State Projects

Using an overhead projector and an outline of their state, each student traces their state on cardboard and cuts it out. Then we make a huge bucket of salt dough and they cover their states while sculpting in rivers, mountains, etc. Once dry, they paint them, green= land, brown= mountains, blue= rivers. Then we label the state capital and other landmarks with jujubeas. After all the research and labeling is complete we all go outside on the playground and make one big huge United States puzzle.This is a great learning experience last year we had parents show up with cameras.

Students pick a state; we usually work in pairs since it is a lot of work. They need to research their state (we make up a research grid with categories of landforms, products grown and manufactured, famous people, history, trivia, etc. to organize their facts.) Then they need to create a cereal box for their state. They name the cereal based on information they learned. The front shows has the name of the cereal and a backdrop that depicts something about their state. The back of the box can be games trivia contests, etc. about their state. One side has the ingredients which are the products grown and manufactured. The other side panel has has to state facts about the history of the state (time-line, etc.). The cereal box is a real cereal box that is covered with white paper. We trace the box on butcher paper and let the children draw, write and color with it flat. Then we glue the paper to the cereal box and wrap it like a present. It gives the students an opportunity to really show their creativity.

Gather enough coffee cans or the large baby formula cans for each student. Assign each a state to research.

Outside of can: Cover with a piece of construction paper. In fancy letters put the name of the state. Put symbols of the state. State seal, State song, State animal, etc.

Inside the can: A cube with a picture of products grown in the state. A poem about the state, can be an acostic, or limerick. A journal of a 14 day vacation that their family takes to attractions in their state. We create a small booklet for this that fits in the can. A map of their state colored with capital, major cities, and rivers labeled.

On the top of the can: Make two slits in the lid. The students take a long strip of white paper and divide it into 10 squares. In the first strip put the name of the state. In the 9 remaining squares draw pictures of attractions in their state. Put it through the slits and tape the two ends together. This will then roll like a film strip.

I've done state brochures with fifth grade. I sent away for a bunch of state tourism brochures and we went through them looking at the kinds of things that states highlight (state parks, mountain ranges, ocean beaches, cities, etc.) They did research during their computer periods. Each team decided what they wanted to include - the brochure on Pennsylvania was the best - they decided to focus on the kinds of things that families would enjoy doing in PA so they included Hershey Park and the Crayola Factory - it was adorable. I made in a cooperative group project and they did it on the computer. It really was a wonderful project.

Social Studies State Reports

*You must include all of the following information. Please check it off after you have completed each one. Turn this in with your brochure.

Population _____

Climate_____

Land type (physical features)_____

Capital _____
State tree_____

state flower_____

state bird_____

state nickname_____

current governor_____

when state entered the union_____

famous people_____

major bodies of water_____

natural resources_____

major cities_____

Picture of the state flag_____

Places of interest_____

Basic state map in color_____

*I have at least one sentence per section_____

*I have checked for spelling, capitals, and punctuation_____

*My work is in cursive and neat _____

*I have listed all my resources I used on the back of the brochure _____

*I have a decorated cover which includes the name of my state, it’s nickname, a color picture, and my name_____

*Each section is worth 5 pts.

*Your score is ______
100

My 4th graders made posters of our state (CA), with all the different symbols: State Seal, flag, bird, flower, tree, etc., and facts: motto, song, nickname, statehood, etc. This information can be found in encyclopedias, the internet, and our SS textbook.

I found the state song on the internet, printed it out, and did some LA activities. I also played the song (available on internet!), and the kids loved singing it daily while we worked on the posters.

Of course, a map of the US was on the poster, with cutout of CA glued in correct place, and down to county and city.

These took about a week to create, but the kids were very engaged everyday. They then presented their posters, and the audience would try to "stump" the presenters with questions (eg:"What is the State Bird?").

I think the highlight of this activity was the discovery of the State Seal on various documents. I brought in my birth certificate and driver's license; students worked in groups to use magnifying glasses to "inspect" the Seal. Some students brought me things from home that they found with the Seal!

The Seal for our state is very detailed with historical figures and symbols....perfect for the backdrop needed when we actually "studied" our State.

