by Carrie Moritz,
Garretson Gazette
The Garretson Elementary 4th graders are "projected" to have a good time learning in social studies this year, as they've studied other countries' Christmas celebrations and American historical figures.
"Some of the most important things 4th graders learn are writing multiple paragraphs, speaking to an audience and new math skills," said fourth-grade teacher Liz Etrheim.
South Dakota Social Studies Content Standards include four overall categories to ensure students' readiness is developed for future civic participation, a skill that is necessary for democratic participation. Those four categories include Responsible Citizenship, Spatial Awareness, Economic Literacy, and Historical Analysis. Within those four categories are Civics/Government, Geography, Economics, and History, and each of those combine to help students with communication, critical thinking, inquiry, and problem solving.
In fourth grade, most students are developmentally ready to start learning about more abstract concepts, according to Understood.org, a non-profit that works with neurodivergent students. While they may still be learning fundamental arithmetic and reading concepts in third grade, in fourth grade, students can put those skills to work.
The fourth-grade teachers, Liz Etrheim and Lauren Stoterau, have been incorporating many of those skills into the curriculum with their students' current and most recent projects.
Over the month of December, students were assigned a country and asked to research how the people of that country celebrated Christmas, or what major holiday the people of that country celebrated in the November-January timeframe. After doing the research, students then put together a "suitcase" with facts and information about the holiday, with cultural and celebration practices.
"For their suitcase project, the students had a chance to collaborate and work with others on the research part of the project," said Etrheim. "They then wrote their own papers to reflect on what they had learned and presented their findings with a suitcase."
Currently, they're researching important American historical figures, and will have to present information on their subject by pretending to be a part of a "wax museum."
"The students will pose as if made from wax until they are prompted by having another person press their 'button'," said Etrheim. "At that point, they will 'come alive' and say the information that they have researched and recorded about their particular character. The words that they say should sound as if that historical person is speaking."
The students are asked to work together in groups and independently, according to the teachers. For instance, they researched their country in groups, reading articles together. But when it came to on-line research, they divided it up and did that portion on their own.
Since fourth graders are still learning what research entails, the teachers provide different articles and books that are developmentally appropriate. However, they can use the research projects to teach critical thinking skills, helping students learn how to use the internet safely, and how to know whether a website provides reliable information.
"The goals of our projects are to help strengthen the students' research and use a variety of different materials to find different information. It also helps them with their writing skills and how to speak to an audience," Etrheim pointed out.
The wax museum is slated to be held in March. The students will also be learning about different types of poems and how to write opinion papers this spring, the three branches of the United States government, and how South Dakota's state government formed. In math, they've focused on long division and using a protractor to measure angles, and will be working on fractional equivalents, other fractions, and decimals.
In short, they've had a busy year so far, and they won't be slowing down just yet!
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UPDATE 2/9/23: Briella's name was spelled incorrectly in the printed version of this issue.
