BACK IN THE CLASSROOM -- School’s not square

Danette Goulet

They swung their partners do-si-do and skipped to the right and then to

the left. They built a tunnel and came on through. And then in the

center, dancers dug for gold.

Dressed as cowboys, Indians, pilgrims, and other settlers, fourth-grade

students in Dee Mattern’s class reenacted the history of California

during an interactive assembly at Kaiser Elementary School in Costa Mesa.

The assembly was part of a special social studies program in which all

fourth- through sixth-graders will have a chance to participate

throughout the month.

While fifth-graders will study the American Revolution and sixth-graders

will cover the Ancient World, fourth-graders are exploring their home

state.

Presented on by California Weekly Explorer, a Tustin-based company, the

assembly teaches children about the state’s rich history and vast

geography using a hands-on approach.

Beth Brunskill of California Weekly began telling students how this state

became inhabited. As she went along, she would ask for volunteers, at

which time 32 hands strained upward.

Students enthusiastically tromped around at Brunskill’s direction. They

simulated events ranging from the making of adobe bricks -- by mixing

clay, water, straw and manure -- to the fiesta that may have occurred

when Mexico took control of California in 1822. That reenactment had

students dancing around the room, banging tambourines and shouting, “viva

la Mexico -- ole.” For the Gold Rush, it was square dancing and shouts of

“eureka!”

Prior to the assembly, each student was given a slip of paper with a word

on it, such as “mission” or “glacier.” Beside the word were a definition

and two questions. Students went to the library and used encyclopedias to

find the answers, which they memorized.

They were then called on as “experts” during the assembly.

“I think the fun part was the expert cards -- and going up and dancing

around,” said 9-year-old Lia Okvist.

Students were constantly engaged in one activity or another as the

assembly continued. They went through the Spanish and Mexican reigns of

California, the visit of Russian Nikoli Rezanov and the three-week period

when California was its own country.

For a visual, students built a huge raised map of the state on the floor,

placing plastic grapes in the Napa Valley, a plastic lizard in Death

Valley and a miniature cable car in San Francisco.

During the course of the program, students were taught new information

that was reinforced in numerous ways. And children had fun -- even if

they were aware that they were learning.

* IN THE CLASSROOM is a weekly feature in which Daily Pilot education

writer Danette Goulet visits a campus within the Newport-Mesa Unified

School District and writes about her experience.

FYI

* Who: Fourth-grade students in Dee Mattern’s class

* Where: Kaiser Elementary School

* What: “Walk Through California,” a special social studies program

* Lesson: History and geography of California