Austin Virtual Trip/End of Year Party Note

In my prior posts this week, I included resources for our virtual field trip and party. I don’t know about you, but I’m super stressed and have a million things pressing down on me today. Sorry if all of this seems short.

This is the parent note we are sending home to parents about our virtual trip and end of year party activities. This note contains links to all of the materials I am using. If you need copies of the virtual tours to adjust for your own use, click here. If you need a copy of the end of year toast parent note to adjust for your own use, click here.

The note lists some activities we are doing that day. Here are some things that might help if you decide to do any of them.

We are doing a Quizzizz team game using this game. I am maybe most excited about our lunch of the bus. I look forward to just having some time to watch them visit with each other. Another bonus is that I won’t have to clean up any trash!!

For our Zoom game show over the symbols, I’m going to be the host. I plan on making a paper microphone and borrowing a suit from my son, well the top part anyways haha. I am going to divide the students into small groups and take turns asking them questions over the state symbols. Then I will just award points. If I can find some random game show tunes, I may play those in the background with some help from my home-bound crew.

I’m off to rush around doing random school things that I have put off today. Message if you need any help with anything or see any mistakes I need to fix

virtual-field-trip-noteDownload

Click here for a copy to edit

End of Year Toasts

This isn’t an original idea from me. I actually “teacher borrowed” this idea from one of my favorite blogs, Dave Stuart, Jr. If you haven’t subscribed, you are missing out. It really doesn’t matter what subject you teach, he has some common-sense advice for everyone.

His idea is more specifically laid out here, but basically this is a celebration of the year and each other. My classes have been really loving this activity in the past.

This year, we are going to make it part of our end of year celebration. On that day, we are going to have our virtual Austin field trip activities, some various games off and on throughout the day, and an optional talent show and toast.

We are doing our toast on Zoom as the last activity.

Here is our note we are using to explain it to everyone.

end-of-year-toastsDownload

Here is a link if you want a copy of your own:

Virtual Austin Trip Take II

You might recall that I have done a virtual Austin trip in my classroom before. I never anticipated having to do a virtual trip from outside of it. Yet, here we are. I realize full well this isn’t even close to the real thing. I know that some of my kids will never even know I sent this out as some of my parents dismiss the Remind messages I send pretty frequently. However, I feel satisfied that I did the best I could.

To make this virtual tour, I used common use photos from Flikr, giving credit as instructed under each photo. When I could, I used links to videos published by the Texas State Preservation Board and other resources on their website. I also made a couple of videos myself.

You might wonder why I didn’t just do all videos. The reason is because I wanted all of my students to be able to participate as much as they could. All of my students’ families have smart phones capable of opening a PDF. So, most of my things are a PDF download of a Google Slides presentation. Other links to websites and videos are listed as bonus in hopes that I won’t have stressed out kids or parents.

I included everything I am using except for our parent note. I will post that next and link it back here.

The tour resources are divided up into three categories. That way those with limited time or resources can view what is most interesting to them. One copy is for you just to look at and see if you want to use it. You can use it just like it is, or use the other link to make a copy of your own to adjust. We are planning on various games that day on Zoom and Quizizz and ending the day with a party. More on that tomorrow when I post the note. For today, here are links to the tours:

visitors-center-tourDownload

Link to make your own copy

capitolgroundstourDownload

Link to make your own copy

capitol-building-and-extension-1-1Download

Link to make your own copy

Virtual Field Trip

The Austin field trip is perhaps my favorite day of the year.  In fact, I didn’t even realize how much I enjoyed it until we couldn’t go.

I decided that if we couldn’t ACTUALLY go, we could at least pretend.  I won’t say it was 100 percent as fun as the real thing, but it was pretty close.

I have three class rotations on a normal day.  I scheduled our trip for three days in May.  My other two teaching teammates arranged to rotate between each other only on these days while I took the other homeroom on our trip for the day.

The week before the trip, I sent home a note about the trip. I don’t know why, but just the note alone made it seem more like a real trip for them.

Virtual Field Trip Note

Here is what we did on the actual trip day.

Planning the Trip

The first hour of the day, we planned our route to Austin.  We used the maps we use all year.  You can get them for free.  To find ordering information, visit my blog post about beginning of the year materials.  This activity was a great review of grids, map scale, and plotting a trip.  We divided into small groups.  Then, I asked groups to use the map grid to find our town and Austin.  We circled those with a pencil.  Next, students plotted the best roads to get to Austin and wrote their suggested trip down on paper.  They also used the map scale to determine how many miles the trip would take.  When using this particular highway map, students don’t need a ruler to determine miles.  Each road shows small (usually pink) triangles  with the number of miles in between each triangle.  Students simply add these numbers up to get the total. Groups then shared their suggested trip with the class.  We then compared their directions with the Google Maps directions and decided which way we would travel.  This activity took about 45 minutes for most of the groups.  This worked out well since we had PE that morning.  We were still able to go to PE without interrupting the actual trip portion of our day.

