How we Presented Our Learning About Castles to an Audience

The kids worked really hard on creating projects to show what we learned during our castle inquiry to present to other classes in our school and to our families.  This is such a great way to hone our speaking and listening skills!  First they signed up to be in an expert group. 

One group worked on a castle model and a book to show parts of a castle. 

I love how the girls below are using a resource to make sure their representation is accurate! 

One group created a map to show what maps tell us and where castles are located.

The group working on how things were different in the past and the group showing who lived in castles both wanted to create big books to show what they learned.  They chose to paint their illustrations.

The group showing us about castle defense and weapons decided to create a poster. 

They created wonderful items with the purpose of teaching others about castles. 

The kids practiced persuasive writing by creating invitations to invite (persuade) their parents to our presentation and open house. 

We practiced as a group.  Many kids also practiced on their own during exploration time. I loved the stuffed animal audiences they created!

After practicing, we discussed how each time we practiced our presentation we improved!  3 kindergarten classes came to our room to see our presentation. At the end of our day, our families joined us! I was so excited over the turnout! Around 35 family members came to see our presentation!  I don't think I have ever seen the kids more excited than they were about presenting for their families!   

Each expert group presented. After they presented we had an open house where our guests could walk around and see all that we had done about castles. We closed by sharing our kids favorite video showing a squire helping a knight put his armor on. 

I wish I had more pictures of the presentation itself, but it was such a busy time focussing on the students, it was hard to get pictures!

Every single one of them did a beautiful job of speaking as they presented...even our most shy students!  You could see the pride on their faces and when I pointed out that they had taught almost 125 people about castles they positively glowed!  Parents let me know how excited their children were about presenting.  They talked about it at home!  Now that I have done a large scale class presentation, I see the benefits! It was a great way for the kids to show their learning.  It was a beautiful celebration of their learning with our families.  It also brought closure to our inquiry so that we are ready to start fresh on Monday with a new investigation.  This was truly a wonderful experience for all and I can't wait to do it again!