Walking the Colonies

One of my students' most favorite time during the school day is when we do The Walking Classroom.  That is one of the first things they ask me in line, before we enter the classroom.  "Are we going to do The Walking Classroom today??"

Sample of my bulletin board

I wanted to capitalize on this enthusiasm, as well as get a little bit of social studies in (since our unit, the Colonies, isn't actually covered in the lessons on the WalkKits.) So I thought and thought and came up with this little gem of an idea that is working super splendidly for me....Walking the Colonies!

This is actually something you don't need The Walking Classroom for.   We just are outside walking, so I do the two programs in conjunction with each other.

So what is this Walking the Colonies, you say?

Basically, my kids walk laps around the track.  As they are walking, they are keeping a tally of the amount of laps that they complete.  When we come back into the classroom, I add all of the laps up.  Then, using a scale of 1 lap = 1 mile, we go to our big map of the colonies (you can see basically what it looks like in the picture above)  and move around from destination to destination.

Just a sample of one of the Information Cards

When we hit a destination, I lead a little mini-lesson on the founding of that specific colony. Using information cards that I wrote, summarizing the most important events leading to the founding of the colony, the students get a nice introduction to the region.  We talk about it and discuss why the colony was founded.  Then, we head off to the next destination the next day.

I also have posted in the classroom a running tally of exactly how many "miles" have been traveled, both in total and between destinations.

Each of my students has their own folder with the little information cards that we have reviewed. That way, they have a record of the learning that they can then reference in our social studies unit. They also have a record of how many actual laps they have walked as well as how many actual miles they personally have walked.

As we move from one destination to the next, I have the kids input the miles it from the previous stop and then the total miles that have been walked by the class.  They also keep track of how many laps they personally have walked and how many REAL miles that equates to.  Usually they get in about a mile a day walking.

What I really like is that the kids are not just learning about the colonies when we get back to class, but they are pushing themselves to walk farther on the yard each day.  They walk just a little bit faster, getting their heart rate up just a little bit more, moving their blood and getting their bodies to work just a little bit better.  The added challenge of the "tour of the colonies" gives them an end-goal to work for too.  They want to go that one extra lap so that we will get to Maryland or New Jersey just a bit sooner.

Now, you don't actually have to walk to do this program.  You could have the kids read a certain amount of pages each day to equal a mile, then have the class move from destination to destination. They can earn a set number of table points, or complete a certain amount of homework assignments. You could also just do the mini-lessons and move around the colonies that way. 

 Anyway, that is just a fun little way I have tried to get more social studies into my day.  And now, I am going to give one lucky winner a chance to do the same.  Just leave a comment on my blog telling me how you get social studies into your day, then enter the Rafflecopter, and I will give one of these Walking the Colonies packs away to one lucky winner.  Enter by midnight April 20 though...as the rafflecopter will close then.  Good luck!

And if you just can't wait, you can get the Walking the Colonies pack here.  If you happen to win, I will let you pick something else from my store that is priced the same.

a Rafflecopter giveaway