School Projects

by Lauri Griffin | More from this Blogger

05 Apr 2008 07:55 AM

I was going to write that we haven't been having a whole lot of fun around here lately. My fourth graders have been very busy with research projects. They worked a little bit on them over spring break, but not as much as they should have. They have a wonderful teacher this year who has them very inspired so that not just any old poster with information will do. Instead they've made documentary movies, three dimensional displays, PowerPoint presentations, and dioramas.

All of this project making hasn't left any room for fun. In fact, their projects haven't left any room for anything since taken up our entire dining room. We've barely had room to eat the last few days. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it has been fun. A different kind of fun, but still fun. They both picked subjects they are passionate about - polar bears, and endangered animals. The whole family has had an education on both subjects as the boys shared what they were learning. I didn't know polar bear fur was hollow and clear. The hollowness provides insulation. The reason they appear white is that light reflects off their fur. I also had no idea on just how very many animals are endangered. It has inspired us to live a little "greener" and do more for our planet.

I helped with making clay animals for the dioramas. My oldest son helped the twins with their movies. We went shopping for background papers and made special trips to the library for research books. Their projects are really quite impressive for fourth graders. I'm proud of how hard they worked. My boys are proud of their projects, too.

Sometime tomorrow I hope we can reclaim our table, and clean up the many scraps of paper, and globs of glue and paint. It will be nice to get back to what we call normal.

Also See:

School Memories

The "Project" Season

Pros and Cons of Send Home Projects

Learn more about Lauri Griffin

Lauri lives in Colorado with her husband and three sons. Amidst all the laundry and packing of lunches, she tries to keep parenting fun.

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