My best ever, and favorite lesson(s) were for my 4, 5, and 6th graders my first few years in multi-age. It was the first big project we did together in class. I haven't done it lately, but now that I think about it....
I called AAA. I have a membership with them. I asked for several of their travel books. They gave me 15 of the previous years' books. The assignment: You have $1000.00 and 1 friend. You need to plan a trip that takes you from Crescent City to San Diego. You have one week. You may stop at any tourist attraction, hotel, motel, etc. You and your friend must stick together and share the money equally. Remember that food, lodging, gas, entertainment cost money and need to be included in your budget. You have an parent driver, if you choose to have one, who is not included in your budget. You are to write an itinerary, a budget, and a journal of your daily activities. I think I gave them two weeks to do this and a small notebook. Along the way we discussed and demoed several ways to do a budget, what an itinerary was and how to write one. Any questions they asked were, "I don't know. How can you decide that?" Remember, this took place before the Internet became common. Over the few years I did this: I had kids calling for train and bus schedules. Learning to read them and manipulate them. I had them talking to hotel managers. Calls to Grandma, aunt, and family friends with homes along the way were very common. Of course almost everyone had the Disneyland stop. When the adults on the phone believed the kids were for real, it was great. I did have a few come back with stories of being told off by business people. We talked about being customers and consumers. They moved on to get help from someone that was helpful. It was absolutely the most powerful thing we did. Once the standards became the "law" I had to let it go. I just couldn't figure out how to fit this wonderful round lesson into the horrible square box. Now with the internet, and spreadsheets, and various other assistance, I wonder how I could make this feasible. OR Since I am teaching Medival History and LA next year, I wonder if I can use this idea without borrowing any books. I will have to think about that. Hmmm. Kim Kimberlee Hannan Department Chair Sequoia Middle School Fresno, California 93702 Laugh when you can, apologize when you should, let go of what you can't change, kiss slowly, play hard, forgive quickly, take chances, give everything, have no regrets.. Life's too short to be anything but happy. [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
