Global Studies

Global studies are underway. All 60 students have joined with a partner or are working alone to study countries on six different continents.

Students began with reading about the countries. Then they created "concept maps," in which they visually represented what they learned in their initial reading about their country. Here is an example:

Students are now working to research their country and record answers. They are learning about the physical and cultural features of their country, languages and communications, work and play, and religions, among many other topics. Each topic has "have-tos" and also opportunities to go above and beyond the basic ideas (choose-tos). Here is an example of a completed page.

This is a project that is rich in opportunities. Students will use life-long research skills, such as using keywords, table of contents, and indexes. For example, students needed to answer these questions:

What religions do the people have?

What holidays are celebrated? 

Many students began to search for "religions" and "holidays", and that worked for many, such as this student:

When turning to page 24, the student found this:

Looking in the glossary, the student found the meaning of some holidays:

But some students began to say, "What other word could I look for instead of religion?" That question gave opportunity to think more of what religion is--a set of beliefs, for example. Concepts are not only explored--but deepened, language is developed, connections are made--by 7, 8, 9, and 10-year old students!

For this pair of students, celebrations and holidays were written as "festivals."

Soon, the classes will invite YOU to a "festival" of sorts. Students will display their research, their artwork, artifacts, maps, and more. Keep reading our weekly newsletters to find ways to participate and... 

                                             ...CELEBRATE with us!