Background knowledge is a strong component for students as they develop their reading comprehension skills and writing abilities. It is also important as students learn and apply the information they are gaining in Science and Technology. For many students, these life experiences are part of their everyday life. That is not true for all of our students. Many of them do not venture outside of their neighborhood area and they do not have life experiences to draw from. As 4th-grade teachers, we are wanting to provide a life experience that will enrich their lives and their learning. There are 60 amazing 4th-grade students who want to learn and gain experience. These students come from an economically and socially disadvantaged area with school being the most stable and consistent part of their day. 100% receive free and reduced meals on a daily basis. In addition, the school disburses many additional services to meet their basic needs, such as clothing and food packs for their weekend use. For many, the lunch they have at school is their last meal of the day. Over 60% of our students come from non-English speaking homes.
My Project
Our students have studied animal webs and cycles and have studied in depth how these cycles and our environment is affected when a part of this is interrupted or one animal is changed. We have looked at how this has already affected areas in the United States and what we need to do to be good citizens and be a positive part of our environment. We also have looked into the technological part of the world, how many things that we take for granted are affected by technology. We have studied the water process specifically and the processes it takes to make sure all Derby residents have clean and safe water.
As teachers, we also see a benefit for the students in planning and preparing for an overnight trip.
This will help them develop some self-directed and life skills. We plan to review the effectiveness of this program in many ways. One way will be in having the students do a self-check of their personal skills on the trip. Were they prepared? What did you not think of that you needed and so forth to help them become self-sufficient in their own daily skills.
Students will also be doing a short research project that is either based on a technology component they learned about at the zoo or a zoo career they would be interested in pursuing. This aligns with our writing curriculum for the 4th quarter of school. The students will also be asked to present these projects to their classmates in order to develop their presentation skills. Presenting is also an area the students are graded on and must develop in order to become interacting parts of their communities. We want students to understand how they can make an impact through their daily living choices.
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