Exploring Our Community

The third grade in Vermont is required to study their community. The town of Orwell has a rich history that we investigate. Throughout this unit we work on map skills and become familiar with many maps of Orwell. We learn about the history and importance of its Revolutionary War site, Mt. Independence. We discuss Orwell's growth from a site of significant importance to the rural farming community of today. We learn about the first settlers, the immigrants and their influence to the culture and development of our town.

This grant would allow us the opportunity to photograph and create many presentations (such as slide shows)to display for the parents and other members of our community. The children would be thrilled to capture images themselves of their hometown to share with others. Each child would have the opportunity to share the local landmarks around their own home, giving their learning a personal ownership and pride.

In addition, we would like to take a tour of our town to learn more about little known points of interest in our town.

The students could demonstrate their understanding of all this information in fun-filled technology formats found in Tool Factory.