Gold Rush Simulation

I am so excited to get to teach this unit on California's gold rush.  Last year I brushed it off and used it for the first time in many moon.  This simulation is right on point for our 21st century skills...creativity, collaboration, communication, and creativity!

What the Teacher Learned:  Everything old is new again!

In this simulation, students learn about California's gold rush through short passages that they summarize into an outline.  Students must work in teams to help each other process the information.  Students are always communicating with each other to process information.  Creativity comes alive as students keep a "miner diary".  Each team is expected in integrate knowledge of the gold rush into their diary and sprinkle it with a liberal dose of creativity!

Mining teams are constantly working together to solve gold rush related problems.  I added in some math spiral review that I found on TPT to make this unit a little more well rounded.

I have a little built in motivation. As students acquire more knowledge the "mine for gold" by answering trivia questions about California's gold rush.  Students also earn "gold nuggets" for their outlines and journals.  But my favorite way they earn or lose nuggets is through fate cards.  "You came down with a bad case of cholera.  Miss a mining round and lose 50 gold nuggets.  At the end of the unit, the winning team with the most nuggets/points gets a vial of gold each.












As a culmination to the unit, students work collaboratively to create a Choose Your Own Gold Rush Adventure story.  I love reading their work!  It really shows me the depth of their knowledge.  I will have to remind myself to post a link to view this project.  

Bye Bye Desks

I've actually been without desks for a couple of years now.  It all started back when I was teaching Read 180.  That program required the students to rotate from group to group.  Since I was also had my own homeroom group, rotating got to be a bit of an issue.  My homeroom students would come back to find that the contents of their desks had been disturbed.

That's when I decided to take all the books out of the desks and store them on bookcases around the room.  Even workbooks!  Desks got turned around so that the opening was not available as a trash receptacle.  Now everyone had access to their materials, but no one was having their personal belongings riffled through.    Students stored their belongings in a backpack; much like middle or high school.

Even this backward desk system had its flaws.  Students really enjoyed rocking the empty desks and hiding things inside them.  My little squirrels!  At the end of that year, I asked my principal if she would purchase me round tables.  We actually had enough in storage to fit the bill.

This is my second year of round tables and I love it.  No one ever leaves their homework in their desk.  I never find pencil shavings sprinkled about a desk.  No one ever has anyone touching their stuff.  I do have more collaboration.  Students are physically closer to one another, making it easier to work together.  I do have more time to teach.  It actually takes less time to pass out 33 workbooks than to have 33 kids get out their own workbook.  I do have a calmer environment.  The cleaner space creates a calm vibe in my class.  Plus those plants are awesome.  One former custodian, Dan (may he rest in peace) likened my room to a lounge.

What the Teacher Learned:  It's always good to rethink a tradition.  Just because it's been done that way for 100 plus years, does not make it the best way.

Escape Room

Bear with me for a minute while I sound like Billy Mays (RIP, Billy).  This Escape Room activity is amazing.  It builds team cooperation, it reviews concepts, it encourages critical thinking, and it fosters communication and creativity.  But wait!  There's more...it's fun!!!







I've seen these Groupons for Escape Rooms all over  the place, but I hadn't heard about using it in a  classroom until my own kids came home having completed one.  I thought, "Gosh, did the teacher lock my kiddo in the classroom?"  Upon further questioning my own kid told me that there was a series of puzzles she and her classmates had to solve in a certain amount of time in order to "escape".  Just for bragging rights!

I'm working with the advanced math group this year so I though I would give one of these a try. Lesson #1...This activity would be great with any ability level.  It's all in how you structure it.  My second favorite site in the world, TPT, is filled with so many of these Escape Rooms.  I've been using the ones by Teresa Kwant.  You can pick any concept (long division, comparing fractions, grammar skills) that you would like to review and you can do this activity whole group or with teams.  Mange it well, and it will be a great learning experience.

I've done four of these Escape Rooms now, and organization is key.  Case in point...see that mess on the table there?  Yuck!  This version of organization takes a little practice.  Lesson #2: The first time you do an Escape Room, do it whole group.  This will give your students, and you, a chance to get the process down.  Pro tip...once you're done with a clue, put it back in the envelope.

