Links to the other grade level Virtual Field Trips! Kindergarten - How It's Made Virtual Field Trip 1st Grade - Little House on the Prairie Virtual Field Trip 2nd Grade - Washington D.C. Virtual Field Trip 3rd Grade - New York City Virtual Field Trip 4th Grade - American History Virtual Field Trip Last year, 4th and 5th Grade both did the American History Virtual Field Trip. So, this year's 5th graders needed something new. Week 1: Introduction This week I introduced our 5th Grade Virtual Field Trip. We discussed what a "virtual field trip" is, how it was going to work, and the rules and procedures for the next 9 weeks. I showed each class their "itinerary" and introduced them to the folder that would hold all of their important "travel documents". I explained that I got the idea from how I travel each summer. A friend and I take a trip each summer to a place we have never been. Each summer, everything I need for that trip (hotel and flight reservations, museum tickets, baseball tickets, maps, ect.)goes into the folder so that I have everything I need in one place. Their folder will contain the student handouts with all of the resources for each stop along our trip! National Parks Virtual Field Trip Folder Weeks 2 and 3: National Parks of the NortheastWe began things a little different with 5th Grade. They had participated in the American History Virtual Field Trip last year and understood how it all worked. We jumped right in on Week 2 with independent exploration. They picked a partner, picked up their folder and IPad, and got to work. These 2 weeks they learned about the national parks in the Northeast Region of the United States. They could explore: Cape Cod National Seashore Acadia National Park National Parks of New York Harbor Statue of Liberty Niagara Falls National Mall and Memorial Parks President's Park (The White House) I also let them experiment along with me using the app Seesaw. In the past, I have used KidBlog as another way for students to share their learning with me/their teacher and their classmates. During Week 2 I had a teacher ask me to help her students with creating a blog for their research projects. When I went to set up their class blog on KidBlog, we realized it is no longer free. A paid subscription is not an option for us, so I began looking for alternative options. I came across Seesaw and so far we love it! The kids are able to post interesting facts about what they are learning, screenshots of what they found, and comment back and forth to each other. The kids picked it up very quickly and have enjoyed having a social aspect of this Virtual Field Trip. There are so many possibilities for using this app in the classroom. I'm hoping some of our teachers will give it a try as well. Weeks 4 and 5: National Parks of the SoutheastIn week 4, I added National Parks of the Southeast to their folders. In 3rd and 4th Grade, I removed the previous handouts so that the could focus on the new destinations. I let the 5th graders add to their previous handouts because some groups were really interested in certain parks or had not explored all that they had wanted to in the previous region. In the Southeast we focused on: Little River Canyon Great Smokey Mountains National Park Gulf Islands National Seashore Mammoth Cave National Park Shenandoah National Park Everglades National Park Congaree National Park Cape Hatteras Weeks 6 and 7: National Parks of the WestWeek 6 we added handouts for National Parks of the West. We focused on: Glacier National Park Hawaii Volcanoes Mesa Verde National Park North Cascades National Park Olympic National Park Redwood National Park Rocky Mountain National Park Seqouia and King's Canyon Yellowstone National Park Yosemite National Park City of Rocks National Reserve * For the first half of the virtual field trips unit, I asked them to stick to the resources I provided for them in their folders. Beginning in week 6, I allowed them to do a little deeper searching on their own using Kiddle (Google's kid safe search engine). I am visiting Yosemite National Park this summer so the kids helped plan my trip! They loved being my travel agents, and I can't wait to check out some of the places they found! :) Weeks 8 and 9: National Parks of the Southwest and MidwestFor the final 2 weeks of the virtual field trip we added National Parks of the Midwest and Southwest.
Midwest: Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Badlands National Park Mount Rushmore (Mount Rushmore Ipad App) Theodore Roosevelt National Park Southwest: Petrified Forest National Park Carlsbad Caverns Big Bend National Park Aztec Ruins National Monument White Sands Grand Canyon National Park Saguaro National Park * We used Google Cardboard throughout the Virtual Field Trip. I purchased one for $6 on Amazon and assembled it myself...which was quite an experience since it came with ZERO instructions. It made me a little (ok a lot) nervous to hand them my phone protected only by a piece of cardboard. I ended up buying the View-Master VR by Mattel. It has definitely been worth the money!
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AuthorI am an elementary educator in Birmingham, AL. I have previously taught preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. I now have the BEST job as an elementary school librarian or "The Library Lady" as I'm called by the kindergartners! Archives
March 2017
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