Olivia\'s First Social Studies Community Project

                                                                                             -by Daddy
Olivia's third grade class was given a Social Studies Community project right after the school started. The students were asked to name different places around the town that were part of the greater community. From the list each student was assigned a different place to visit and find out more and write a two-paragraph report on it.

Because Olivia had suggested the bank, she was assigned it for her project. She had two weeks to work on it.

Olivia was very excited about what was her very first true school project she's been given. We discussed it a little. Originally Olivia wanted to buy some modeling clay and make a model of the bank. I told her that someday she could work on something like that, but this project was a little more modest and didn't require that level of creativity. I suggested that she interview people at the bank and she thought that was a good idea.

We would try to do this after school as we pass by the bank every day coming home. Unfortunately the first few days we were out of luck because the bank was closed by the time we passed by. But on a Thursday when the bank had extended hours, we were able to go inside and Olivia talked to the teller. She first asked to see the manager but was told she was not there and was given a business card to call. Instead of waiting for another time, Olivia chose to interview the teller, who was very accommodating. She started asking questions while I furiously transcribed the responses. Unfortunately Olivia didn't prepare all her questions ahead of time and had to become a little creative near the end. At one point Olivia looked around at all the desks with computers on them and asked whether people could walk in from the street and use the computers. The teller assured her that this was not allowed.

A few days later we were able to call the manager and arrange a time for Olivia to come in for another interview. This time Olivia was better prepared, and had written out all of her questions ahead of time. The manager was very excited at the prospect of being interviewed by the junior reporter. We all (including Evan) sat around the conference table and Olivia went about asking her questions about what went on at the bank, who worked there, what they did for the community and what Olivia was very interested in, what did people put in their safe deposit boxes and what else was in the vault.

Olivia even added a question at the end which she hadn't written out, asking whether it was true the bank was changing from red and blue to green and whether the manager agreed with it. (Olivia had remembered that I had told her a number of months ago that the bank had recently been purchased by another bank and would be changing its name and signs.) The manager, who no doubt had not thought of the merger in terms of colors only told Olivia that she would miss the red and blue but assured her that turning to green was a good thing.

Afterwards, the manager led us out to the lobby where she rounded up and introduced the entire staff, and then posed for pictures.


When it came time to write the paragraph, Olivia let it slide until a few days before it was due. I reminded her she needed to write up her two paragraphs. She resisted, saying she needed to "be there" to do her writing. So that day we stopped at the bank and sat outside on the curb in the parking lot while Olivia wrote out what she wanted to say.

When it came time to put it together, I went ahead and typed out the paragraphs she wrote along with a transcript of the interview questions and answers. Olivia took a piece of construction paper and glued on the photographs and wrote a title and added some captions to the photos.

After she turned in her project, Olivia was a little dejected because she didn't think her project was as good as her other classmates. She stated that 'all' the other kids made models except her. I questioned her on this, saying I should ask the teacher about that since the project guidelines didn't say anything about making a model. She backtracked a bit, saying that some of her friends made models but not all.

The following week while at the Meet the Teacher Night, I got to see many of these projects which were displayed around the classroom. Indeed, there were a few instances where the kids put together some models. Others had used large poster board and the results were very nice. The children (or I should say their parents) obviously put a lot of effort into the presentation. Olivia's wasn't nearly as flashy, but (other than the typing) it was all her. While many of the other kid took a lot of photos, I don't think any others spent much time talking to the different people there and including it in their 'report'.

Each child was given the opportunity to present their project in front of the class. After that was over, Olivia received a card from the teacher indicating that she had received 50 of 50 points for a perfect 100% on her project. The teacher wrote a note next to the grade saying that doing an interview is an important way to learn about a place or a person.

I was very proud of her work, and think she was too.