, Standard 6 - Assessment, Standard 7 - Planning for Instruction, Standard 8 - Instructional Strategies

4th Grade EOY Research Project :: Career Planning and Budgeting

In Texas, the teaching standards for 4th grade a mostly similar to Common Core for math, but they veer in a completely different direction with the unit on Personal Financial Literacy.  I wish I had learned these skills when I was coming up, so I LOVE teaching them to my students.  Well, we spent a few weeks talking about budgets, fixed expenses vs. variable expenses, income, and savings… And then I wanted the students to put these skills into action!

In this research project, students had to choose a career, find the median salary for this career, create a budget based on the median salary, find a car to purchase online, find a place to live online, and then put whatever leftover money they had towards savings.  The budget was created in Excel, and there were formulas for students.

After their budget was completed, the students were ready for the real work of researching their job.  Their final product was going to be made into a book, typed from Microsoft Word.  To prepare for this, I created a graphic organizer (packet) that helped them find and source the information and then led them to writing each paragraph.  There were sentence starters in 3 of the 6 chapters, as well as a bonus chapter for extra credit.  Students were  given the choice of their book design, and once they selected their design, their Word document would open, which was a book template that they were able to customize.  This book has a plethora of text features, like a graph, a glossary, citations page, table of contents, section headings, italics, bold print, photographs, and captions, etc.  I am excited about seeing my students’ final products!

In the meantime, here are images from my sample/example book that I shared with my students.

Also, here is a link to our project website, which has most of the resources that my students used.  The graphic organizer or project summary page are not posted here.

http://monthlybudget.edublogs.org/ 

Sample Book Cover Sample Table of Contents

Sample Chapter 1 - What this person doesSample Famous People with this JobSample Glossary

Common Core Aligned, Math, Project, Standard 2 - Learning Differences, Standard 4 - Content Knowledge, Standard 5 - Application of Content

Thanksgiving Dinner Math Project

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Before the Thanksgiving break, I created a project for my students.  They were asked to plan a large Thanksgiving dinner for their family.  They would first need to decide who they would invite.  Then, they were asked to plan out what they wanted to cook.  Afterwards, they were asked to figure how much of each item they would need to be able to feed their entire guest list.  They would then need to go grocery shopping for their ingredients and see how much it would cost them.  After cooking the meal (by cutting out magazine images), they would need to set the table for the feast!

All students took part in this project and enjoyed the entire process.  They were delighted to see their work posted in the hallway, and many were amazed at how much a Thanksgiving dinner can run.  Many of my advanced students chose to “cook” more food than required, which allowed them to do additional calculations. One of the highlights for me was when one student said, “Ms. Payne, that was not math. That was fun!”

Download the Thanksgiving Dinner Math Project Resources.

  • Aligned to CC.4.NBT.5 and CC.4.NBT.6 (4th Grade Math)
Thanksgiving Dinner Project
Thanksgiving Dinner ProjectA student's project

 

Common Core Aligned, Math, Project, Standard 2 - Learning Differences, Standard 5 - Application of Content

Christmas Tree Math Project

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At the end of our unit of measuring and drawing angles, students were asked to create a Christmas tree or Christmas present by following a few directions and using a protractor.  I created 3 versions of this project for 3 levels of students:  basic, intermediate, and advanced.  The advanced students created the Christmas present, which did not have all of their steps identified.  They enjoyed doing this project so much that most of them asked to do the intermediate project when they were finished.  One student asked to do this project in detention, which I allowed him to do, and none of the students felt like this was doing “Math.”

When I create culminating projects or unit-wrap-up activities, I try to ensure that I am making the content accessible to all of our students whether or not they have an IEP.  I know the levels that my students function at, and I like to make sure that I give everyone a baseline and add more rigor and complexity for my advanced students.

 

Download resources for this Christmas Tree and Christmas Tree Angles Project.

  • Aligned to CC.4.MD.6 (4th Grade Math)

ChristmasPresent ChristmasTree