In 4-5 we started RQ’s which are Research Quests. An RQ is about a topic someone is curious and want to know more about and they get to choose it. The way we chose is by going down to the library and selecting 5 topics based on non fiction books and ranking them one to five. Then the teachers give each person a topic to study. After everyone has a book we start doing note cards by looking into a book and pulling key information and writing it down. The note cards can even be digital! After you write it down you start making a sentence, then a paragraph, and then a paper that will become your RQ. In the end, we make a visual aid. It is a long project and it is hard work but a lot of fun!
Every year 4-5 takes a mystery trip. We don't know where we are going and we find out when we get there. Sometimes we go to the beach or a lake. The teachers kick off the conversation with absurd ideas. Sometimes it is an exotic place or a spot that doesn't even exist. This year they told us we were going to a bean factory, (which was knocked down) a farm that had a rare and elusive invisible sheep called cloud sheep, and that we would be working for the Morton Salt Company picking salt off the salt hay on the marsh. The teachers told us that after we help with the beans and salt we would get credit on the labels of the containers and we would get to bring home the wool of the cloud sheep. Last year's kick off was even more absurd. They told us we were going to a donut farm to plant donut seeds which were cheerios, go to have tea with the late Queen in England, go on a treasure hunt, and visit the cheese museum. After telling us where we were going the teachers gave us a pa...

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