Fall 2005 PDF - Milton Academy

Creating Cityscapes:Third-grade studentsThird-Grade Cities. The unitstarts with a simple question,“What is in a city?” Twenty threehands shoot up. Buildings,parks, roads, stores, people,museums, ballparks and the listgrows. They continue to add tothe list and mini-discussions follow.Some know from residingin Boston, while others knowfrom visits. These students arekeen observers. We begin readingA Cricket in Times Square byGeorge Selden. Some studentsoffer perspectives of the citybased on family trips to NewYork. Susan Wheelright [theother third-grade teacher] and Ilead the students in gatheringinformation that compares differentcities. Voices of eight- andnine-year-olds are excited andbecome knowledgeable. Theirfirsthand accounts speak to theimportance of primary sourceexperiences. The next step is tovisit Boston via mass transit.The third-graders will be ingroups of five, and each groupwill seek different aspects of thecity from a scavenger hunt list.Their proof will be in a photo ofcommercial sites, residences,natural spaces, public places,cultural venues and more. Aposter detailing the hunt of eachgroup is carefully made and thegroup shares their day in thecity. Conversations about the useof space explore the need tobuild up in these highly congestedareas. Their discoveries arefresh and connected to the workpreviously done in the classroomin the Lower School.Some have parents who workdowntown, others eagerly shareinformation about a favoriterestaurant or museum. We continueto build an impressiveframework for the next event,the construction of their owncities. In groups of three, thechildren devise a plan for theirversion of a livable urban space.Conversations focus on thosenecessary components of cities.They are vigorous and sometimescontentious. In the end,they present a design forapproval by Susan and me. Afterdiscussion and revision, the studentsget down to the seriousbusiness of building. Many havethemes that reflect understandingabout geography and climate.Others contain familiarelements of U.S. and Europeancities. They work without interruptionfor a full two weeks.Once their cityscapes are completed,parents and others classesare invited to view theseimpressive projects. The thirdgraders enthusiastically describethe details that make each cityunique. These future urbanplanners know the value of acarefully considered metropolis.[Also pictured: fifth-grade studentsdisplaying their reports onendangered animals; an investigationof the properties of lightduring a light show hosted byfourth- and fifth-grade studentsin spring 2005.]Jane McGuinnessThird-Grade TeacherLower School61 Milton Magazine