Hello Families,

Our 5th grade students have chosen a state to research and give a short presentation about in class. Research for these state reports will be done in class.

In conjunction with this research, students have also been invited to create a float for their state at home. Floats are optional, but a lot of fun! They need not be time consuming or extravagant and should be student-led in creation. The more student creativity and ownership for this project, the better! Reports will be due Monday, May 15th, and state floats, if your student chooses to make one, will be brought to school and displayed the morning of Friday, May 19th in the Q1 gym from 9-10:30 am. You are welcome to come and tour all of the state floats that morning!

If your student elects to create a float at home, here are a few instructions to help get started:

• Use a box. The float may not be bigger than 14 x 14 inches.
• Completely cover the outside of the box (e.g. tissue paper, foil, colored rice that is glued on, construction paper, etc.)
• Decorate the float to reflect the state you are researching. Use your creativity and imagination. Think about what you have learned about your state’s national parks, motto, symbols, etc., and include those details on top of your float. For example, a float of Florida might feature paper oranges, palm trees, alligators, and some state emblems.
• Somewhere on the float, you must have the name of your state.
• Your state float should resemble a real float in a parade. Think about the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day or Tournament of Roses parade floats. It should be 3-dimensional, colorful, fun, and neatly done. Many examples can be found online, but there are a few examples below, too.
• Don’t forget your name!
• Have fun!