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There's no better way to capture a child's interest and spark his imagination than to create things to demonstrate learning. This could be a model, a poster, task cards, a game, a diorama, a play, or a podcast just to name a few. When children are engaged and motivated, they tend to learn more deeply and they are more passionate about their project.  There are many different types of projects that can be done based on the subject and concepts that are to be studied. Today, I would like to focus on some projects that work well with the primary social studies topics of families and communities. Community projects and researchAssigning research projects where children investigate different aspects of their community, such as its history, economy, or cultural heritage and present their findings through presentations, posters, or multimedia projects develops research skills, information literacy, and a deeper understanding of the community's development.  Heritage ProjectWe often study about families and look at family trees in the early grades. I wanted to take this further, so I developed a project that studied family heritage. To find out more about it and why it was important to me, check out this post. The goal of the project was to learn more about what make us unique and special. It was a great way to research different cultural aspects of various countries and share them with others. Check out the project here.  Flat Family ProjectMany people are probably familiar with Flat Stanley and the project that began with sending cutouts of Flat Stanley around the world and recording adventures with him. Then people began sending cutouts of themselves to record these adventures. I decided to take this a step further as part of our heritage studies. We created flat families and journals that we mailed to family members in different parts of the world. The families took photos of activities together and made journal entries to share. They returned these journals along with special mementos to the children. It was so exciting to watch the faces of the children when a package arrived and the contents were shared with the class. This Flat Family project has been set up for others to try. You can read more about it here.  Creating A 3D Community ProjectLearning about communities and what they need is important. What better way to make sure that they understand what they have learned than to create a 3D community. This was a fun project that wowed the parents and other classes, not only because of its appearance, but also because of how much the kids could share that they had learned. Check it out here. If you would like to learn more about how we created it, check out this blog post.  These are just 3 different projects that can be done. If you are interested in other projects, check out my social studies category. I hope you find doing projects as successful as I did.    Related Posts
Teachers, do your kids struggle with doing research on Canada because the material is too difficult to read and understand? Would you like to find material that provides information in an easier to read format?  Does this sound like you?• the materials are too difficult for many of your students to understand • the students are constantly asking for help • there aren't enough resources available that are suitable for younger students • you spend hours searching for materials that will help your students • you start wondering if doing research is worth all the frustration  Are you tired of:• kids struggling to read and find information in nonfiction reference books? • kids getting frustrated and always needing help to locate information for their research? • searching for suitable material for younger students that has the information needed for research?  I've been there. I often tried to get my kids to do research for various different topics and I spent most of my time either helping them to find materials or helping them to navigate through the material to find the relevant information needed. I enjoyed doing projects with my students, but it was a lot of prep and energy to do so, especially for social studies. I knew I needed to make some changes.  I created a series of booklets for Canada that were easier to read and full of pictures and maps that helped with the research. I then had a couple of classes try them out. They worked well and the kids felt successful with their research. Finally I had something that younger kids could use.  Research booklets for the 10 provinces and 3 territories There are individual booklets for each of the provinces and territories with an added booklet of the symbols for each.  English and French versions available An English version, Canada My Country, and a French version, Canada mon pays, are available as individual booklets and bundles  Easy to read format with photographs to help Each page features a photograph or map and an easy to read description. If your students are doing research on Canada's provinces and territories and need easy to read material, these bundles are right for you.  Here are some of the features:
• Maps of the province or territory and its location in Canada • Photographs to go along with the research information • Information about industries, services, and interesting facts • A booklet of the symbols for each of the provinces or territories I created these booklets for my class when I saw how difficult the materials in our library were for them to read. It felt so good to see them doing the necessary research and enjoying it because they weren't struggling with the material. Don't take my word for it. Here's what others have to say:English version   French version   Get your Canada Research Bundle now and be ready for your kids to learn about the provinces and territories. Your younger students can do research successfully. Let's recap and you will see why these materials work • All booklets are set up with a similar format • They contain maps and explain where the provinces or territories are located • Capital cities and some well-known landmarks are included • Main industries or services are included • Interesting facts are included • Photographs are clear and visually appealing  Time to feel good about your kids doing research! Related Posts
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About Me Charlene Sequeira
I am a wife, mother of 4, grandmother of 9, and a retired primary and music teacher. I love working with kids and continue to volunteer at school and teach ukulele. 
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