LSS Postcard Collection Gains Lots of Attention

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Life Skills Support (LSS) class teacher Katherine Bollinger started a postcard collection project with her class in order to learn more about the fifty states.

The class started their study of the 50 states mid September, where each student chose a state and created an informational presentation about it.

 Bollinger got the idea from one of her college friends who is an Elementary Life Skills teacher, who has done this project before.

 In order to receive postcards to represent all 50 states, Bollinger took to social media, specifically Facebook.

 On October 24, she posted on her own Facebook feed to ask her friends and family to mail postcards, but through the power of social media, her original post has garnered 94 responses and 253 shares!

 Within weeks the class started to receive several postcards from all over the United States. The first two postcards received were from Hawaii and Alaska.

 To date, the class has received 80 cards so far with many duplicates, and as of November 20, they only have 19 states left to receive cards from.

Bollinger didn’t think the class would receive as much recognition as it did.

  “I wasn’t sure what to expect; I just thought it’d be a fun activity to conclude my unit on the 50 states. However, it’s become the highlight of our day thanks to social media!”

 The students are very enthusiastic about the project. They always look forward to discovering what new states they have gotten cards from.

 Bollinger stated that almost everyday the students ask “Mrs. Bollinger, have you checked your mailbox yet today?”

 With all the postcards coming in, Bollinger stated that “It’s almost like Christmas morning anticipating which states we can check off for the day.”

 Many of the postcards come with notes written on the back. Several notes state how the person that sent it had heard about the project.

 Postcards have also been sent by other teachers who seem to be very excited for the class and are informative regarding information about their state.

 Bollinger places each postcard on a bulletin board showing which state they are from.

 But before putting the cards up, one is passed to each student and they are to give hints or clues to one another about the state from their postcard until the it is correctly guessed.

 After the state on the postcard is correctly guessed, the class reads the note on the back aloud, and if there are notes about certain places in the state, they then research it and learn more about the area.

 Some of the places they have learned about include: the Grand Canyon in Arizona, the Arches National Park in Utah, Everglades in Florida, and Denali National Park in Alaska.

Aside from the actual states, Bollinger has also introduced directional strategies such as North, South, East and West, as well as mathematical strategies through this project.