The Bus Ride

My own son always said the bus ride was the best part of each field trip.  This was no exception.  I arranged the chairs in bus row style.  We selected a driver with a random draw. Then we had a blast pretending to drive to Austin.  This little bit of improv was hilarious.  Some drivers had to stop to fix a flat.  Some children were car sick and needed us to pull over.  I “yelled” at students to sit down for their own safety.  Some children forgot we were on a bus and almost fell out the windows.  I allowed students to just talk and have their snacks.  We stopped about halfway to Austin for a bathroom break and to switch drivers, so the driver could enjoy their snack as well.  Then, we filed off the bus for the next stage of our trip.  This took varying amounts of time depending on the group.  Basically, I gave them enough time to eat the snack and be silly a little bit.  We got off when it seemed like everyone was getting bored.

Touring the Capitol, Visitors Center, and Governor’s Mansion

Once we stepped off the bus, I counted to make sure everyone was off and safe.  Then we walked to the Visitors Center.  We did leave the classroom to walk around a bit and come back.  They were so excited from the bus ride that a quiet, respectful walk down the hall worked wonders. I used the Visitors Center video and website to show them around.  I have been on this tour personally so many times that I feel like I could actually work there, so I just replicated the tour itself.  One part of the tour is a computer kiosk game about the Texas Symbols.  I printed off these cards from Quizlet and let them match them up.  If you have not been on the tour in person, explore the website beforehand and prepare to share the information you feel most interested in.  Giving a tour really is about sharing your passion for history, so make it your own.  I love the story of the Goddess of Liberty, so I showed the video of her renovation during this tour as well because the original star is located in this building.  If you want more information about her history, this is a great link to learn.  We spent about 45 minutes doing the tour and card game.

We then left the room and “walked” to the Capitol Building. I made sure to ask the students to stay with the group to be safe and counted them several times to make sure they were still there.  When we came back in, I pointed out some things we saw on the grounds during our walk with this website.  I showed the videos and showed them some links to the monuments, explaining what they each were.  If I were to do this again, I would probably stop here and let the kids get on Google Classroom and watch some videos of the monuments.  Almost every monument on the grounds has an explanatory video.  Before we went on our real trip to Austin last year, I allowed the students some time to watch as many of the videos as they wanted in Edpuzzle.  I did shorten some of the longer videos by editing in Edpuzzle.  Here is a link to my playlist on Youtube.  We then played a Quizziz game over the monuments.  These would both be fun activities to include on a virtual trip.   We spent about 30 minutes doing this, but if you added the videos and game, you could easily spend 45 minutes to an hour on this portion of the trip.

Next, we had a little bit of recess on the grounds (our playground) and headed to lunch in the cafeteria.  I could have been a trooper and had a sack lunch on the playground, but honestly, it was May.  I needed a break during that time.

Once the students came back from lunch, we headed to the Capitol Building.  I showed them the video and gave them the exact tour they would have received if they had been there using this site.  I literally have it memorized at this point.  We even pretended to pass a law while in the Senate.  If you haven’t been on the tour 15 times like me, just prepare in advance what you want to show them.  You can basically review everything you have learned in history this year.  Including the pretend passing of a law, this took about an hour.

For our final portion of the tour, we walked over to the Governor’s Mansion.  We watched a quick video and left.  Honestly, you see more on this video than you do on the actual tour.  It is also less crowded and way less of a security issue!

For the final portion of our tour, I showed students how to use Google Maps to see the streets and different parts of the area with photos.  I let them loose on our Chromebooks for about 20 minutes to  walk the area alone.   Don’t let them have too much time, they will end up accidentally in another country.

By this point we were all pretty tired, so we loaded back up on our bus and went home.  We had several adventures on the trip back.  Once we got off the bus and were back in the classroom, I asked students to write a short reflection on what they learned that day.  I set at timer for fifteen minutes and asked them to just to write their thoughts until the timer went off.  We then shared out our reflections.

Just like with any field trip, when you arrive back from the trip just a little too early before its time to go home, we headed back out to the playground for the rest of the day.

These students are now in junior high.  Even now when I see them in town, they ask me if I’ve take any students on a trip like that one.  The answer is no, and they all seem so sad for my current students who are going for real.  🙂

 

The Austin Trip

It is a fourth grade tradition in many schools to take a trip to the state capital.  It really is the perfect way to end a year of studying Texas History.  Almost every corner of the building pays tribute to a special event or person from our past.  If you are close enough to make the trip, this post if for you.  If you are not, stay tuned!  I have done a virtual trip that was equally as fun and educational.  I will give you the details in my next post.

