Sunday, November 13, 2016

Government, Elections, and Veterans--Oh my!

Whew!  What a week!  I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm exhausted after this crazy week.  I'm not sure where life was busier--in my classroom or out of it!

We started the week by finishing our unit on the three branches of government.  I allow the students to choose one of the branches, and then in groups they become the experts through lots of research.  Each group then teaches the rest of the class about their branch.  Take a look at the beautiful posters each group created.  Here they are in progress...





And here they are finished...




Seriously, how can you not just fall in love with 3rd grade artwork?  Sometimes when we just let our students work, the results are stunning.  Not to mention, they shared wonderful information about each branch.  The groups were responsible for sharing who was a part of each branch, where they work, and what they do in terms of the law.  They also shared some interesting facts they learned.  Good stuff.

The finish of our unit timed perfectly with the presidential election.  Of course we voted as a class, but we did not predict the winner.  Nor were we close.  :-)  I have a feeling lots of people are feeling that way right now.  Oh well, forward we move as models for our students!

The week ended with a celebration of Veteran's Day.  All of the 3rd graders made flags (a 3 x 5 index card was the perfect way to do it), and then we lined our school driveway and walkway with them.  It was small, simple, and beautiful.  Here's a look at the flags in progress and in front of the school.




And finally, my class did some reading and writing about the meaning of Veteran's Day.  We created some acrostic poems to show our learning.  So in love with these, too!


In spite of this week being a little crazy, it was the perfect opportunity to teach my students about so many important issues happening in our country, and how they can be citizens who actively participate to make their community and country better.  I'll take that kind of busy any week!




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