My Favorite Student Project

One of the benefits of teaching fifth grade is that the students are independent, creative, and have a lot of the skills and stamina necessary to complete long term projects.  Starting in April my students start to experience the reality of juggling multiple assignments and deadlines.  For some students this challenge is easily met as they learn time management skills and make good use of their class time, for others it’s a realization that as they move into the upper grades of increasing demands they need to get their time management together ASAP.  That being said, my favorite project that fifth grade students complete is also the longest to complete, and can be hard to manage.  However, the value of the project is irrefutable and students love completing the Heritage Book Project.  

Heritage books are worked on during the social studies unit on immigration and industrialization, as well as coincide with Immigration Day.  The purpose of these books is to give students a way for them to learn more about themselves, their families, and their heritage.  Students choose one country from which they are known decedents of and conduct research on what life was like was like for people living there during the big waves of immigration, why people wanted to come to America, what their journey was like, and what they did once they got here.  As students learn more about their heritage through their family tree, derivation of their last names, parent interview and family artifact they create final products to be put into the book.

Additionally all fifth grade students in my district participate in an authentic simulation of immigrating to America and getting processed at Ellis Island.  A week before the simulation students randomly draw descriptors to give an identity to their immigrant selves.  These descriptions include information about their health, education, wealth, occupation, image and character and make for authentic life stories that reflect real situations of immigrants.  On the day of the simulation students dress up as if they are real immigrants from their country of origin and are processed with the "immigrants" from two other elementary schools through stations at Ellis Island.  There is a lot of waiting in long lines, waiting in silence, unfamiliar faces and fear of deportation, just like at the real Ellis Island.  Throughout the day I take tons of picture of my students and print them in black and white.  The pictures are then added to their heritage books as a way of remembering an experience similar to ones their ancestors faced.  

Once the final projects are put together students have a book that is truly all about them, their families, and their past.  These books not only require teaching and learning across content areas, they provide authentic and meaningful learning experiences that students will remember for the rest of their lives.  In addition to all the new knowledge they acquire, students also gain a keepsake of special memories that they can cherish forever.