K-5 Models of Student Work  

Students in this project collaborated with I Love a Clean San Diego to adopt Carlsbad Frazee State beach. The students learned about the watershed and discussed the impact of our trash on sea life. Students created handouts for the state park and watershed marble runs to promote awareness to the trash issues in our community. They presented their findings at Carlsbad Frazee Beach.

Kinder students created an alphabet book about Earthworms. Each student made a drawing of a letter and then wrote a sentence on worm habitat that corresponded to their letter. The culminating event was a book signing and reading at a local bookstore!

This 12-week project will engage kindergarten and first grade students in learning about the natural phenomena of tides and the tidepool habitat. Students will become experts through authentic field experiences, discussions with professionals, practicing purposeful scientific inquiry, and participating in the critique and revision process. Throughout this project, students will develop essential reading, writing, math, and collaborative skills to communicate their learning, and share with others

First grade students took repeated fieldwork excursions to a local park where they worked with experts and made detailed observations about the uses of the park. Then, they used a calendar format combining written descriptions and visual depictions of the local neighborhood resource while also learning about the function and layout of calendars.

2nd grade students interviewed and empathized with local pre-school students to understand their needs and interests. Each student gathered and charted the data to then engage in a series of drafts to create a personalized toy and narrative story for each pre-school buddy.

Second and third-grade students at Allen-Field School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin created this timely and beautiful bilingual book with their own personal immigration stories. First of all, students knew they would create an art piece that illustrated their familial immigration story. This creation would show their understanding of this particular theme of immigration. Throughout the school year, students learned about what high-quality museums look like by visiting different museums in the Midwest

This is a project conducted over many different countries and in various classrooms. Students from all over the world studied the importance of rhinos and created different products to help advocate for saving the rhino population.

Students explored the essential question, “How Can Innovative Ideas Make a Difference?” Based on Google's concept of Genius Hour and the Stanford Design School, our classroom was transformed to a place where students could dream big. Students interviewed five different organizations in our community: 1)Pacific Preschool, 2) San Marcos City Hall, 3) Vallecitos Water District, 4) San Marcos Police Station, and 5)Escondido Humane Society. From these interviews, students discovered dilemmas that the

Back to Projects Snakes Are Born This Way School: Conservatory Lab Charter School City/State: Boston, MA Grade(s): 2 Format(s): Video, Performance: Music Subject(s): Performing Arts PROJECT OVERVIEW: In 2012, a group of second graders in at the Conservatory Lab Charter School in Dorchester, Massachusetts redefined what it means to be academically courageous. After completing extensive research on snakes, the students wrote, performed, and produced the song “Snakes Are Born This Way” based on

In this project, 4th grade students will explore the drought dilemma. They will investigate the causes and effects of the issue, and develop methods to improve the situation in their local community. Throughout the project, students will write persuasive letters and advocate for a more sustainable California lifestyle. Additionally, students will learn about ways they can reduce their water footprint. As final products, students will produce a water conservation guide and PSA's to promote awaren

During the course of this 12-week project, students explored the question, “What is the magic of boats?” They learned about the allure of boats by embarking on several boating excursions in kayaks, row boats, and outrigger canoes. They investigated the impact that boats have had on our history while visiting the replica of the San Salvador, and the Cabrillo National Monument. They also delved into the physical magic of how boats float, using their knowledge to construct a boat using cardboard a

Third grade students created a magazine about astronomy. It was written to help introduce other students to this topic. In addition to researching astronomy from multiple sources, students also kept “Sky Journals” to record their questions and observations from day and night viewing of the sky. In the culminating product, students researched answers to their most pressing questions and then shared their answers in their article within the magazine. The magazine also includes crossword and wo

1st grade students from High Tech Elementary interviewed their local student population to learn about the demographics and different languages in the school. They then created a multilingual website to help explain the principals and practices at their school. Using iPads, they gathered videos, interviewed students, and typed up descriptions to co-create a shared website.

Students will design and create a cardboard arcade game out of recycled material with Scratch programming, LED lights, and a Makey Makey Interface. Students will produce final designs that demonstrates planning, collaboration, critique, and mathematical concepts (i.e., measurement and geometry). Students will build prototypes that allow for testing and reiterating. Students will find and solve problems in literature using an engineering design approach (i.e., Novel Engineering).

This field guide features the frequently seen bird species of Rock Creek Park. The guide is formatted by first providing clues about the species, then revealing the species on the following page. Field marks and interesting facts about the birds are included. All text and scientific illustrations were created by the third-grade naturalists of CCPCS in Winter 2013. The work was published in a spiral-bound book and the class is currently working with the National Park Service to have the book bec