Fourth Grade Students Create Gallery for Black History Month

During English Language Arts this term fourth grade students have been focusing on informational reading and writing. They have read books and articles and used their research skills to gather important information about a variety of topics including New York City, planets, and endangered species. To organize their notes, students learned to use tools such as graphic organizers and a research notebook to jot down facts they found into their own words. Lastly, they have used a variety of showcases (digital storyboards, ChatterPix, posters, and more) to present what they learned. 

For the month of February and in honor of Black History Month, students chose 20 famous Black Americans to research for an interactive project that all St. Mark’s Campus students could enjoy. Following their research, writing, and creation of an informational poster, Ms. Chitwood, Innovation Lab Instructor, worked with students to create a special QR code for each poster. Students in kindergarten – sixth grade have been invited to the Black History Month Gallery in the library this week where they can find each poster hanging. When their iPad scans the QR code, students will hear the voice of a fourth grade student reading their report.

“At the beginning of this term, students were a little hesitant about putting factual information from a reading into their own writing/own words. However, their confidence and skills have grown tremendously and I am so proud of their hard work! The opportunity to share this month’s writing project with other students has been such a great learning experience,” said Brandi Akerstrom, English Language Arts Instructor.