I know they mean well, multi-sensory learning and all that. But these projects have got to go. They become like viruses, spreading from one classroom to the next, from one elementary school to the next until they become the district project. And we parents spend our time connecting the contagion path until we find the source of the virus and heap our dislike on that particular teacher.
Case in point, the brown bear project in 4th grade. It started as a project where the kids had to write a book using the pattern of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? A truly annoying storybook that all K teachers read. Only for the 4th grade project, they had to change the words to Washington, DC, Washington, DC, What Do You See? Altogether too much punctuation for one project. The book had to include pictures of at least 10 attractions in DC, at least 5 of which should be hand drawn by the budding genius.
OK, so it's neat. But my son had to do one in 3rd grade too. Revolution, Revolution, What Do You See? Oh come on. Though he did enjoy drawing pictures of bloody battles in which the only color used on the page was red for the blood. I knew the Washington, DC project was coming up because this was one of those projects where one 4th grade teacher starts the idea and they all think it's just so cute, they have to do it in their class too. So now, it's expanding to 3rd grade.
I was just recovering from the Washington, DC book when Lastborn brings home a project they did in 1st grade. Mayflower, Mayflower, What Do You See? Sigh. Can anyone have an original thought?
The next wonderful project to attract my ire is what our school refers to as The Land Form Project. In 3rd grade, each child must study a land form and either make a poster depicting that land form or make a diorama of that land form. My next door neighbor's son got a plain. How exciting. Of course everyone in the class wants to do the volcano; parents included. But only 2 volcanoes are allowed per class or it would soon turn into "The Volcano Project." Firstborn chose caves. He had lots of data to base his report on and really knew his stuff. Of course, with this type of project, it is really hard as a parent, not to take over. It is fun. So Firstborn fought to do the project by himself and, you guessed it, he was one of the only kids who did.
As an aside, these are exactly the types of projects that simply don't get done by kids who's parents are not involved in their schooling. The boy down the road who has had DSS called on him because of excessive missed days of school (in third grade) didn't turn any project in. I can imagine this. He gets no academic help from his parents and he's being asked to do a report for which he knows that most of the kids are turning in a project built by their mom and dad. Why should he even try and how would he know how to begin.
The Land Form Project has pretty much stayed within our school walls, but give it a year or two and it will become a curriculum requirement for 3rd grade.
The latest this year is the Bottle Buddy Project in which the 4th graders must read a biography about an American and write an oral report about the book. Then they must create a model of that person using a 2 litre soda bottle. In our school, they can't buy doll clothes to clothe the bottle, and they can't spend a lot of money on supplies. Firstborn read about Hershey. His bottle buddy will be sitting in front of a giant Hershey kiss and the paper strip from the kiss will have his story summary printed on it. The summary has to be in some way attached to the bottle buddy. This was all his idea, but somehow I am supposed to navigate him through this process without doing any of the work myself. Somehow, Firstborn is supposed to make clothes to fit a 2 litre bottle. And one of the grading points is "does the project look like it was made entirely by the student?" Ha. Let's see what gets turned in.
And yes, The Bottle Buddy project has become a district-wide project. Because, you see, there is so much educational value in dressing a 2 litre bottle.
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6 comments:
It is unfortunate that parents ALWAYS find something to complain about! I dont think you have any idea how much work goes into planning these projects so children of all intelligences can learn and show how much they have learned. GET OVER YOURSELF!!!! It is not about you!!!!!
A teacher
Maybe you should try homeschooling. Then you might possibly see how hard teachers work everyday! I'm sure that your child's teacher would appreciate a little respect.
I totally agree with the blogger. This has got way out of hand. These tedious projects week after week. Case in point, our daughter had to construct an igloo. WE spend probably $30 and a every evening for a week working on this igloo. Finally once it was completed, she took it to school, the teacher glanced at it and told her to put it in her locker and take it home. No discussion, no displaying of the final projects. Also, she recieved a 100% on her project as did the other students who turned in just anything. So there was no point in working as hard as we did. Our current project is the Landform Diorama, which will no doubt be glanced at and trashed as well. The teachers may assign this work and then have a great teaching opportunity, but over and over they fail to seize the moment and actually teach.
Please save your whining about teachers working so hard and having such a tough job. Teachers are constantly crying for more money, they need to earn the money they make now before asking for more. Teachers are not the only ones who work for a living. We all work hard at what we do. It's it the job YOU chose, do it and quit whining.
I too agree with the bloggers. This is busy work for the PARENTS! NO 4th grader is capable of constructing a character out of a 2 liter bottle!!!
I beg to differ about these projects being busy work. I am involved with a Bottle Buddy project as I type, and although at first I felt the same "ugh, another project!", I understand the value if it is done correctly. The report helps students research and organize to produce a coherent finished piece of writing (needed to be a functional, contributing citizen), the buddy itself is just a fun representation of the historical figure. Not all kids learn from reading and just answering questions. Plus, how boring!!!
It is true many teachers over do the project assignments, but a couple in a school year is fine, and nothing to complain about.
Now, the original blog I totally understand the annoyance at the Brown Bear, Brown Bear theme projects. Talk about overkill!
Oh, and give your 4th graders some credit. They are perfectly capable of creating a bottle buddy with just a little guidance. Mine is as we type! ;)
Oh, and by the way... I am a parent of 3 and a Language Arts teacher.
If the projects were done by the kids I would have no problem with them. The teachers say the parents should not do them but they dont enforce this rule. The kids who actually do the projects by themselves end up looking bad not the kid whose parent did all the work. We had one simple project at school where one girls father spent hours making a complicated picture out of hundreds of legos and that was displayed as the daughters work. What did she learn from this? , oh maybe that her parents don't believe enough in her to do it on her own or that she can not do anything and still get by. Great lesson learned for her. Maybe if we actually spent time on learning America wouldn't be lagging behind other countries. If I wanted my kid to sew clothes for a soda bottle I would have her do it on her free time for fun.
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