Third Grade Students Learn About And Then Share Their Heritage

Sandy Hook School third graders spent two months working on their Heritage projects, which culminated in a presentation to their parents. Following a concert of patriotic songs such as “Star Spangled Banner,” “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” and “Fifty States in Rhyme,” the children and parents proceeded to the children’s classrooms for a Reader’s Theater, presentation of Heritage Project journals, and sharing of foods from many of the different cultures of families represented in the class.

 Prior to parent presentation, many of the children had taken home a large paper doll and dressed and decorated it in the style representative of a country in their heritage. These dolls were also presented on the wall outside the classroom.

Each class worked together on a Reader’s Theater, where students dressed as immigrants and inspectors to act out different parts of the immigration journey and process into the United States. While the children were citing history and acting out different parts of the journey to America and the process through Ellis Island, a slideshow of representative pictures was presented in each classroom SmartBoard.

In preparing their Heritage Projects, students spent time each day writing, editing and finalizing their heritage journals, which covered the journey of an immigrant to the United States. The children wrote the stories based on facts they obtained from interviewing family members, reading stories in class, and their own creativity gleaned from the studies and lessons they worked on in the classroom.

After writing and editing, the final copies were written on coffee-stained paper, bound with ribbon, and presented to their parents.