Rockland Third-Graders Showcase Animal Research Projects at School Committee Meeting
Students demonstrate cross-curricular learning with presentations on endangered species and zoo design
ROCKLAND - May 27 - Third-grade students from Rockland's "garden pod" impressed the School Committee with their cross-curricular animal research projects during a recent meeting, demonstrating skills in research, writing, art, and mathematics.
The students, representing four of the eight third-grade classrooms, presented detailed research on animals including Blanding Turtles and Ring-Tailed Lemurs, complete with Google Slide presentations, artwork, and interactive questions for committee members.
"We started a non-fiction unit in both reading and writing and as you'll see tonight, it lent itself to being a cross-curricular experience for all these students," teacher Angela Sulmonte explained at the beginning of the presentation.
The project involved multiple steps, with students first selecting an animal and conducting research using various sources.
"We had to decide which animal we would choose and check in with our teacher. We also went on Epic, which is a website with non-fiction texts to help with our research, as well as looking at library books," one student explained.
Students compiled their research in packets with specific topics to help narrow their focus, gathering information from the Franklin Park Zoo website, Epic, and library books.
After collecting their research, students transformed their notes into complete sentences and paragraphs, creating introductions, supporting details, and conclusions. They then transferred their work to Google Slides, where they added photos, interesting facts, and text features.
Alice presented her research on Blanding turtles, including information about their habitat in the northeastern United States and southern Canada, their diet of aquatic insects, and their endangered status in Massachusetts.
Loretta shared her project on ring-tailed lemurs, explaining how they protect themselves using powerful scents on their wrists and chest, and even including a joke: "What's a lemur's favorite type of music? Swing music."
The animal research extended beyond reading and writing into other subject areas. In art class, students designed animal posters using crayons, markers, or watercolor paint with help from their art teachers.
For mathematics, students worked on a "Design-a-Zoo" project that required them to map out animal exhibits and calculate the area and perimeter of each one.
"This project had us map out animals' exhibits and find the area and parameter of each one. We also created a list of animals we would need to purchase worth $5,000, a schedule of events that would happen, and added up our money our food court would make as a profit," a student explained.
The project will culminate with a field trip to Franklin Park Zoo in the coming weeks, where students will see their research animals in real life. Parents are invited to an author share on June 11, where they can view the slideshow presentations and artwork.
Committee member Michelle Bissonnette praised the students' work, noting how educational resources have evolved.
"We only had books from the library 30 years ago. The fact that you're getting information off the internet, places like Epic, so you have digital and hard books, that's huge. And your tables of contents are excellent," Bissonnette said. "The beginning, the middle, the end, all this foundational stuff travels with you. Keep reading. Thank you, that was excellent."
In other business, the School Committee:
* Approved two changes to the Rockland High School student handbook regarding transfer student school rank and valedictorian calculation timing. The first change allows transfer students' GPAs from previous schools to be calculated toward class rank. The second change moves the calculation of valedictorian from the end of term four to the end of term three.
* Ratified a new paraprofessional contract that includes adjustments to make salaries more competitive with neighboring communities, adds a 183rd workday to align with teachers' schedules, provides paid lunch breaks, and includes 2.5% raises in years two and three.
* Approved surplus technology items as part of an annual review process.
* Approved a homeschool application for a family that recently moved to Rockland.
* Recognized seven night school graduates: Patrice Ann Burley, Thomas Raymond Finnegan, William Stanley Fitch, Paulina Gomes Hunter, Diamond Lee Ramos, Eric Spring, and Layla Marie Walston.
Superintendent Dr. Alan Cron highlighted recent end-of-year activities, including Phelps Elementary School's Memorial Day ceremony, which featured performances by students and participation from the police department, fire department, and veterans agent.
"We had every student in Phelps in that glorious space for that ceremony," Dr. Cron said.