Students get hands on with history
A couple dozen Hollister fourth-graders traveled back in time
recently with the help of a time machine named Herman and a whole
lot of imagination.
Students get hands on with history
A couple dozen Hollister fourth-graders traveled back in time recently with the help of a time machine named Herman and a whole lot of imagination.
The students sat with one of their hands over their eyes, an arm across their heads, hunched over with faces toward the floor – time travel position. They giggled and squirmed in their seats.
When they opened their eyes, they were transported to a California they could hardly recognize – one where a Native American named Wishtoya paddled a canoe along the coast.
Kim Gaither’s fourth-grade class at the Accelerated Achievement Academy in Hollister participated in a California Weekly Explorers presentation “Walk Through California” Oct. 30 with the help of tour guide Erin Cordero. California Weekly Explorers has been producing educational materials since 1979 and now provides social studies presentations for fourth- through sixth-grade classes. In two and half hours, Cordero took the children back to a time when Native Americans ruled the land and up to when California became part of the United States.
“Herman” is a modest size box, covered with knobs and dials. Cordero would push a button and a 40-second countdown began – enough time for her to collect, costume and brief a student from the class to play a role in the interactive drama.
“California is our social studies curriculum,” Gaither said. “It lends itself perfectly. They have a preview of what they will be learning all year.”
Some of the students dressed up for the presentation. Several girls wore long skirts and bright señorita dresses. Some sported cowboy hats. One dressed in blue with fish cut outs attached to her clothes as an ocean.
“It hits all kinds of learning – auditory, visual, kinesthetic,” Gaither said. “My favorite part is that everybody has a little [to do.]”
Gaither and a fifth-grade teacher at the Academy decided to have the Explorers presentations at the beginning of the school year. The fifth-grade class learned about the American Revolution in a presentation the same day.
The presentations cost up to $315 each, according to the Explorer’s Web site. The teachers received a preparation manual and Gaither gave her students three weeks to become experts.
“It’s a great class,” Cordero said, “when they have time to get excited.”
Each student was assigned a word that related to California history or geography – sea, valley, mission, glacier – and during the presentation whenever Cordero said one of the study words, they were invited up into the expert chair.
To keep the kids focused, Cordero broke the students into four teams – the Redwoods, the Green Valleys, the Blue Oceans and the Gold Rushers – and they could earn points for their team throughout the presentation. Each time they got points the kids stood up and cheered. For being an expert and answering in a complete sentence, the kids could get up to 25 points.
During a short break, many of the kids talked about their favorite part of the presentation.
“When I got to go up and say my word,” said Makayla Renteria, who was dressed in a red señorita costume.
Her word was missionary.
Another girl dressed as a señorita agreed.
“Hearing everyone’s word and giving points to my team [was the best part],” Catherina Ji said.
She practiced her word a little every day and memorized it.
Each time the students traveled through time, Cordero enlisted the help of Herman. She asked the kids to cover their eyes so they wouldn’t pop out and their heads so their brains wouldn’t explode.
“I wish that time machine was real,” one boy said as Herman counted down from 40.
The second stop in time was 1542 when the first Spanish conquistador arrived in California. Cordero enlisted the help of Ciaran Rule to play the explorer. She draped him in a red cape and placed a gold helmet on his head. But the explorer died off quickly after a broken bone led to an infection so Rule tumbled to the ground. The journey through time continued.
Cordero kept the students’ attention well and one way she did that was with a 3-D California map that had lollipops stuck along the sides. Whenever kids were being great – paying attention and participating – they had a chance to pull out a lollipop. If it had a gold tip, they would get 50 points for their team.
The part of the skit that had the kids giggling the most was a skit about how Russia and Spain started trading together. Cordero asked Scotty Parkin to play a Russian trader and Tony Murillo to be a Spanish landowner. While the Spanish landowner went to the governor to get permission to trade with Russia, the trader fell in love with the landowner’s sister. Sheyla Pastrana played the sister and when Cordero called for her to hold hands with Parkin there was plenty of resistance from both.
“Now comes the kiss,” Cordero joked. “Oh, I’m just kidding. Now comes the 20-minute-long hug.”
The kids all laughed.
At the end of the history lesson, the kids each placed a section of a large California map on the floor of the classroom. After their break, they placed objects around the state to represent history, geography or landmarks. The Sierra-Nevada was spotted with trees. Chumash Indians landed in Santa Barbara. Mickey was placed at Disneyland. A little school bus was placed in Hollister.
Cordero quizzed the kids in the form of a game. She talked about California and every time she said something that was incorrect, the kids could correct her for points. At the end of the presentation, the Blue Oceans had received the most points. All the students seemed happy with the outcome.
“They all get to share and learn as opposed to being directed by someone,” Gaither said.
For more information on California Weekly Explorers, visit www.californiaweekly.com.
