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March 21, 2008
Curriculum Spotlight: 3rd Grade 3-21-2008
March 21, 2008
Tanya Finley
Last Thursday the third and fourth graders participated in the culmination of a project they’d been working on for months. This project was People In Profile, better known as PIP, and Thursday was the performance. But I’m jumping ahead. Let me go back to the beginning.
The third and fourth graders begin this process in December when they choose a figure from history to research. In third grade the only requirement is that 
the person they choose must be deceased. In fourth grade that same requirement is in place, but since fourth graders study California history, the figure that they choose must also have something to do with California.
Over winter break the kids gather resources. When they return in January, PIP research begins in earnest. They read and take notes. They put those notes into an outline and, in fourth grade, they write a biography. They build “Biography Altars” that represent their historical figure. They create timelines that include major events. They are busy, busy, busy with PIP in January, February, and March.
Once the kids have gathered as much interesting and important information as they can, they write interviews for their characters. These are the interviews that the kids perform in costume and on-stage in front of all of their parents and each other as the culmination of their projects. It is so amazing to watch them become their characters. I always feel a little bit nervous for them, and they always do an amazing job and make me so proud.
This is a project that PHS kids look forward to from Kindergarten. I look forward to it too, and I can’t wait to come and see the performances next year.