Grandparent Day Project

Philosophy

Students can learn a lot from their grandparents or elderly people in the community.  This project will help the students learn more about their family history and the history of their community by working with a grandparent.

Background

The town of Chester is a small rural community, the people of the community are close knit and take an active role in the community and school.  Agriculture is also a very important part of the community.  A normal classroom in the Chester school district consists of about 22 students with one classroom teacher. My 5th grade students will learn more about their grandparents and hopefully more about the community they live in through this project.

Goals

After completion of this project my students will have a better understanding of their family history.  My students will use various writing skills to write a paper about their grandparent, make a family tree, compare themselves with their grandparent, write a poem about grandparents, and use many computer skills to make a class book about grandparents.

Lesson Plans

Assessment

Each project will be assessed differently the writing assignments will be graded using the 6+1 writing traits. I will use a rubric for both the essay and poetry assignments.  The family tree and invitation will be graded by using a rubric they will be graded according to neatness, creativeness, and meeting the requirements of the assignment.  There will be no formal assessment for the Venn diagram other than the student and grandparent complete the assignment together.

Community Promotion

The 5th graders will design invitations which they will send to their grandparent inviting them to attend part of a school day with their grandchild. When the fifth graders are done with their grandparent books copies will be made available for viewing in the offices of the school and on display at the Elementary Christmas concert.