DISCOVERY PROJECTS

Teachers in My Community Unit

by Sarah Pulaski, Twinfield Union School

Framing Questions:

Who are teachers in our community?

What do teachers in our community teach and what can we learn from them?

How are we teachers in our community? What do we want to share?

What do we dream for the future of our towns?

Project Context: This project will have a community and school context. Students will do ethnography projects based on people they regard as important teachers outside of the regular classroom experience. This will help them broaden their understanding of what teaching and learning is.  This will hopefully help students see the value of knowledge sharing in all aspects of their lives and the community they’re growing up in. They will recognize the multiple learning opportunities they’re immersed in and will hopefully begin to see themselves as contributors to their community. We all have something to share and give.

The Project Overview: Each student will select a person from the towns in our school district that he/she considers a “teacher in the community”. Students will interview this person and photograph them. They will make a house sculpture dedicated to that person. The house will be made to look like the place of work of that person. There will be artifacts and images of that person inside and outside of the house. The houses will be displayed on murals of the towns. Students will also create a digital slideshow with images and audio recordings of the people they selected. These will be shared at an evening presentation. Students will also do creative writing pieces about their dreams for the future of their towns.
View Project Photos l Student Created Slide Show

 

Subject Areas: Social Studies, Language Arts	Grade Level: Upper Elementary
Time to Complete: Two months	School Address: Twinfield Union School 106 Nasmith Brook Road Plainfield, VT 05667

Allignment With Vermont Curriculum Frameworks:

Social and Historical Questioning Hypothesis/Research Statement Research Plan Conducting research Grade Level Expectations: H&SS 3-4: 1-7

Students will select community members to interview. Students will create lists of questions to ask people chosen about ways those people share their knowledge with others. They will create and follow a set interview procedure. Students will record these interviews and create a digital slideshow to present their findings. Students will make connections with their findings by reflecting on themselves as “teachers in the community”. They will share their reflections as part of the digital slideshow.

Target Dispositions: Students will work towards become independent learners through doing a project based on their own inquiry. They will conduct the interviews and take the photographs. They will also identify that value of what the community members share. Student Created Slide Show

Project Timeline: This unit will be happening at the same time as a state and town history unit.
See complete timeline

Project Resources: Denton, Paula, Kriete, Roxann, The First Six Week of School, Northeast Foundation for Children, 2000; Scholastic Children’s Dictionary, Scholastic Reference, 1996; The Kid’s Guide to Digital Photography. Digital Basics.

Teacher From Your Community Planning Pieces

•Media Release Form•, Interview Checklist, Project Letter

•Burchsted, Sandra, Byrne, Jack, Shaping Our Future- Facilitator’s Guidebook., Future Wheel Activity.

•GLE s for process writing, process writing stages

•Maps of Plainfield and Marshfield (My copies are too large to mail. I’m in the process of getting smaller versions)

•Templates for Houses (I created these)

Assessment: I will use the attached Project and Presentation Rubrics. I will also assess students leaning based on their reflective pieces. This will show me if students have made a connection between their learning from the project and their own lives.

Implementation Plan: I have had to have continuous communication with my students’ parents about this project. Its success is dependent on their participation and support. I began this communication prior to the start of school and I’ve given parents weekly updates throughout the school year.

I have met several times with Maria Foreman, a fellow Discovering Community participant. I will have to meet with John Harrison soon to plan the audio editing component.

I reserved a space for the presentation event.

The other fourth grade teacher also decided to do this unit. I meet with him several times a week to coordinate the activities in this project.

Back to Main Page l An Interview with Sarah l Student Work Samples l View Project Photos

Student Interviews—Audio Clips l Go to Student Created Slide Show