Last Friday, May 7th, Mrs. Nikolaus and Mrs. Patterson’s 4th Grade fourth grade classes hosted their parents in Bishop’s Hall for the 2021 State Fair, a presentation of their year’s worth of work in English Language Arts and Social Studies. The fourth grade social studies curriculum focuses on the five regions of the United States. Over the course of the year, each fourth grade student completes in-depth research on one state in the U.S. This cross-curricular project not only focuses on social studies, but it includes reading, writing, math, technology and art. Students learn about the resources, geography, climate, landmarks, history, and culture of that state (and region). 4th grade ELA and Social studies teacher Brooke Patterson said, “The fourth graders put so much effort into creating incredible state fair research projects throughout the year. It was an absolute joy to witness the children becoming confident researchers, collaborators and presenters. My favorite aspect of the project was helping the children plan, film and edit their persuasive commercials. They were able to learn curriculum subject matter and life-long skills at the same time!”
The end of year State Fair is focused on persuading the audience to move to their specific state and region. Thus, the parents and students watched group video commercials for the five regions of the United States and then traveled around the room to view each student’s individual state project. The students recited persuasive speeches at their travel booths and passed out brochures they had created to entice visitors. Math and technology were used in their studies as well, such as when students had to plan a realistic five night, six day trip to the state, which is referenced in their movie trailers. “It was wonderful to see the students’ pride at the end, as they connected all subject areas to create a meaningful project,” Mrs. Patterson reflected.
We hope you’ll enjoy viewing the event photos as well as this video linked to the button below, featuring a few of the commercials and movie trailers the students created.
