SAILS AND TALES: 4TH GRADERS NAVIGATE EARLY CALIFORNIA WITH HISTORY AND MATH
4th grade historians wrapped up their study of mission life in early CA History this week, closing a weeks-long series of simulations in small groups pretending to be shipmates trading goods along a route sailing from Boston up the CA coast. In their teams, students visited many stops along the coast, at each mission reading about its history, architecture, important Native and Spanish people, and their various perspectives and experiences. They captured their reading notes using graphic organizers and proved their knowledge about each mission in order to earn the rights to trade with its inhabitants.
I learned a lot about group work, like when my partner gave me feedback and I learned to accept it. I hope we can be in the same groups again!
A math connection in this unit challenged students to track their total store of goods, starting from Boston and accounting for each trade along the way, including paying taxes. At their final destination, students calculated the total value of their ships’ goods, practicing their multi-digit multiplication. On Wednesday, students began an individual assessment to see what they each remembered from the unit—from geographic questions (like what physical features Spaniards sailed past as they traveled to CA), to material questions (like what products tallow was used to make), to people questions (like who did most of the work building the missions and what motivated people from Spain to come to the West Coast of the Americas).
After their first pass at the quiz independently, they relied on their shipmates’ knowledge to improve their final answers. At Wednesday’s end, students reflected with their teacher about the entire experience, sharing things like, “I knew almost none of this before this year.” And, “I learned a lot about group work, like when my partner gave me feedback and I learned to accept it. I hope we can be in the same groups again!”