Carrie Moritz, Gazette

Garretson Elementary fourth graders have had a busy January so far, researching and writing about Winter Olympians and producing both a written report and speech. 

Through this project, they had to use multiple sources to learn about their subject, and then write about what they found. It was a team teaching project between fourth grade teachers Liz Etrheim and Dakota Johnson, allowing the students to all have a similar experience.

"The goal of this project was to introduce our 4th graders on how to properly research using both articles and online resources," said Etrheim. "[They had] to learn to write multiple paragraphs, how to speak in front of an audience and to show your findings through a project."

"It is important for students to learn these goals as it helps them look through different sources to find information, organize their findings, as well as being able to effectively communicate their findings," said Johnson. "All [are] skills that students will carry on throughout the rest of their education and beyond the classroom. It allows them to go explore their curiosities on topics that interest them."

Students had to use multiple resources, including, but not limited to, articles and age-appropriate websites, according to Etrheim.

"We discussed the importance of online safety and how not all websites are a reliable source," she added. 

The students were incredibly motivated to learn about the athletes. Their favorite sports, according to Johnson, were ice hockey and bobsledding, and two popular athletes were Lindsey Vonn and Chloe Kim.

"Another great story that students seemed to enjoy learning about was the Jamaican bobsled team that was based off the movie 'Cool Runnings,'" Johnson said. "Students were very much motivated in learning the history of each Olympic event along with learning new and fun facts about each event."

The final report had to be at least 3-5 paragraphs, a solid expectation for the 9–to-10-year-olds. 

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