her community

Gracie got a Social Studies assignment last week from Mrs. Zimmerman where she was supposed to create a poster about her community. She mentioned specific things they had talked about in class such as goods, services, needs, etc. She said it would be neat if they could interview someone who could talk about how the city used to be and it would be neat to have some old pictures.

We're not "natives" of this city by any means, so Gracie & I headed to the local historical museum yesterday afternoon to get some ideas. She was enthralled by the old fire engine they had there. I think it was the first fire engine in the city and was from 1880. We took a picture of it and even took a picture of a picture of the first fire department in the city. We included these on her poster. Another neat thing was last night at church we talked with a lady who I knew had attended her elementary school. She was in the 2nd grade in 1958-1959 and we figured out that she was in the same classroom that Gracie is in right now! Yes, Gracie's school is THAT old! (No offense to anyone who was in 2nd grade in 1958-1959!) They are-thankfully-constructing a new addition at the moment although it certainly won't solve all the space problems. Anyhoo.......it was neat to find out this information so I typed it up to go on her poster.

For "goods," Gracie chose to highlight Bi Lo & Target along with a recyclable bookmark she got at the local Farmer's Market. For "services," she highlighted our church, the place where she went to art class, the school district, the hospital, a tree cutter (she used to want to be one!) among other things.

I had fun helping Gracie with this and at one point she said something about this being the best craft ever! Mrs. Z said she didn't want this to be a stressful thing but something to help the children understand more about the community and to let them be creative with how to present the information. Yet one more reason that I like her teaching style!