4th grade students are investigating patriotic symbols, geography and history to learn Colombian culture.

Andrea Jaramillo and Elizabeth Monsalve designed a new drawing project in which 4th graders need to create their own Colombian coat of arms.

“They really enjoy the  new social studies curriculum.It has lots of interactive activities that often include the usage of technology,” Elizabeth Monsalve, 4th grade social studies teacher, said.

The two fourth grade sociales teachers came up with ultimate idea of teaching the nine and ten year old kids about their nationality. They are currently doing this by a program of interactive studies. The studies  include videos, audios, fun articles, and assignments that are uploaded into the google classroom platform that every class acquires.

“They are used to travel to other countries and learn tons about this new places, but they do not really know about their own. They confuse the Colombian map with others, dont know where Colombia is ubicated, and many other mistakes,” Andrea Jaramillo Sierra, 4th grade teacher, said.

At The Columbus School this phenomenon of traveling and getting to know foreign countries instead of their own is something many families experience. Even in High School many students barely know 6 different departments or states of Colombia. The goal 4th grade sociales teachers have is for them to be experts at their country since kids. Further to know the meaning and  differentiate a country from a department or state

“Something I find really interesting is that each single color and object of the flag has a meaning, and a reason to be there,” Laura Mora, 4th grade student, said.

The students modified their knowledge in a developing way. Changing from only knowing the colors, to analyzing why they are included in the coat of arms. To do this they are required to investigate about colombian pre-colonial, colonial and independence history giving them a much more substantial picture of what previously happened in Colombia and why we live the way we live today.

“With this new teaching plan, I am not only evaluating what the kids memorized after watching the video, but also checking on their ability of problem solving,  and creativity,” Elizabeth Monsalve, said.

The kids have the task to watch an engaging video uploaded to Google Classroom platform. After this they have an  assignment to create their own. This activity is done in groups from two to three classmates.They have to be creative, but still have to use  reasoning for each element and color included in the picture they drawn.

“ We included a heart, because we realized that our country has stunning places that  should be loved and respected by all of its citizens,” Mora said.