Inside the Classroom: American Heritage Day

THIRD GRADE STUDENTS EXPLORE AMERICAN HERITAGE AND HISTORY THROUGH CROSS-CURRICULAR PROJECT

As third graders performed quintessentially American songs and dances on the stage of the Solomon Theater, their parents, grandparents, and loved ones watched, beaming with pride. What many in the audience did not initially realize was that American Heritage Day was the culmination of a seven-week multidisciplinary, cross-curricular project.

At the beginning of the school year, St. Martin’s third grade teachers, Laura Blazek and Barbara Weaver, started working with students to study our country’s state capitals. The class also studied the geographical location of the states and their twoletter postal abbreviations. As the year went on, the students explored each region of the United States.

Mid-year, students embarked on team projects that helped them not only acquire a deeper knowledge of our country, but also hone their problem-solving, adaptability, empathy, time management, and collaboration skills.

Students broke into eight groups, one for each region of the country. Utilizing research, computer science, and digital literacy skills, each group worked to produce an art project, model of a landmark from its region, public speaking presentation and slide show, and persuasive commercial “advertising” its particular region. All of the work was collaborative and happened within the classroom.

While the delivery of knowledge and content is important, Blazek and Weaver say the skills learned in the process are just as crucial.

“Throughout this project, the students were encouraged to think actively, develop their ideas, and think of their errors as part of the process,” said Weaver. “When they ran into roadblocks, we encouraged them to work it out among themselves in their teams. I’m sure the students thought Laura and I wanted them to learn and remember very specific facts about our nation, but what we’re more concerned with is the vast amount of skills they acquired, rather than the specific facts.”

As veterans of the project, fourth graders worked with their third grade peers to teach them how to create slide show presentations. Third graders refined their public speaking presentations and even rehearsed in front of their classmates to provide and receive feedback.

Students joined Director of Lower School STeaM Lab Mary Lee Saucier ’91 in the production studio of The Gibbs Family Center for Innovation + Design to create commercials about each region. Saucier guided the students through the process of using green screen software, but students were solely responsible for the script, acting, and graphics production of their commercials.

“I learned that if you keep trying to do something and never give up, you will be able to do it…”

– GAVIN IRWIN

The third graders constructed handmade dioramas of scenes ranging from the Empire State Building to the Grand Canyon to the Superdome to a Great Plains Smorgasbord, using materials from their classrooms and the STeaM Lab. Each group also worked together on a collaborative art project to imagine and create a regional flag.

Working as a group proved to be challenging at times for the students.

“It was really hard when our group didn’t agree on something,” said Brittan Comer. “When we couldn’t agree we either did ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot’ or we voted… For every fight, we managed to fix it and get along. We didn’t want to keep fighting because fighting is not fun.”

Finally, the multidisciplinary project concluded with the performance of nine American-themed songs and dances with historical significance, directed by Lower School Music Teacher Emily Parks. Dances from the Swing era and the Rock ’n’ Roll era were crowd pleasers, while patriotic songs and marches ended the program with enthusiastic audience participation.

Following their performance in the theater, students presented their research, art, and commercials to loved ones in the Gibbs Family Center for Innovation + Design. It was also the first time each group watched their classmates’ commercials, which were one of the highlights for guests. Blazek believes that the project helped the students grow immensely.

“They grow so much as this process unfolds,” said Blazek. “I loved seeing how excited they were and how much pride they had in their work. As a teacher, it was such a pleasure to watch them grow and learn.”

The students agree. From learning how to research to honing conflict resolution skills — most often via voting or playing games of “Rock, Paper, Scissors” of course — the memories and skills students learned through the American Heritage Day project will serve them for a lifetime.

“It was a fun project, but there were some obstacles to get over,” said Gavin Irwin. “I learned that if you keep trying to do something and never give up, you will be able to do it… I learned that working in a group is hard, but our group worked it out. I love all of these memories, and I wish I could do it again.”