The third graders in Mrs. Bickerstaff’s Bunch are learning map skills. So they created a map of their own of the imaginary country Chaundoon. Groups worked to create the shape and size of the country, chose physical geography for the country, created symbols for the geography, made a map legend that explains the symbols, created a scale, and placed the country on a continent near an ocean. These are all skills the students are using on real maps in the classroom.

Chaundoon has special meaning for Mrs. Bickerstaff. In 1986 in Houston, Missouri Mrs. Bickerstaff was teaching fifth graders about national governments. Her fifth graders created the country of Chaundoon, elected a president, and created a constitution. Last year, one of Mrs. Bickerstaff’s fifth grade students contacted her through Facebook and asked if she remembered Chaundoon. Several other students commented on the conversation about how much fun they had in that project and how much they had learned. This gave Mrs. Bickerstaff the idea to revive Chaundoon with her current students. When she told her third graders about the fifth graders, they asked if a picture of them with the map could be sent to the former students.

Current leaders of our society connected with future leaders? Sounds like learning to this Brook Hill Bunch!

Meanwhile, third grade students in Mrs. Newsom’s class learned about complete sentences through a creative project where they invented their own cereal brand, complete with a custom box design. Students described their cereals in complete sentences, and even created their own slogans. A couple examples of cereals included “Yucky Charms” and “Soccer Crunch.”