The Rookery

Michelle allowing me to try my darnedest to not only fill in for her the past two weeks, but work towards coming into my own as a teacher has been nothing but a wonderful opportunity. I however, don’t think you’re here to read my story, so let’s talk about what your kids have been up to. We wrapped up Lewis and Clark and are working towards the culmination of our Explorers theme so allow me give you a quick summary of what the two weeks of being immersed in the Lewis and Clark expedition looked like for the Herons.

This all began with your children all receiving letters from President Thomas Jefferson himself explaining to them why he choose them, Lewis and Clark, to explore this newly purchased addition to the United States. The students had to figure out what to pack before they could head off on the journey though. We had a couple fun visual literacy lessons where we worked on reading and creating our own visual glossary to determine not only what Lewis and Clark brought along with them on the expedition but what were the most important things they had to pack.

Together as a class we also read up on a few of the more noteworthy members of the Corps of Discovery and then worked to determine what important skills they had, and what skills we would still want from the rest of the crew to make the expedition easier for us. A few of the ideas the students came up with were that they would like to have a cook or a doctor, and eventually there was a suggestion of a juggler for entertainment of course. The students then created “Want Ads” to advertise these positions.

All this work was to lead up to what we’ve done the past 2 weeks: exploring the Louisiana Purchase and finding a passage to the Pacific Ocean!

The class was divided into 5 squads of 4 students. Each student rotated their way through 4 different roles on this expedition. The roles were Captain, Journal Writer, Interpreter, and the Private. Each day the students are presented with a dilemma that Lewis and Clark faced along their journey and discuss it amongst their squad. This discussion is led by the Captain and once the group has come to a decision, the journal writer records it and researches what Lewis and Clark actually did through reading grade level appropriate translations of actual L&C journal entries. The Interpreter’s role after the initial discussion was to write a postcard to Thomas Jefferson informing him of their current location along with describing the terrain as well as a local tribe they had come across. The interpreter then decorated the front of the postcard with a plant or animal that was discovered along the way. The Private tasks is where student interest has peaked. These tasks include writing and communication work, arts and crafts, mapping skills and the ability to research. The actual tasks range from writing a song about the journey to researching the local fauna and flora; creating a decorated animal skin to learning sign language; creating bead-work and leather pouches to creating a map of the area as it was in 1803. The students were offered a variety of tasks that upon completion helped their squad move down the river and really allowed students to find their own creative niche. When each student fulfilled their role they could hop into working on these Corps tasks. One student found a vocation in writing biographies about the Corps members and finished close to 15 while another student enjoyed researching the plants Lewis and Clark “discovered” along their expedition and created posters with beautiful drawings and all the relevant information you should know about each plant. The best part of my experience setting up this interactive journey for the Herons has been seeing how an activity like this allows the students to lead their own discovery, find their own passion and apply it in their own unique ways. While the two students I described found their fondness of certain activities, another squad has come together to share the passion of the competition by being the first ones to make it to the Pacific and back(days and days before Michelle or I ever expected it to be possible) and then all the way to Washington D.C. to meet Thomas Jefferson face to face and tell him all about our journey. 

The Herons really took this seriously and impressed both Michelle and I in ways we were not anticipating. The expedition was set up to be a two week long journey just to get to the Pacific Ocean yet every squad made it to Fort Clatsop and all the way back to where we set off from. One squad even finished every single task we offered(and I was quite the stickler on quality) which was the last thing I expected. The Herons find new ways to surprise and impress me every day I am with them which, I am learning, is just another wonderful thing about being a teacher.