As part of our social studies curriculum, my fourth graders study New Hampshire, New Hampshire History, and New England in general. Our seacoast region is so rich in history that researching lighthouses seemed only natural.
One activity I found successful was having the children trace a map of the New England coast from a transparency, using an overhead projector to enlarge the map. After tracing the coast, the children outline and color the states. The giant map was placed to the cafeteria wall and each child's sketch of their lighthouse was hung around it. We then placed a piece of yarn from each lighthouse to its location on the map.
As another related project, the role of the lighthouse keeper was discussed during the project. When asked if they would like to be lighthouse keepers for a month, most of the children said it would depend on where the lighthouse was located and could they bring their families!
One important aspect of this project came at the very end, planning and executing "Light Night". The children first had to decide on a date, write a personal invitation to their families, and develop an invitiation to the school staff, other administrators in the system, and the general public. They had to keep track of the responses, and figure out what they would need for food. Many of them helped their parents cook baked goods for the evening. As the big day approached, they created a program of events that included, the order of appearance (who would read their research report first), and the order of the events of the evening.
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Language Arts |
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Social Studies |
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Cooperative Learning |