Woodland Hills Elementary School had a host of distinguished visitors Wednesday, including George Washington, Rosa Parks, Sally Ride and the Wright Brothers, among others.

Teacher Katie Duffy's first-graders presented the inaugural research projects of their academic careers on Halloween, when they gave brief reports on the lives of historically important people while dressed as their subjects. Duffy said the new Common Core curriculum standards are much more stringent for first-graders. They are required to read, do research, and write about what they read.

She said her students chose historical figures and did research from three age-appropriate sources.The whole project lasted about a month, culminating with Wednesday's oral reports.

With the help of their parents, the 26 children dressed up as the people they researched.

"They love it," Duffy said. "I've had first-graders talking about famous people of interest at recess."

She said teaching research skills to first-graders wasn't as daunting as it sounded. Duffy kept the process simple, went over each step-by-step, and enlisted the help of the kids' parents.

First-grader Jackson Bright researched the Wright Brothers. He said his favorite part of the project was learning about how they built the first successful airplane.

Read the Full Story...