Dear Parents,

We are excited about our “Fourth Grade Finale” project. On May 19, we will be having a USA “State of the Art” Parade. Your child came home with a name of a state today and was asked to begin researching that state. The final goal is to create a float that represents the state that they have just been studying.

What is a float? A float is anything that can be pushed or pulled, which depicts certain facts about your child’s state. It is a three-dimensional creation.

This float is your child’s project. I have explained to the students that the work is to be done by them. Please support your child in this process in ways that are necessary, but allow your child to experience the satisfaction of owning his/her project. One of the items that I will be assessing is how much time each student spent working on the float. I will hold your child accountable to this by asking for an estimated amount of time s/he spent working on this project.

I know it can be tempting to invest an excessive amount of time and money on this project. Please keep expenses to a minimum. I am not assessing your child on how elaborate his/her float is. I am looking for the required elements presented in a creative and fun way that demonstrates learning.

In addition, each child will give a 2-4 minute presentation using their float as a guide to present the information they have found. Your child may bring their float to school beginning May 16 and should be brought home the day of the parade, May 19.

Please assist your child in gathering resources that will help him/her collect the information needed. While paragraphs and essays are not requirements for the float, any writing that the students do must be in their own words.

Thank you for supporting your child in this project and for helping your child’s learning by following these guidelines. Please contact us with any questions.

Sincerely,

Ms. Larson, Mr. Frober, Mr. Kilibarda and Mr. Pederson