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At Sandra J. Gallardo Elementary School, students don’t just read about the founding of America and the nuances of building a society from the ground up. Instead, fifth graders create their own country, and simulate their CITY for two weeks.
Sandra J. Gallardo Students Learn History Through Elaborate Simulation
May 1, 2014
In the CITY project, students name the city, create a flag and motto, design money, hold a job fair, elect officials and “build a city where they will live out their city lives working and playing just as in any real city,” according to teacher Mike Lobitz.
This entails creating a 30 x 30 inch storefront using a refrigerator box. While this may sound like more of an undertaking for the adults, Lobitz says that he advises parents, like Janice Johnson, that the most successful businesses are the simplest and best-executed.
Johnson says that experience has been fabulous for her daughter, Aly, who operates an ice cream store in Pi Land (the name of her class’s city.)
“Aly has been looking forward this all year,” Johnson said. “For her it is the capstone of fifth grade.”
“Aly has been looking forward this all year,” Johnson said. “For her it is the capstone of fifth grade.”
Despite its clear embodiment of the new Common Core curriculum, the CITY program began years ago, after an idea by teacher Ken Brown.
Lobitz says, “The city project has seen some small tweaks and changes over the years, but at its heart it’s a hands-on experiential opportunity to be creative and learn key history concepts in the fifth grade". Common Core or not, "Good teaching is good teaching"
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