The publisher of this wonderful program recommends putting clues in envelopes and envelopes in envelopes, and... Aughh!!!  Lesson #3:  Do what works for you.  I happen to have a ton of file folders hanging around, so I used those.  Where possible, I glued clues onto the folder.  This made it a bit easier for the kids to handle, and it's a lot sturdier for re-use.

  I love these Escape Rooms and my students love them too.  They are a great way to review a concept at the end of a unit of study.  However, I was finding that my more capable students were doing all the work for the whole group.  Shocking, I know!  Lesson #4:  Outsmart 'em!  It took me until my third Escape Room to figure out that I should form the teams ahead of time.  Not only does this save on class time, but it also allows me to balance the group dynamic.  Another strategy I used was to demand participation.  (Ahem...bribery always works!) Each clue needs to be solved on an answer sheet.  You can see this in the upper right hand corner of the photo above.  Teams were told that in order to get a clue to help open the locked box, they would have to ensure that every team member had a completed answer sheet.  I stressed that this would be easier to accomplish if team members actively participated, worked the problems together, and communicated with each other to ensure success.  As the teams worked on their clues, I walked around making sure groups were on task and no one was getting left out.  The kids were so good about this.  I love 'em!

That brings me to Lesson #5:  Enlist some help.  This would be a great time to call in a parent volunteer.  This is Jacky.  She is Sunnymeadow alum and working on her teaching credential.  Amazingly, comes in every Thursday to help out and has been invaluable in helping me assemble these Escape Room folders.  Thank you, Jacky!







So back to that lock box you see.  That was my idea!  So brilliant!  It's just a carrying case, locked with a four letter combo.  I set the lock to spell out a clue.  I think for this one it was, "When you are finished, that means you are d o n e."  There were six teams so two of the letters I handed out did not work, but that was just another part of the fun puzzle.  Inside the kids found some candy.  I know...shameless of me!

I'm sure I've left out some great ideas, but I highly recommend you give one of these a try. Don't think that you are too busy to do this.  Sure it will take you time to assemble the activity, and it will take away from instructional time, but the benefits far outweigh any time constraints.  I promise.  It is a well spent 60-90 minutes.  Give it a try

Envisioning Goals

 I've used these glasses before for "Visions of Summer Break".  They came in handy again with goal setting for the New Year.   Students thought about what they would like see themselves accomplish at home and at school in 2018. 


What the Teacher Learned:  If you can see it, you can be it!

California Missions Project



 I love my team at school.  We work well together and in doing so are able to trust each other.  Because of that, I got to teach Social Studies to all of our 4th graders this year. 


One thing the kids really enjoyed doing was "directed draws".  Here the students got to research a mission and then do their own directed draw from Patty Fernandez.


Students used...gasp!...books to research their mission.  When they completed their research they got a chance to draw it too! 


What The Teacher Learned:  Art!

How Does Our Garden Grow?

How does our garden grow?  With help from our community of course.  My hubby made and delivered this wonderful raised bed, but getting donations of potting soil and plants was a bit tricky. 


Luckily, a family at our school took the initiative to ask around in our community.  That's when a local nursery came to the rescue donating plants for our pizza garden.  Now we have tomatoes, oregano, basil, peppers, and onions all ready to grow!

What the Teacher Learned:  Ask!  You never know.  They might just say yes. 


Bonus Learning:  It's always a good idea to say thank you.  I took a few photos of the garden and the kids and brought this over to the nursery with some letters from the students.  The owner was so delighted that he generously offered to provide more soil and plants should the need ever arise! 


Update:  Our garden did very well this year.  The students were able to keep a journal of the garden's progress.  And most exciting of all is that we were able to harvest our produce to make a pizza sauce that I served on pita bread at our recent Open House. 

The pizza sauce is all warm and ready to serve on slivers of pita bread along with a topping of mozzarella.  This was a real crowd pleaser at our Open House. 

Take a Field Trip without Leaving School

 Earlier this year we had a wonderful experience with Inside the Outdoors and their Traveling Scientist program.  We selected the "Amazing Animals" presentation.  The wonderful team from the Orange County Department of Education came in and set up stations with realia from each of the different animal kingdoms.  The students had a chance to explore each station and then the real fun began.  Our wonderful presenter brought out live animals to represent each kingdom.  The kids had a blast and learned a lot.  Best of all...no bus! 


What the Teacher Learned:  Field trips are fun, but when you're short on fund and time, the Traveling Scientist is a great alternative!