Float Construction and Critical Thinking: 5th Grade State Float Projects
Float Construction and Critical Thinking: 5th Grade State Float Projects
Mesquite Elementary
This month, our Mesquite Elementary 5th graders are following in the footsteps of their 6th grade peers by celebrating America’s 250th birthday and learning about the 50 states. During Social Studies and writing times at school, as well as at home, students create reports on their assigned state and solidify their knowledge with a hands-on activity where they design and build a small parade float representing their state.
After a month of dedicated learning, our 5th graders will share their floats and state knowledge for parents and other grade levels during a parade in the 5th grade classrooms. Students are excited to share what they learned and show off their floats.
This project is impactful for our 5th grade Mesquite Mountain Lions who are able to practice critical thinking skills by gathering information from multiple sources and constructing physical representations of their research. Creating their float adds to the fun of the project and students get to present the information they gathered in a way that highlights the intentional decisions that went into their float-making.
“I love this event,” says Mesquite Elementary Registrar Janine Goude. “My children came here and I remember them working so hard on these! The students take great pride in their work and love to share it with their school.”
As students from other grade levels visit the parade classrooms, they are able to learn alongside our 5th graders. Younger grades look up to the 5th graders and anticipate the project they will also eventually complete. It is a fun project that connects our students across grade levels and allows for engaged and interested learning to occur for all students. Our float-builders learn project management skills, especially time management, and the importance of chunking a project in smaller portions. It brings our teachers and staff such joy to see our students working hard and gaining confidence in their research and presentation abilities as they show off their hard work on projects they are truly invested in.
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