5th Grade Students’ Project Takes Them Around The World

By Laurie Borst

Gina Swanson and Kelly Marcoux have taken their fifth grade students at Reed Intermediate School on a journey around the world. The students were given an interdisciplinary project through language arts. This project required research, essay writing, art, and presentation skills. Students worked in small groups after selecting a country to study.

On the morning of December 21, their classroom was a sea of informative posters, colorful costumes, and enticing foods. Students were eager to share the information they had learned and did not hesitate to step up and speak with family and friends who had been invited.

Students shared environmental information. Naomi Childs and Lindsey Jagoe described the exotic animals such as monkeys and three-toed sloths that inhabit equatorial Costa Rica.

Artifacts graced some of the tables. AmyLee Anyoha and Sabrina Washburn displayed drums and maracas, and dolls that Nigerians believe connect them to the spirit world.

Wilder Carnes, Alex Romeo, and Eric Cassidy discussed Aztec and Mayan temples found in Mexico, while on the other side of the room Jordan Headford, Joshua Tuffy, and Alex Dapras informed listeners that the Great Pyramid in Egypt was constructed from two to three million limestone blocks.

Chapchae, Korean noodles, were simmering in a wok while Danielle Shine, Michelle Zarifis, and Tess Murray explained Korean beliefs in Buddha and celebrations of his birthday.

Maggie Luongo and Claire Alexander shared French trivia, i.e., the Eiffel Tower has 1,660 steps. And, like several other cosmopolitan cities, Nice holds a carnival in February.

The Irish flag’s tricolors were explained by Deion Conley and Mackenzie Lapp. The green represents the older Gaelic and Anglo-Normans, the orange stands for William of Orange and his followers, the Protestants, and the white symbolizes the desired peace between them. Displayed next to the flag was Deion’s brightly colored traditional Irish dance costume.