Swimming Pool and Park

We go to the swimming pool and park every year as one of our field trips. I know this one isn't too educational but the students really enjoy it. I have always used it as a reward for the students that work hard and complete their assignments. I'm kind of a stickler when it comes to students getting their work done and I usually have a couple of kids that don't end up going on the field trip. This usually helps the students see that I mean business and it motivates them for the next field trip or activity. I think it is important to have incentives and rewards for good behavior for the students.

I guess my concern with this field trip is the time that it takes away from in the classroom teaching. I have been justifying it by saying that it is a good incentive but I am wonder what some of you think about it. I have mixed feelings about taking a day like this to go and have fun or to stay at the school and work. I would appreciate any comments.

I also included this picture so that I could show that I could upload a picture to my blog for my personal learning plan.

Brigham Young Home & D.U.P. Museum

In fourth grade we teach Utah geography and social studies. These are two great places that we go to learn more about the settling of Utah and some of the things they had. The D.U.P. is the Daugthers of the Utah Pioneers. They have a pretty neat museum that they give us a tour of and tell us about the people that settled St. George and some of the tools they used. They have things from making cotton and silk to guns and swords.

The Brigham Young home is a neat house that the kids walk through. The escorts tell the students about the old house and the furniture that is in it. They also talk about the cotton that was raised in St. George and they show the students the yard and the different plants and trees that are there. This one usually doesn't take too long and the kids like looking at the old stuff.

These two historic sites are in the middle of St. George so we are going to do a bike field trip to these sites this year. It should be a lot of fun.

Wild Life Museum

We have a wildlife museum in St. George that has a lot of the animals that live in Utah. We have done a bike field trip to this museum and have had a lot of fun. The students enjoy it and we get a discount on the price to get in. I think it is $2.00 per student. This is probably one of our more costly field trips as far as money out of pocket but I think it is worth it. I would like to come up with a graphic organizer or a worksheet that the students need to fill out while they are going through the museum or just after. This way I think I could really tie this in well with what the students are learning. If any of you have something on Utah animals that would work for this let me know. Also if you are teaching in the St. George area this is a great field trip and I would encourage you to take advantage of this facility.

Virgin River Field Trip

I have been thinking about different field trips and I was wondering about a field trip to the Virgin River. It is the main river drainage for our area and I think it would be a great way for students to see a real habitat. I am teaching fourth grade this coming year and would like to do this. I know it would cover part of our core but I'm not sure of how to tie it in for the students to really focus on the content. If any of you have any lesson plans or ideas about this please let me know?

Bike Field Trips

I am wondering how others feel about biking field trips. We live in the middle of town and can bike to many different places. We also have many bike trails that take us all over town that we can access quite easily. I probably wouldn't do this with younger grades, but what about 4th or 5th graders?

Field Trips

I want to discuss field trips and what exactly constitutes an educational field trip. I love field trips and my grade level team takes many throughout the year. The concern I have is whether the time missed in class is worth the educational value of the field trip. With the growing push to raise the achievement level of all students I want to know what is most productive for the students. A question I have for other educators is, what do you do during your field trips to help the students learn something and make them educational?

For myself I have tried once in a while to have the students take notes or do some kind of assignment related to the field trip while they are on the field trip. I feel that it is very important for schools to value the community they live in and try to involve the community in the education process.

One big concern for our school district is that because of bus scheduling elementary field trips must be over by 1:30 p.m. This would be OK for some field trips but for other field trips it really makes it hard to go and do what we would like to do.

I am also curious as to what field trips other educators go on that relate to their grade level core standards. I teach 4th and 5th grade depending on the year, so I am looking for ideas for those grade levels, but I also think many field trips will work across many grade levels. Let me know what you think. I would appreciate some feedback on this.

Sincerely,

Mr. A