Exhibition and the Last Days of School
This year is finally coming to a close and we've wrapped up in some exciting ways. Our national park book was published and is for sale on Amazon! We exhibited our final work for friends and family, and shortly afterwards found out that the Associate Director of Education, Interpretation and Volunteers for the National Park Service had seen our book and was excited to talk to us about it. We connected with him via our Park Ranger contact in Washington DC, Ranger Jen, and were able to have a Zoom meeting with him! This is the beauty of Project Based Learning -- sharing our work outside our classroom walls.
As a final hurrah for the end of the year we spent a day at the San Diego Zoo enjoying one another's company and all the fun the zoo has to offer. What a wonderful end to an unforgettable year!
As a final hurrah for the end of the year we spent a day at the San Diego Zoo enjoying one another's company and all the fun the zoo has to offer. What a wonderful end to an unforgettable year!
Camping in Joshua Tree National Park!
We would be remiss to spend half a year studying national parks and not make the effort to spend some time in at least one of them. This is how we ended up taking 71 nine year olds on an overnight adventure to Joshua Tree which turned out to be a definite highlight of the year (and perhaps of my whole career thus far).
In preparation for this adventure we learned as much as we could about the park ahead of time. We complete online Jr. Ranger activities, worked through a digital scavenger hunt, and Zoomed with a park expert a few days before the trip to know exactly what to expect. One of my favorite moments after pulling into our lunch spot on the first afternoon was having a group of students run up to me shouting, "Ms. Michelle! Did you see all the Joshua Trees?!" Their excitement was endearing and is what carried us through the entire trip.
When we arrived in the park we went on a ranger-led walk through Hidden Valley and learned a little bit about the park's unique geology. Kids got time to examine rocks and learn about the different rock formations and even scramble through a large rock pile. We were also fortunate enough catch the end of the wildflower superbloom!
After setting up camp the kids spend the rest of the evening rock scrambling and exploring the campsites. It was such a joy to hear them all having fun, getting along and spending quality time outdoors. I think this trip will become a yearly tradition for 4th graders and one I will look forward to all year!
In preparation for this adventure we learned as much as we could about the park ahead of time. We complete online Jr. Ranger activities, worked through a digital scavenger hunt, and Zoomed with a park expert a few days before the trip to know exactly what to expect. One of my favorite moments after pulling into our lunch spot on the first afternoon was having a group of students run up to me shouting, "Ms. Michelle! Did you see all the Joshua Trees?!" Their excitement was endearing and is what carried us through the entire trip.
When we arrived in the park we went on a ranger-led walk through Hidden Valley and learned a little bit about the park's unique geology. Kids got time to examine rocks and learn about the different rock formations and even scramble through a large rock pile. We were also fortunate enough catch the end of the wildflower superbloom!
After setting up camp the kids spend the rest of the evening rock scrambling and exploring the campsites. It was such a joy to hear them all having fun, getting along and spending quality time outdoors. I think this trip will become a yearly tradition for 4th graders and one I will look forward to all year!
Every Kid Outdoors - A National Park Project
It has been a dream of mine since becoming a 4th grade teacher to do a project that incorporates our US National Parks in some way. There is a program through the US NPS called "Every Kid Outdoors" that provides a free national park pass to any 4th graders and their families for the year and it seems like an obvious choice to create a project that centers around this. This year, my dream is becoming a reality. In partnership with the Park Service we will be creating both a digital and print guide book to each of the 63 US National Parks that features a history of the park and fun things to do from the perspective of 4th graders, for other visiting 4th graders.
Our project is currently running in two-week cycles in order to break up the many tasks into more manageable pieces. Our first two weeks was an introduction to the US National Park system and the importance of protecting and preserving land and culture for the enjoyment of others. The second two weeks focused on the skill of interviewing so that students will be prepared to conduct interviews with National Park experts in order to gather information. The current two-week cycle we are working on is watercolor illustrations for our printed guidebook. Each student chose an image from their park to capture in watercolor and we are now working on getting some critique and feedback to guide our final drafts.