Here are some ideas for a state project I used when I student taught 4th grade. We made an Indiana scrapbook. We used construction paper 8 1/2 x 11 --bound together (with the library's binder)--gray (no one in the school ever uses this color so it was easy to find! The covers were blue construction paper---the kids cut out the state bird, flower, tree, and flag (all black and white xeroxed)--we then arranged these on the shape of Indiana and cut off any extra overhang--then pasted these on the blue paper. We laminated the front and the back cover before we assembled the book! Next we filled it will all kinds of info about indiana. Pictures and text--labels--even a real leaf from our state tree (we have one on school grounds)--the kids loved it! And I created quizzes and tests based on the information found in the scrapbook.
One caution--I did not let my kids take these books home (those binding combs are not meant to be tossed about!)--when it was time to get ready for a quiz--I created a study guide they worked on for a week during library down time. They simply took home the study guide to study for the quiz or test.

I teach 2nd, but I had an idea that I thought would work wonderfully when teaching the states (we do states and capitals in 3rd grade)...

It is called a "State Fair"...each student is assigned a state (as a class you could do your home state during whole group instruction). They would research their state, write a paragraph or report about their chosen state, have some sort of artistic component (draw/paint map, symbol, etc), create graphs maybe comparing the population, crops, or industries of your state to the assigned state, and so on....
As a culminating activity you could have a classroom or grade level "State Fair". (If you could get your grade level peers on board you could have the whole country represented!) The students would set up and present their projects either in a gallery format or a "science fair" format.
In 2nd we study continents and do a similar activity with "Christmas Around the World". The students and families love it. I learn something new every year. :)

I had my class work in pairs or on their own to construct a game about our state. I gave them a rubric when I explained the lesson that outlined what they were expected to include (ex: game pieces, strategy, at least 15 cities mentioned, at least 15 facts about the state, etc.). An old clothes box makes a great box for the game! It worked out great and they had fun working on them. I was really impressed with some of the ideas they came up with. On the day they were due, each pair had to present their game to the class. Then we had a "game day" and I let them play their games for part of the afternoon. We also kept them in the room for extra things to do during indoor recess. I plan to use the same idea in the spring and they each will get to pick a different state when we focus on the entire U.S.

I actually had my kids do two projects for social studies. I teach in South Carolina, by the way.

The first involved my bringing in brochures which I obtained from a SC welcome center. The kids were to create their own SC travel brochures which described the reasons why a person should visit--golf, viewing the swamps, etc. You could do this with your state.

The second project was "Adopt a State." I let them choose a state, whichever one they wanted. They then did research and did the following required items: 1) drawing of the state flag; 2) description of the climate; 3) location of the state; 3)state tree, etc. They enjoyed this research project a lot. I took them to the school's library one day to get them started. Some worked on the library's computers (Internet and on-line encyclopedia, etc.) while others worked in the hardcover encyclopedias. They did a wonderful job. It made it easy for them to do the research, because I gave them a template of the requirements. I also created my own finished product, which helped them visualize what they needed to do.

Our fourth graders do our state. We make an ABC book. Each student colors the state flag, and copy of the state song, which each students copies and types on the computer.....And each student is assigned a letter and writes about something that letter stands for connected to our state. Be sure your poorest students get something simple like the state bird, flower and etc. Be sure all the state facts get included. U = when the state was admitted to the union and anything special about the date. picture of the state capitol and where it is located, write about special person who was born in our state. We put all the pages together and make a class book. We make copies one for each student. -----if you have pages left over that's ok have the first students to finish their page do another page. They love that.
We are in a post card exchange and put up the United States map and put the post cards around the edge and a string going to the state they come from.
Students with friends and family out of state ask them to send us a postcard. If a student goes out of state they bring back a post card for our class. So some states have more than one post card.

I just got done with state projects. I had the kids research a state (they drew names out of a hat), write a report on their state, I got outlines of the states and had them do a mural with things that represent the state they choose, and finally they had to produce a float based on the things they found out about their state. This was a big project, but I spread it out over 4 weeks--we studied 1 region of US each week with a quiz. The floats were amazing!!! In fact I got the idea from this site. The culmination was a display of the floats for the whole school, a display of the US 50 mural and a final US 50 Exam.