Pueblo Project

  Southwest
Native American
Pueblo 

         All 88 of our 5th grade students participated in making our pueblo.  This project completed our unit of study of Early American Native Indian Tribes. My students didn't realize that this really was helping them study for their test. I didn't want to tell them or it would have spoiled the fun. The assignment for each child was to make a box, ladder, or kiva  for the desert southwest pueblo village.  I stressed that this was a child made project.

            
      
   

       This is only a small part of the items crafted by my 5th grade students this year.  Everyone had an opportunity to add something onto the pueblo because the Anasazi Indians  or the Pueblo People would have worked together to construct their pueblo to live in under rocky cliffs of the desert southwest region. 

        
      Here are close up pictures of the construction. Jello boxes, cardboard toilet paper rolls, and toothpicks were our building materials. Small pebbles and tiny twigs were added to the landscape after the building phase was completed.

          Many parents who come into the school commented on the pueblo project.  They were excited to see the results of the individual student work come together as a finished project.

       Finally,  I will have my students become TRAVELING HISTORIANS.  They will take the challenge, if they choose, to write about the pueblo and how the early Native Americans would have made it.  After reading over their information, students will be chosen to travel to other classrooms in the school, with the pueblo, to teach about the Indians of the Desert Southwest. By teaching others, my students don't realize that they are learning the information more in depth in order to to someone else. It is a win - win situation! My students get so much joy and and a sense of accomplishment by talking to the younger students about what they have learned.  The younger students learn that when they move into 5 th grade they will have these opportunities, too. 

      I have traveled to the southwestern United States and viewed some of the pueblos.    Exploring  the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde was an experience of a lifetime.  Climbing a 30 foot ladder to get into the cliff dwellings was a real heart stopper.  My students are so intrigued that their pueblo looks so much like the real pueblos. 

       This project is so much fun for the kids to make in school. Every time it turns out to be different but yet the same. The great thing is that nothing has to be perfect.  Give it a try in your classroom. You won't be disappointed.

        
       Thank you parents for bringing your children to St. Michael Catholic School.  You are doing a great job raising incredible young ladies and gentlemen.  It is a real pleasure to teach our children each day.


 Please leave a comment if you have a moment, I'd love to hear from you.

Beti

Southern Colonies Flip Chart

FLIP CHARTS 

are your friends!

        At this time of students learning at home, this might be an idea for students to bring all their knowledge on a subject in one place. Students need different ways to study and learn.  Why not give flip charts a try!
        
My 5th graders enjoy making flip charts to sum up information. They add illustrations to help remember specific information.
    
     To wrap up the Southern Colonies a flip chart was perfect.

    This is the outside of the flip chart decorated and glued onto a piece of loose leaf paper.

         Each student received a sheet that had this information for the Southern Colonies. The paper was flipped over to the blank side and folded in half.  The flaps were opened and then each was folded into the middle fold.

   

  The inside of the paper was divided into four sections, Virginia, Maryland, Carolinas, and Georgia. Then the section for the Carolinas was divided in half.

  
    The students wrote the name of each colony in the correct section to match the outer flaps.  The following information was added by the students.
Founder, Reason for  founding,  Economy, and Geography.
  
     I let the kids go to it.  Encouraged to add illustrations and color, some kids go all out. I am always very impressed with their work.

   

        You can see that this chart is securely in place their Social Studies duo-tang. This way the student can refer back to their notes when working and when reviewing for a test.

     My 5th grade students have learn to used flip charts successfully.  I hope they will used this study technique in the future. 

     You can check out my other blog posts on working with flip charts. Hopefully they will be useful with your students, too!
     
      Please leave a comment if you get a spare moment. I love reading readers thoughts.

Beti 

13 Colonies Review

              REVIEW the COLONIES

    I try to do different things to review with my students before a test.
We are finishing up the chapter on the 13 Colonies. Large chart paper was perfect for the students  to write on. I taped these large pieces of paper around on the walls around the room.

            Before beginning the activity, the students were asked to write down three pieces of information about each of the Colonial groups, nine in all.  They were able to used their notes and text book to verify the correct details.

           

        Each student had an opportunity  to write information on the large sheets for each of the New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies. They had to read all the prior entries and not repeat information already written. The students could also edit incorrect information that others had written.

   At  the end of the class period the students had complied a long list of information that they knew about the colonies. They had shared their knowledge and understanding of the historical  information. Hopefully, this review solidified more information, knowledge, and understanding needed for the unit test.

Jet Toy Vocab Review Flip Chart

       Jet Toy is a STEM program in coordination with automotive engineers. Our 5th graders have been part of the Jet Toy program for years. An engineer volunteers his or her time once a week for six weeks to come and teach our children about force and motion along with the basics needed to construct and test their jet toy, balloon powered, vehicles. 
     My teaching partner teaches the Science and Math subjects for our 5th grade team. She  uses flip charts for review and study of vocab. Along with all the hands-on learning being done, the students need to have a good grasp of all the technical vocabulary.  This is where the flip chart comes in.

Some of the vocab words have been glued onto the flip chart.

Students use their books to make sure the definition matches the vocab word.

     

          Students learn so much by doing hands on activities.  

Enjoy your day!

Beti 

6 Review Stations

               We all need to review course material for tests or quizzes at sometime or another.  I had to come up with something new and keep my 5th grade Social Studies students moving while learning.  
           The New England Colonies were being studied this past week.  I wrote 30 questions that could be answered by very short answers.  These questions were divided into six "stations" of five questions each.  The questions were written on separate sheets of paper.

    6 Review Stations

            The  six stations are labeled A - F and placed around the room.

Next the children made their own recording sheet on loose leaf.

            Groups of students were chosen randomly by picking sticks.  The groups  went to their assigned station.  The students were instructed to silently read a question, move away, and write their answer on the recording sheet or find the information in their notes and then write the answer.  Each child goes back to read the next question and to write their answer.  After all five questions are completed by each member of the group, the members come together to talk over their answers.
         At the sound of a bell, the groups move to the next station and repeat the process.
        The kids loved it!  They were engaged in the activity and worked so diligently.  I was very impressed.
         

      Have you used stations to review a topic?  I will use this strategy again.

Please leave a short comment. I love to read our thoughts.
    Enjoy the day! 

Beti  

    

End of Unit Collaboration

         To wrap up a unit of study on Native American Indian tribes, I decided to have the students collaborate on their knowledge.  I used six large pieces of colored paper for this activity.  Each colored sheet had a different cultural region written in the middle. Luckily I found  large sheets of pink, light blue, yellow, orange, white, and pale yellow in the school store room.  This would be perfect.  One color for the Arctic Region, Pacific Northwest, Desert Southwest, Great Plains, Eastern Woodlands, and the last one for Native Americans in general. 
        The sheets were then divided into eight sections.
      Location, Tribes, Food, Shelter, Clothing, Climate, Items Made, and Natural Resources.

       Each class was divided randomly into six groups.   The were instructed that they would only have five minutes to write or draw some information on the paper.  Everyone was to be involved at the same time. No one could say, "I'm good at drawing, so I'll do that part. "  Each child would place their choice of information on the poster.  After five minutes, I rang my chime and the group moved on to the next poster to do the same work.
     As you can see they got busy.

Students were able to used their notes.

          I was very pleased with the amount of work that my 5th graders accomplished in 30 minutes.  

             

These are the topics that we discussed for each region. A picture is worth a thousand words!

             A job well done!
 What type of unit wrap up do you use in your class?

Please leave a comment if you have en extra minute. I'd love to hear from you.