Social Studies and Novel Projects

This blog has been silent lately... just the beginning of the year with too much to do and not enough hours in the day.  I'm uploading photos today to show you what projects we have been up to.  :) 

We finished Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, so our end project was to create character letters.  This year since we are focusing on novel studies, I am using these Book Reports from Rachel Lynette to make each novel shine.  These are in class projects and she has even included directions and rubrics that made it super easy to grade.  The students wrote letters to the main characters, and the main characters had to write back to them.  They thought this was hilarious!  I thought it was so creative how the students made their writing sound exactly like Peter, Fudge, Mom, and even Sheila!

We have also been researching our California Regions and creating Informational Booklets.  I chose sticks to separate out my 32 kids into regions groups - 8 per region.  We spent 2 weeks researching the different topics (Landforms, Wildlife, Vegetation, Industries, Major Cities, Climate, Natural Resources, and Interesting Facts).  The kids researched using the internet, their texts, my Regions Reading Passages, and a couple region DVD's in both small group, whole class, and individuals.  They took their information and had to write one paragraph on each area and draw a detailed picture per page.  These booklets have taken 2 weeks to complete.  :)  Labor of love...

We finished up our first chapter in Social Studies (which included map skills, directions, and regions).  On the back of these worlds the kids took part of their test.  Fun times!  They were given a circle and ruler, and had to draw examples of the Equator, Lines of Latitude and Longitude, Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, Prime Meridian, North and South Poles.  When completed, they cut out their worlds and could decorate the back of it.

Oh, and we accomplished Salt Dough Maps!  1 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of salt, and 1/2 cup of water is the perfect amount of dough.  My grade level always completes these the Friday before Labor Day so we have all weekend to let them dry before painting on Tuesday.  The kids had to identify the different regions and landforms, show neighboring states, and include a map key.  We added a little glitter today to finish it up since we are the Golden State.  Happy Birthday California!  

Just in case you are interested.  Here's the link. :) 

Hope you had a great day!

Salt Dough Maps

A couple weeks ago we were going in depth learning about CA's regions.  If you are just tuning in, I absolutely love teaching about CA history.  It's a passion!  I love making history come alive. :)  

Sorry for digressing...  

I just wanted to share our region maps with you.  The kids each get a 10x10 board (it's a donation from a past student's family).  Throughout the week they practice drawing the shape of CA as part of their homework.  Then Friday comes, and they do the shape on the actual board.

After drawing the shape on their board, they knead their dough bags.  To make the dough, the kids each bring in 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of salt in a freezer gallon size bag.  I add 1/2 cup of water and close the bag, and they then "massage" the outside of the bag to mix it into a cookie dough consistency.  It's enough dough to cover the state and have some left over as well.  

On their boards, they fill in CA, and add detail for the bumpy mountains, flat valley, adding the rocky coast, and the flatish desert.  We filled in the boards right after recess on a Friday, and by the end of the day it was ready to fill in the rest of the board.  I had them draw the borders and label for the neighboring states, Mexico, and Pacific Ocean.  They then colored the board and let it completely dry over the weekend.

The following Monday morning it was time to paint.  Usually I paint outside, but this year I wanted them to sit at their desks to be able to focus.  Usually in past years I had them paint the oceans too, but I really wanted to limit the paint... for my own sanity.  Before school my 8 year old son added a paper plate, small paintbrush, and a paper towel to their desks.  Then I put a little bit of green, yellow, and brown onto their plates.  We started with the green, moved onto the yellow, and finished up with the brown.  After each color, they removed the paint on the paper towel, went outside to the bucket to rinse their brush, and then continued on.  It really was headache free.  After painting, the boards went back outside to dry for the day.  In the afternoon we added some wet glue and gold glitter on the coast to signify the coast, and for our state nickname "Golden State".  

All in all, it's a fun project.  Have you used Salt Dough before?  It can be used for many purposes.  

Have a great day!