Book Your Trip

This is the time to book your trip for the year.  I guarantee many spots are already taken.  The longer you wait to book it, the earlier in the year your trip will be.

We go see the Visitors Center, tour the Texas Capitol and Extension, and see The Star of Destiny at the Bullock.  We don’t have time to actually tour the museum.  The Star of Destiny is the highlight of the trip.  If you have to knock something off your trip, don’t let it be that.

The Capitol Tour Guide Office is really great about helping you plan the times for your trip.  When you call them, just let them know the time you will arrive and the time you need to leave the grounds. They will help you coordinate times with the Visitors Center if you are also touring there.   For us, we need to leave by 12:30 to get to the Bullock for the show.  They will help you work out a schedule from there.

In order to book a showtime at the Bullock, you must fill out an online form.  Someone will get back to you that day with reservation information.  If you are only seeing a show, make sure you note that in the comments.

Planning

We are located almost two hours away from Austin, so the trip takes a lot of planning on our part.  Although no amount of planning can prepare for all issues, I think it can head off a lot.  How do I know that??  The hard way.

Make sure parents know as many details about the trip as possible.  I once had a parent yell at me because she wore heels.  My information packet now includes a line about how far we walk.

Also, remember that many parents won’t actually read your note.  I think of my note as my insurance policy.  It has all the fine print.  Parents may not read it all, but I have done my part by disclosing the details.

The people you really want to drill on the details of the trip are the students.  I assure you they will pester their parents with all the information they need.  One thing that I really make sure the students know is they may NOT leave our group at any time without telling a teacher.  We role-play how to speak to their parents when this happens….because it will.  I teach the students to say, “Mom/Dad, I am so excited to go do…..with you, but my teacher is a safety-nut.  She will literally call the police if I’m not in her line.  Can you tell her we are walking away a minute?”  We also practice what to do if the parent still won’t listen (yell my name loudly).  Would I actually call the police??  You know it!!

I talk to the parents in my group and ask at least a few of them to walk at the end of the line, making sure none of the students leave or lag behind.  I tend to walk in the middle as I count my students four million times during the tour.

Below are my notes that I send home to parents.  If you want a copy to edit, just use the contact button.  You can also save the PDF to your Google Drive and open as a Google Doc.

Copy of Austin Note 2019.doc

Austin Schedule 2019

Copy of permission forms for austin.doc

 

Special Situations

There will be times when you have a student with special considerations that will need some alternate plans.  Be sure to mention these needs to the Bullock and Capitol beforehand. They already have plans in place when you get there IF they know in advance.  I have also often had to ask admin to take a special school vehicle to accommodate students.  This helps with students who get car sick, have special bathroom needs, or need special transportation to the Bullock museum.  Most of the time we walk from the Capitol grounds, but that isn’t possible for everyone.  Having an extra ride can also come in handy of an accident occurs while on the trip.  It isn’t a must, but if your district will allow it, it will give you some peace of mind.

 

Review

We spend some time reviewing what we have learned during the year before we go.  We have a good time doing this using the artwork located on the grounds and inside the buildings.  I use some matching cards, Quizlet, and Quizziz to review.  By the time we actually go on the trip, my students are basically tour guides for their parents.

Here are my review materials:

I let the kids study these on their own in centers during the weeks before we go. During the days immediately before we go, we play the live games for prizes.  They go bananas.

Austin Capitol Monuments Playlist on Youtube  I load these in Edpuzzle, so I can shorten some of the longer videos.  Edpuzzle is also unblocked at my school.  Youtube is not.

Austin Capitol Monuments on Quizziz  You need a free Quizziz account to view this.

State Symbols on Quizlet  The Visitors Center has a symbols center, so I try to make sure my kids know some of these.

Revolutionary Heroes on Quizlet

Revolution Battles on Quizlet

The kids also love this card game, so we play this some too.

I also show them a video of the Govenor’s mansion, a video about the Goddess of Liberty, a video about the grounds, and I spend a lot of time here showing students the important places and artwork they will see.   You could choose to let them be surprised by the artwork, but I have found that the anticipation of seeing something they already know about IN PERSON is way more exciting to them.

Enjoy

The first time you go on this trip, it is more than a little stressful getting ready.  Sometimes it can feel very stressful on the actual trip due to the crowds and time constraints.  However, don’t let fear keep you from doing this.  I promise their little, excited faces will make all of it worth it.