Building a Mission and...

Fourth grade means California history. And if there is one thing that more people ask me as a fourth grade history teacher, it is, “Do you students still have to build a mission?” The short answer is yes. The long answer is much more interesting. I am now in my 9th year of teaching fourth grade and have yet to go the traditional route of simply building a mission. The concept is even mocked about in the fourth grade mini-musical number “Gotta Build a Mission (Sugar cubes).” I have had students build a mission of their own volition, sometimes with kits and sometimes by free hand, using the aforementioned sugar cubes or tongue depressors (popsicle sticks). However, it was last year, my first at Star, that I was lucky enough to be a part of a new paradigm of building a mission. Minecraft.

It actually went a step further. Rather than each student creating a mission or even pair of students, larger groups of students would brainstorm what a person would expect to see at a mission, not any mission in particular. Additionally, as we study how California was colonized by Spain, it was not only missions, but presidios, pueblos, and eventually ranchos. With this thought, groups of students similarly discussed, planned out, and blueprinted what they would create in Minecraft to represent their respective sites. This being the second year, I decided to add a fifth site, a Spanish Galleon. Take a look at some of the pics below for the incredible work that students put in that allowed them to connect to what those places may have looked like, be made out of, and what life may have been like for people at that time.

NOTE: Need to add pictures of presidio.

The fountain and central plaza of the mission grounds.

Sleeping quarters on a mission.

A bunk area.

Inside the chapel.

An aerial view of a pueblo.

Can't say this is historically accurate, but still necessary.

Inside a home in a pueblo.

Aerial view of the rancho tract of land.

Plenty of hay for the rancho animals.

Far view of the Spanish galleon.

Inside of the Spanish galleon.

Rear view of the galleon.

Snow Day with Second Grade Buddies

       Living in California, particularly the Central Valley, it is a rare opportunity to spend some time in the snow so Mrs. Evans and I decided to play with that notion and have an impromptu snow day. We started by meeting together and creating poems about winter related topics. Second graders shared what they had been working on including "Here, There" chants, cinquains, diamantes, and acrostics.
       Later in the day, we met together in the gym and had two ongoing activities. Some students used sheets to toss and catch foam balls in small groups much like many of us may have experienced with parachutes growing up in elementary school. The titular activity though was a snowball fight arena with three designated areas for students to stay behind and toss imaginary "snowballs" made from crumpled up scratch paper. Fourth graders and second graders did a great job both helping each other, following the instructions, and helping clean up afterwards. Take a look at some of the pics below.