The past month my students have been exploring our continent, our country, our state, our county and our city. Usually when my third graders study this, they can't ever remember the difference in a country and a city. When I ask them what state we live in they say "Gastonia!" and I sigh in disbelief that they haven't learned the difference between city and state all year. This year I decided to take a different approach to see if it would make a difference.
We spent a week really studying our country and breaking down North America and made sure that my students really understood our country. We then spent the next weeks learning about our state, county and finally our city. I wanted to end the unit with a project for students to complete at home. I came up with a neighborhood map project. I asked each student to create a map of their neighborhood to share with the class. I was so suprised with what was brought in! Some of my students created 3-D maps that took up an entire poster board, while others made smaller, drawn, flat maps that were just as impressive.
This group has continued to impress me and I can't wait to see what they will bring in for our next project!!
Wow! That looks like a great project! Teaching community used to be one of my favorite units.
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