Australian Relief Marketplace a Success!

January 31, 2020

Davis Elementary School first grade students learned about the continent of Australia as part of our school wide international study in December, 2019. When students learned of the devastation caused by the Australian wildfires in January, 2020, a PBL study emerged to answer the question How can we, as first grade students in Austin, Texas, contribute to the relief efforts to help the animals in Australia that were harmed in the wildfires?

Students and teachers generated ideas and decided to host a fundraiser where they would sell craft items created by the students. Students created handmade crafts and art featuring Australian animals, including koala drawings, echidna figurines, 3D wombats and more! Each class created a different craft to sell in the marketplace fundraiser. Students also created signs to publicize the event and with the guidance of teachers, they coordinated every aspect of the event.

This PBL culminated in 1st grade students hosting an Australian Relief Marketplace, where students, teachers, parents and the community came to purchase arts and crafts, with all proceeds benefitting the World Wildlife Fund Australia. The students were incredibly proud of their work and the fact that they raised over $1800 to support relief efforts!

Read KVUE News "Davis Elementary School first - graders rais almost $2K to support Australian wildfire relief"

Kindergarten PBL 

January 14, 2020

Kindergarten teachers and students spent a great deal of time in December working through a Project Based Learning unit to answer the question How can we help newcomers feel welcome in our school and in our community? During the research portion of the PBL, students learned through teacher read-alouds, discussions, special visitors, and more. Their learning centered around different cultures, different parts of the world, and how it feels to be in a new place. Students then came up with ideas of what they could do to make people feel welcome. See the photos below for some examples of the great ideas and creations the students generated. Our students are truly amazing, and this is a great example of how some of our youngest learners can teach others, and in this case, remind us all of the importance of making sure everyone feels welcome and included.