The Story of the Borton Olympics Third Graders Discovery, Turtle, and Rainforest Rooms 2016

How do the Olympics promote peace and understanding and unity when countries are competing against each other?

We Studied the Ancient Olympics The ancient Olympics were a very special event in Ancient Greece although girls weren’t allowed to compete.

Then We Studied the Summer Olympics In the Summer Olympics its different from the winter Olympics because its cold and not hot. Its also winter and not summer so they play different sports.

Country Research Next we each chose a different country on one of the seven continents we wanted to learn about.

Country Presentations After we researched, we went to different classrooms to see the work the other students did. Then we came back and presented our research.

Exploring Successfulness We explored ideas of an athlete’s successfulness. What makes someone successful?

Community Success Stories Horses Marathon High jump 3 presenters came in and taught us what their skills are and how they are successful.

Biography Success Stories We read biographies of people who persevered to achieve success

Stock Flow Success The class made a stock flow diagram on success. We think the successful ideas were better than the unsuccessful ideas.

Mental Models of Competition What does it mean to compete? How does cooperation affect the outcome on team sports?

Reinforcing Loops We chose a part of our stock and flow diagram to think about and discuss reinforcing loops.

Interviewing Each Other We went to different third grade classrooms to interview someone about their country.

What Committees and Events Do We Need to Plan Our Own Olympics? Ms. Becky’s class decided what events they wanted to create and what committees were needed to organize the whole.

Mathematical Skills in Real Life Ms. Becky’s class used mathematical skills to determine how many third graders each committee would have so that each student would be involved in the planning process.

Committees for Planning Each student signed up to plan an event or organize a committee

Signing Up for Events We took turns signing up to compete in an event

Planning the Olympics We first started out by for planning the Olympics. We signed up and got into our groups to organize and plan the events.

Launching the Olympics When we launched the Borton Olympics with the opening ceremony. Willa sang the National Anthem, Addie said the Pledge of Allegiance, Adele held the torch, and Allie held the flag.

Competing in Events All the 3rd graders in Borton entered different Olympic events and competed in them.

Reflecting on the Olympics At the end of the day we reflect on these questions: Where here do you see examples of peace and understanding in the Olympic events? What did you like about the Olympic event you participated in today?