I know it depends on your schools curriculum, but my kids keep asking me if they can do projects at home! They are in 5th grade. They ask me every day "when are we getting a project?". I am new and cant think of anything appropriate for 5th graders at the beginning of the year! would parents think its too early for a project (weve only been in school for a week tomorrow).
i always got really excited for projects in grade school, but i feel like its too early.
Our social studies book is "The United States and Canada" so i was thinking maybe they could have some kind of fair or festival where they make signs or pamphlets about the states and then we make food from that state or with ingredients grown from that state, and invite parents and the rest of the school? i still dont know a good project to go with that. They also love art, and we dont have it in school. (just a side question: how much should i go into depth with canada? should i have them learn all the provinces like the book says or stick to the US? i feel it might be overwhelming.)
any projects for any subject are welcome! i dont want it to be too vague ("make a poster") and i want it to have a purpose! theyre really creative, but i dont want to stick them with something that their parents will have to do the whole thing! im also looking for a really great 1st book report idea. My kids are mostly VERY chatty except there are a few who might be intimidated by an oral report for the 1st one.
thanks for any help you can give me.
stefanie
ps- i know that was a lot of questions, but any insight would be helpful.
I student taught in fourth grade and when we were discussing the northeastern states in social studies the students worked in groups and were assigned a state. They were given rubrics for a short report and then items to be on a poster about their states. They presented them orally when they were finished and it was wonderful! They did quite a bit of the work in class, but many of them brought print-outs of flags or post cards from home. One girl even brought in a license plate from her state to put on her poster.
When I taught my social studies unit it was the Middle Atlantic States. I wanted them to work on their own so I chose the major cities within each of the states and assigned each child a city. They were required to make a travel brochure for their cities listing tourist attractions, hotels, restaurants and some facts about the city. Of course I gave them a rubric so they'd know exactly what I was looking for and most of them received an A.
Okay, well my feeling is that a project for the sake of a project isn't worth it. The project should be related directly to your curriculum. We don't really teach anything about Canada in 5th (sorry Canadians) except for discussion of explorers who explored the eastern region. Are you studying history or geography? If you are starting with geography, when the basics have been taught about map skills, have them create their own continent, draw a map of it, give them a list of required elements (latitude and longitude, etc). When you do explorers, have them choose one and research, then write reports. You could also have them create Native American homes, give each child a tribal group. Why not just start with a simple book report?
yea, i didnt just want to give them a project for no reason, but they keep asking so i was gonna see if there was something i could tie in.
thanks for the suggestions, i like the invent a country one. i think my little sister did that in middle school and loved it.
I have done a number of projects with my 5th graders at the beginning of the year. I teach them about the regions of the United States. We talk about natural resources from each region, climate, etc... I put the students into groups according to each of the regions (our book defines them as West,Southwest, Middle West, Northeast and Southeast.) Each group has to create a slide show presentation on their region according to the directions given in class. I have done this a couple of different ways. One year I did just a straight facts presentation. Last year my class had to find out about famous places in their region and create a travel guide for their region. They also had to plan a trip throughout their region visiting important sites. ( I got a lot of my information from AAA and the various state's websites.) As an individual component, each student chose a state in their region and completed a report on their state. I gave very specific guidelines that needed to be followed. The report included an illustration of the state's map and a drawing of the state's flag. The only state I don't let anyone do is Ohio. In fourth grade our students study about Ohio and I think that they need to put their focus on something else. I know that all the students in the Middle West group would pick Ohio, and who wants to read 5 reports on Ohio? Not me!
this doesn't tie into your social studies curriculum, but how about a book report? My favorite book report that I do with my fifth graders is a biography dinner party. Each student reads a biography, I give them an outline to fill out that asks for basic info and why they chose to read about that person(if you want it I can e-mail) . On the day the report is due, they dress up *** the person they read about, or dress for a party and bring an appropriate prop.(Sally ride wore a dress with a print out of her mission patch taped on, edison wore a tie abd brought a light bulb) I push all the desks together and cover them w/ a table cloth. I put out cheap white paper plates, clear paper cups, and markers. While the students go around and tell a little about themselves, the students have to draw pictures of foods connected to their person. For example, Condaleeza Rice ate rice, but Elvis ate peanut butter and banana sandwiches. They use the paper to "fill" their cups with the drink that best suits the person. For example, beer for Samuel Adams and tea for Queen Elizabeth. After each person gives a brief story from his/her life. We go around the table a few times and everyone gets to ask each other questions. It's really great, because they stay in character and get really involved in their stories.
I video tape this one too. And I invite parents to observe the party. I hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions.
bonnie
thanks, thats a really good idea and i think im gonna use it! id like anything you have to email me, my email is EMAIL REMOVED - Send PM to This User Instead if you get around to it! thanks!
stefanie
