At The Children’s School, studying the history of Atlanta in third grade involves more than reading and writing. Instead, our teachers engage students in their learning, which helps them gain a deeper meaning of the world around them while building a strong academic foundation.
“The third graders have been working hard to strengthen the skills necessary for school and PBL (project-based learning), as well as those for the real world; things like reflective thinking and adaptability, planning and adjusting. They’ve been able to persevere and work through challenges, building their independence and resiliency along the way, something that we are super proud of,” said third-grade teacher Jackie.
Each week students engaged in hands-on learning opportunities that explored the history of Atlanta, focusing specifically on the buildings, schools, transportation, and food of our city. Students worked in teams to complete scavenger hunts, timelines, and graphs. Students then applied their newly found knowledge to a topic of their choice and created a project to show their learning.
“I learned that Grady Hospital is the first public hospital in Atlanta. Me and my mom, over the weekend, went to Grady Hospital and learned some stuff. They have a room of old pictures and (stories),” said Mackenzie.
Immersive activities like these help students build these 21st-century skills, which better prepares them for their future in an interconnected world.
At the conclusion of their project-based learning unit, the students coordinated a wonderful gallery walk to show and tell the rest of our community about the great history of our city.
“(The gallery walk) was really very fun because you got to view a lot of other people’s (projects). I learned a lot from (my classmate’s) project. She had a little model (of Grady Hospital). She did a book. She did an iMovie. I also learned a lot from (my other classmate’s) project. Instead of just having people come and eat a cupcake, he made sure that people learned (about Coca-Cola) before they ate it,” said Kiel.