Our project is currently running in two-week cycles in order to break up the many tasks into more manageable pieces. Our first two weeks was an introduction to the US National Park system and the importance of protecting and preserving land and culture for the enjoyment of others. The second two weeks focused on the skill of interviewing so that students will be prepared to conduct interviews with National Park experts in order to gather information. The current two-week cycle we are working on is watercolor illustrations for our printed guidebook. Each student chose an image from their park to capture in watercolor and we are now working on getting some critique and feedback to guide our final drafts.
Wrapping Up Our History Project
The past few months have been a whirlwind of work putting the finishing touches on our history project to prepare for Exhibition. Students worked on writing historical narrative letters from the perspective of a gold miner in the mid-1800s. They were tasked with sharing information about the injustices they saw in mining camps, and the experiences of nonwhite miners. In addition to their letters, our class worked on a mural of California that has images representing all of the groups of people who helped shape our state into what it is today. We have representation of Chinese immigrants, Indigenous tribes, Mexican miners and African Americans. Without all of the important contributions of these groups of people, California would not be the diverse and vibrant state it is today. It is my hope that our students come away from this project knowing how important it is to honor and uplift all groups of people throughout history, and I believe our work demonstrates just that.
Halloween!
Halloween fun at HTe consisted of a costume parade, jell-o brain for lunch and a Dia de los Muertos story and coloring sheet with our Kindergarten buddies in the afternoon. Such a fun, spooky day!
Fieldwork at the Eagle Mining Company
As part of our study of the California Gold Rush we had the opportunity to go up to the Eagle Mining Company in Julian, CA to take a tour of a gold mine and get first-hand experience panning for gold. The challenge with any history focused project is to find ways to give students authentic experiences, and we are lucky enough to be within a short drive of what was once a fully-operating mine.
Project Launch!
Last week we officially launched our study of California history and the California Gold Rush. Students found out that they would be creating a newspaper that would help share the "untold" stories of the Gold Rush, specifically those stories from historically marginalized groups during that time (Chinese immigrants, Native Americans, African Americans, women, Mexican miners). To help kick off this study, we had the privilege of learning from Ms. Kiana, a member of the Paiute and Shoshone tribes. She shared with us some tribal artifacts, tools and traditions that are special to her tribe and what they were used for. When colonizers came to California, one of the ways they attempted to convert and colonize the natives was to strip them of their cultural traditions. The importance of preserving these traditions is paramount to ensuring that the history and the stories of these tribes live on.
One Month In
It's hard to believe we've only been in school a month! We are starting to settle into a good routine, and will be launching our first project of the year very soon. We've spent this past month getting to know each other through writing, reading and art. We have established strong classroom norms and are working on building our independence as learners. We worked on two mini-projects during this month: radial symmetry name art and Where I'm From poems with an accompanying Zentangle portrait. Both of these pieces will be on display on the walls of our classroom for the year -- student work is my favorite way to decorate an empty classroom wall.
First Weeks
This year is off to a wild and rambunctious start with a brand new crew of eager 4th graders! Right away we got started establishing routines and learning all about our new class and classroom. These first couple weeks we spent a lot of time working on mindset and struggling through challenges. 4th grade is a big step up from 3rd and already we are feeling the demand.
This is the year we work on gaining more independence and self-control, reading to learn instead of learning to read, and diving into more complex interactions with peers and adults. It is also important that we make time to be kids and relax, so we balanced our routines with plenty of team building and we also got to meet our Kindergarten buddies!
This is the year we work on gaining more independence and self-control, reading to learn instead of learning to read, and diving into more complex interactions with peers and adults. It is also important that we make time to be kids and relax, so we balanced our routines with plenty of team building and we also got to meet our Kindergarten buddies!