Introduction
By the third grade, students are most thoroughly trained in arithmetic operations and necessary reading skills, and are actively involved in the development of those previously studied competencies. Since this level of learning includes a strong emphasis on reading, students are expected to expand their vocabulary and read more extended and more in-depth stories.
They will also start thinking more globally, learning more about the world outside the home and school, and state academic standards imply that children will start independent research activities. Growing third-graders are expected to learn how to collect information from a variety of sources, process it, and create a unified and unified style of presentation. Not the last role in the training of third graders plays the final culminating projects, setting the goal to sufficiently bring together all those competencies, skills and abilities, which the student consistently and systematically received during the year.
Project purpose
It is not enough to study mathematical formulas, basics of writing, and guidelines for writing literary works promptly for the qualitative and systematic development of school material. In other words, to bring up a worthy and educated person with developed critical and analytical thinking, schools should go beyond the usual educational process and allow students to go beyond the curriculum. Therefore, in order to guarantee effective learning, it is proposed to use examinations and culminating projects that bring together the student’s skills and present his research work (Deubel, 2017).
Multi-faceted, engaging, and clear in problem-solving, the final assignment becomes an obstacle to a student’s transition to the next grade, but overcoming this barrier allows for the formation and generalization of learning outcomes, mainly if in-depth assessment reflections support this.
Learning Objectives
In order to achieve a positive result of independent work on the culminating project, the student is offered to thoroughly and systematically approach the three academic tasks that lie on the integration of academic state standards and the student’s ideas. This is particularly the case for reading, mathematics, and science, which, according to Ackerman & Kloss (2019), are typical of the K-3 level.
- A student should not only read the proposed literary works of the genre of fables or folk tales but also subjectively determine the central message of the author, the lesson, and moral guidance.
- The student should correctly understand mathematical formulas, use abstract thinking for arithmetic operations on numbers, solve problems based on everyday situations, and use mental strategies to accelerate calculations.
- The student should have a skill of processing the received data with the necessity to ask accompanying questions to which the answer was not given; research scientific activity of the student is directed on independence, growing objectivity and structuring of work.
Examples of Thematic Researches
Below are four examples of thematic culminating projects for schoolchildren completing the K-3 level. Each student can choose any of the presented topics and develop them independently.
- Study the images of mythical creatures in American fairy tales.
- What socially responsible work can I do now?
- Determining the importance of social networks for the modern man.
- Variety of geometrical figures in the surrounding world.
Expectations from Implementation
Since a student’s research project focuses on one of the topics presented, the teacher must have certain expectations of the process and results. First of all, it is worth saying that the project is designed for self-directed, engaged learning that we realize our full potential” (Galinsky & Gardner, 2017, 29).
First of all, the research implies a clear goal and hypothesis setting. For this reason, a K-3 student should demonstrate the ability to create a thesis statement and be sure that he has a clear understanding of the problem. In addition, students are expected to find their sources of information for the research, which can be helped by the library or the Internet (Elicker & McMullen, 2013). The collection of sources and the definition of the purpose of the research suggest that the student will draft a plan for future work, describing the ideas, and making the necessary notes.
The right solution for this stage is to create a time map that fully reflects the planned approach to the culminating project: the student will be able to perform the chronological order tasks according to the previously created plan. Moreover, due to the scale of the research, the student is invited to study the technologies of the electronic portfolio, which allows the interdisciplinary study of the problem (d’Erizans & Bibbo, 2014).
The teacher sets a deadline for the final submission of the final paper for the academic evaluation and then, if necessary, sends the student material for correction. The final result of the culminating project can be concluded in an open presentation of the student’s work on the topic through a presentation format or a video conference.
Presentation
Due to limited lesson time, a large number of students, and in order to develop pupils’ public speaking skills, it is proposed to complete the culminating project with an open presentation to the audience of peers. As a rule, the work done by the students has a significant volume, so another useful skill will be the ability to concisely and justifiably compress the material for visual and structural presentation.
It is expected that the class will spend several hours listening to the students’ presentations, while the rest of the class, including teachers, will listen attentively to the speaker and ask additional questions. The student uses a projector, whiteboard, remote control or pointer, a medium with available material, and a computer. If a student wishes to use additional material to visualize phenomena or subjects described, this is encouraged.
It is essential to understand that children with disabilities need to be treated more carefully when speaking. Such children often experience problems when making a public presentation or answering questions (Barnard-Dadds & Conn, 2018). Students with disabilities are expected to prepare the material themselves. However, if the teacher feels it is necessary to postpone the presentation due to physiological conditions, an alternative option should be offered to control the results – for example, a face-to-face meeting or text-based work.
Rubric
The presented section assumes an assessment of the student’s competences and skills during the preparation of the material and presentation of the culminating project. The secondary effect of the table is that students study independently to find the criteria set by the teacher, thus working with higher expectations (McAfee & Leong, 1997). A scoring table and grading criteria are attached as a supplemental document. It is essential to emphasize the assessment of presentation skills for children with physical and speech disabilities — if such children are in the classroom, the grading line for presentations is discussed individually with the students. Compliance with the prescriptions set out in the Schedule is necessary for a complete and objective assessment of pupils.
References
Ackerman, S. & Kloss, K. (2019). The guide to 3rd grade. Web.
Barnard‐Dadds, T., & Conn, C. (2018). Challenges of listening to an autistic pupil in a person‐centered planning meeting. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 18, 15-24.
d’Erizans, R., & Bibbo, T. (2014). E-portfolio: Time to reflect. The International Schools Journal, 34(1), 78-85.
Deubel, P. (2017). Conducting research-based projects in elementary grades with safety in mind. Web.
Elicker, J., & McMullen, M. B. (2013). Appropriate and meaningful assessment in family-centered programs. YC Young Children, 68(3), 22-27.
Galinsky, E. & Gardner, N. (2017). Skill 7: Self-directed, engaged learning. Teaching Young Children, 10(4), 27-29.
McAfee, O. D., & Leong, D. J. (1997). Assessing and guiding young children’s development and learning. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon, A Viacom Company.