Overnight Trips
PEEC- Pacific Environmental Education Center in Fort Bragg is our first overnight field trip. It will be toward the end of March and coincides with our animal adaptation and ecosystem study in science. Students will explore tide pools, huge sand dunes, redwood forests, and really examine the biodiversity of those ecosystems. For many students this is the first field trip away from home and you will be amazed how much students grow as people.The Pacific Environmental Education Center is a non-profit, standards-based, residential outdoor science school. PEEC is located within MacKerricher State Park on the beautiful Mendocino coast of California. From our site students visit the beach, tide pools, seal rookery, coastal prairie, fresh water lake and whale skeleton. Off-site, students explore unique sand dunes, and hike through redwood and pygmy forests. Their coastal ecology program seeks to instill within students a respect for the natural world.
http://peec.mcn.org/Home.html
Tour Through Gold Country-rTour Through Gold Country three day overnight. We start our journey in Old Town Sacramento, where students "travel back in time" to attend a class in an old school house as if it were the 1800's. They learn how to curtsey and bow before they share an answer (which they display on their chalkboards of course)! Students also visit the Sacramento History Museum, where they learn all about Gold Rush History. They even get to pan for gold!
http://www.historicoldsac.org/shm.asp
http://www.empiremine.org/
http://malakoffdigginsstatepark.org/
Later that day, we travel to and camp along the Bear River, where students partake in many activities. We are visited by storytellers who specialize in Gold Rush history. Students watch a comical Gold Rush film based on a novel we read aloud in class, By the Great Horn Spoon. We visit the historic Empire Mine in Grass Valley where students learn all about blacksmithing and underground mining. It is such a wonderful feeling to get to share with students our love of the foothills and all the history that goes along with the area!
http://www.historicoldsac.org/shm.asp
http://www.empiremine.org/
http://malakoffdigginsstatepark.org/
Later that day, we travel to and camp along the Bear River, where students partake in many activities. We are visited by storytellers who specialize in Gold Rush history. Students watch a comical Gold Rush film based on a novel we read aloud in class, By the Great Horn Spoon. We visit the historic Empire Mine in Grass Valley where students learn all about blacksmithing and underground mining. It is such a wonderful feeling to get to share with students our love of the foothills and all the history that goes along with the area!
Fort Ross- Fort Ross is a two day trip and is one of the highlights of the fourth grade year. In May, our class lives and breathes Fort Ross history! This amazing Living History Project brings the past alive for students through role play. Students become someone who actually lived at the Fort during its time of operation. They change their name tags on their desks to represent their Fort Ross character name. Students learn Russian in class, dance the Troika, write research reports, and make leather pouches, water-bottle holders, and journals. They even get to present to parents and third graders in a wax museum style presentation (where their character comes to life)!
While at the fort, students have unique and varying experiences depending on their role group they are a part of. Some members of our class will learn how to fire the cannon while others fish in the ocean. The artisans paint beautiful landscapes and build lanterns while the gardeners harvest and plant food. Everyone involved dresses in costume (including chaperones who attend). A night watch is also part of this trip, during which time role groups "guard" the fort, star gaze, and eat Russian Tea Cakes, and have hot cocoa by the fire. This trip is amazing and not only makes history real, but it leaves an indelible imprint on the minds of all who participated. It has impacted me greatly as an educator and has truly influenced my teaching philosophy.
http://www.fortross.org/?gclid=CMOuma-9nsACFQGqaQodWFcARw
While at the fort, students have unique and varying experiences depending on their role group they are a part of. Some members of our class will learn how to fire the cannon while others fish in the ocean. The artisans paint beautiful landscapes and build lanterns while the gardeners harvest and plant food. Everyone involved dresses in costume (including chaperones who attend). A night watch is also part of this trip, during which time role groups "guard" the fort, star gaze, and eat Russian Tea Cakes, and have hot cocoa by the fire. This trip is amazing and not only makes history real, but it leaves an indelible imprint on the minds of all who participated. It has impacted me greatly as an educator and has truly influenced my teaching philosophy.
http://www.fortross.org/?gclid=CMOuma-9nsACFQGqaQodWFcARw
Day Trips
Bike Ride to Julliard Park in Santa Rosa
The first Bike Trip of the year is our annual ride along the Joe Rodota Trail. The ENRICH! 3rd and 4th grade classes meet at the trail head in Sebastopol (near The Feed Store) and ride as a group to Julliard Park in Santa Rosa. Here, we have a restful lunch with time for play and then ride back to Sebastopol. Prior to the trip, we review bike safety rules with students. We have also been fortunate enough to have been escorted along the trail by CHP officers on motorcycles. They help us with all the street crossings and any other issues that may arise along the trail. This is a wonderful trip and a great way to promote health within our schools!
The first Bike Trip of the year is our annual ride along the Joe Rodota Trail. The ENRICH! 3rd and 4th grade classes meet at the trail head in Sebastopol (near The Feed Store) and ride as a group to Julliard Park in Santa Rosa. Here, we have a restful lunch with time for play and then ride back to Sebastopol. Prior to the trip, we review bike safety rules with students. We have also been fortunate enough to have been escorted along the trail by CHP officers on motorcycles. They help us with all the street crossings and any other issues that may arise along the trail. This is a wonderful trip and a great way to promote health within our schools!
Marin Museum of the American Indian
One unit of study in 4th Grade Social Studies is Early California, with a specific emphasis on the California Native Americans. We learn how the regions in which they lived impacted their way of life. Native Americans living in a coastal climate, for example, would gather shells, eat abalone, catch fish, etc. This differs greatly from Native Americans living in the desert as the resources available to them varied significantly. We learn about trade, traditions, and perhaps most importantly, the respect the Native Americans had for the land. Students gain an appreciate for Native American culture and also learn about present day life at the Marin Museum of the American Indian.
One unit of study in 4th Grade Social Studies is Early California, with a specific emphasis on the California Native Americans. We learn how the regions in which they lived impacted their way of life. Native Americans living in a coastal climate, for example, would gather shells, eat abalone, catch fish, etc. This differs greatly from Native Americans living in the desert as the resources available to them varied significantly. We learn about trade, traditions, and perhaps most importantly, the respect the Native Americans had for the land. Students gain an appreciate for Native American culture and also learn about present day life at the Marin Museum of the American Indian.
*Optional Winter Break Field Trip- Petaluma Animal Services- In 4th grade, we do a blanket making drive and make much needed blankets for one of our local Animal Shelters. Students are then invited on first Saturday of break to deliver the blankets to the shelter and see firsthand, the wonderful animals that they are helping.
General Vallejo's Home- Sonoma Mission and General Vallejo's Home is another invaluable field trip taken in the 4th grade.. This trip aligns with our Social Studies units that focuses on the Spanish and Mexican influence on California. We begin our day at the mission in Sonoma. From here, we visit the Sonoma Barracks, where students participate in a historical scavenger hunt. After lunch at the park, we go on a nice mile hike to General Vallejo's home where students learn all about General Vallejo and his family. We tour the grounds, including the Vallejo's old family home and learn about what life would have been like in the 1800's.