Extraordinary Elephant Exploration

May 2023  

Mrs. Georges’ third graders at Cherry Avenue have been up to the “tusk” of expository text research this trimester! Their unit of study this month focused on animal investigation. Room 125 learned how to synthesize information from various sources. The eager eight- and nine-year-olds worked in groups to develop subtopics and create a book with nonfiction text features. Together they’ve applied their yearlong writing goals of connecting ideas with transition words, evidence terms, and quotations!

To celebrate their reading and writing efforts, they traveled all the way to Nashville, Tennessee, to “The Elephant Sanctuary!” (virtually, of course!)  The sanctuary spent 45 minutes with these third graders and talked about their elephant habitat and how the elephants come to retire there. The sanctuary provides captive elephants with individualized care, companionship of a herd, and the opportunity to live out their lives in a safe haven. The children asked meaningful questions and conversation based on their research during the presentation. For instance, Emily Minerva and Leo Johnson marveled at the size of an elephant's teeth! Teddy English, inquired about prehistoric elephants and their life cycle. He’s hoping to one day be a paleontologist!

After learning so much about this incredible place and its animal residents, the class pooled their funds and adopted Ronnie, a 57-year-old retired circus elephant. The students learned all about her life story and wanted to contribute to her care! Jordana O’Connell and Lilly Rogers opened the adoption mailing with such excitement.

When asked if they enjoyed the class project, Kate Fitzgerald and Luke Shay exclaimed, “It was a TON of fun!”