The elementary students are participating in The Great Mail Race! Our class will send letters & questionnaires to Montessori schools in all 50 states (and Washington DC and US Territories). We hope to hear back from all of the states. We will hang a US map on the wall and place a pin in each state that replies. In addition to being a wonderful geography lesson, this activity is a fun way to practice letter writing. It also gave us a chance to have a discussion about some of the reasons that Maine is important.

What is your state famous for?
What are some important attractions in your state?
What are some important land and water formations in your area?
Which large city are you near?

Students spent the afternoon discussing these questions. Our younger students thought very locally - Maine is famous for LL Bean, Wolfe's Neck is an important attraction, Moosehead Lake is an important water formation, etc. The older groups made lists (as usual) and debated each item. Which is more important to our state, lobsters or blueberries? Some people travel a long way to eat lobster, but people all over the country also eat food with Maine blueberries. What about pine trees - we are called the pine tree state. Do people in other states know about Prouts Neck or should we just list the Gulf of Maine as an important formation? Is Portland a large city or should we say Boston?

This is a great example of the shift in thinking that occurs around age 8. At that time, students enter a new plane of development that allows them to think more globally. They can put themselves in other people's shoes - if you lived in Oklahoma, would you think Winslow Park is an important attraction? Portland is the largest city in Maine, but it isn't as big as Boston - would someone from New York think Portland is a big city? It isn't on the list of "major cities" in our atlas. Another question asks if Freeport is rural, urban or suburban, which allowed us to discuss and define those terms. They quickly ruled out urban, but the rural/suburban debate was still going at the end of the day.

It is important for students of this age to have many opportunities for these types of discussions. It helps them to practice higher order thinking skills. For those of you who have spent time observing our elementary classrom you know that these conversations are happening daily (hourly even!).

Feel free to peek into our classroom after spring break to see if we have any pins on our map or you can track our progress using Google Maps by clicking on the link below:

The Great Mail Race Interactive Map: http://g.co/maps/r27k9