I had all intentions of sharing some AWESOME pictures of my class this week working on our U.S. Symbols Unit and My Traveling Tourists Activities and lo and behold…I have pneumonia!! Yep…in bed..and feeling terrible..but at least I can connect with the blogging world still.
My Traveling Tourists Resource
I was so excited to get my unit off the ground this week as my class became the Traveling Tourists. They are going to “travel” around North America with their “passport” to different states and learn about different U.S. Symbols and Tourist Attractions. So all of this is going to have to happen hopefully at the end of this week or maybe even the beginning of next but I literally couldn’t wait to share my unit with you 🙂
This unit is going to take about 4 or 5 days to complete. I am going to set up 3 – 4 different destinations in my classroom that my kiddos are going to travel to each day. At each destination, they first must have their passport “stamped” with the state/country they are in and write it in their passport. Each destination has a specific stamp that they will glue into their passports. At the first stop, they will create their “Suitcase” that will hold all of their flip-flap books of their new learning. Then we will begin our travels…
This is the front cover of the suitcase that they will be traveling with. I have one for boys and one for girls.
Getting Started….
Here is the Passport that the children will be traveling to their destinations with!
After their passports are stamped, they will read through the information file that is in the center. I created Destination Files that tell the students where they are on the map and then inside the folder is an information card with the specific U.S. Symbol or Tourist Attraction that is associated with the destination. (Pennsylvania has two attractions: The American Flag because Betsy Ross sewed the first American Flag and lived in Pennsylvania and The Liberty Bell. Washington D.C. also has two attractions: The Lincoln Memorial and The Washington Monument.)
This is one of the Information Folders. I took a large piece of construction paper and folded it in half. I glued the “Welcome to…Poster on the front cover and on the inside I glued the U.S. Symbol or Tourist Attraction information card.
They will work with a partner at each destination and read the information card together. After they read the card, the students will do a “Turn and Talk” session and share 2 facts they learned from each information card. Then they will complete the Flip-Flap book at each destination writing down 2-3 facts about their new “schema” (new learning).
Here is what the inside of the suitcase will look like when they have finished traveling to all of their destinations.
After traveling to all of our destinations, I will teach the children how to write an opinion paragraph. They will get to choose from two topics: The Best Tourist Attraction or The Most Important American Symbol. They will organize their thoughts and arguments on the graphic organizer and write a rough copy of their paragraph in their Writer’s Notebook. After our editing and revisions, we will write a final copy of our opinion paragraph and add it to the back cover of our suitcase as a culminating activity.
Here is the Graphic Organizer for The Most Important American Symbol Opinion Writing Activity.
U.S Symbols Flip Flap Book®
This year I am adding a bit of an assessment piece to my Traveling Tourists Activity! They will complete my NEW U.S. American Symbols Flip-Flap Book to demonstrate the knowledge they gained throughout the unit!
This is what each page of the U.S American Symbols Flip-Flap book looks like! I am so excited to add this assessment piece to the mix! FUN, FUN, FUN!
So…that’s it in a nutshell 🙂 I was soooooooo excited to get this off the ground this week, but I think I am going to have to move it to next week 🙁 I hope you find this Traveling Tourists Activity interesting. If you do, check it out in my Blog Shop Store and stayed tuned for more blogs at my Simply Skilled Teaching Blog Page!
Click the images below to check out these resources in my blog shop!!!
Freebie Alert!!!
Wait!!! Before you go, check out this FREEBIE just for YOU!!!! Click HERE or the image below to get your FREEBIE TODAY!
Oh….and if you have read to the bottom of this blog post…Thank You! Leave a comment below and I will pick a winner in a few days to win this unit!!! Woooohoooo!!!
Thank for stopping by!!!
Hugs,
I hope you are feeling better soon! Not a fun way to spend your week 🙁 I think your unit looks amazing!
Teacher Gone Digital
teachergonedigital @ gmail. com
Hope you are feeling better! Would love to win the packet!
rachelmd93@gmail.com
I would love to win! Being sick is no fun. I hope you get better quickly! ahenry4443ah@gmail.com
Looks great! I love the "traveling" type units. We do Christmas Around the World and it is a lot of fun. This would be a great way to learn about American symbols.
~Melissa
http://www.teachertreasurehunter.blogspot.com
luv2harp at gmail dot com
I hope you feel better soon! I am also a 2nd grade teacher – recovering from ankle/foot surgery. YUCK!! Your resource pack looks FUN and engaging for lots of learning! I'd love to win it to use with my students.
susanlulu@yahoo.com
Oh my gosh! I LLLOOOVVVEEE this! I have it in my cart as we speak (type? (o:) but would love to take it off because I won 🙂 I hope you feel better soon! I think being gone is so much harder than working when you're sick 🙁 Hugs to you!
~ Cori
ccapper@sbcglobal.net
I LOVE this!
cheriemae@gmail.com
I would love to win this unit. It looks fabulous!
Cindy
Luoma@Mentorschools.org
Being sick is no fun!!! I've had a sore throat for days and I'm hoping and praying it doesn't get worse. Your unit looks great! Feel better soon.
Marcy
Saddle Up For 2nd Grade
We just started learning about US Symbols. This unit looks great. Fingers crossed!
Laura
enchantingelementary@gmail.com
Enchanting Elementary
This looks awesome! I would love to use this!
mcreynolds.sarah@gmail.com
Anna, This looks like a wonderful resource. It's a bummer to hear that you are sick just when the weather is getting nice too.
Thank you for the chance to win. I pinned this resource, so I remember where it is.
🙂
Iteachkidsabc@gmail.com
:o) V.
Special Teacher for Special Kids
This Awesome!! Feel Better
docketta@yahoo.com
We are learning about US symbols right now. I would love to have it! Hope you feel better soon.
cindyw98@aol.com
My son just spent a week in the hospital with pneumonia. No fun! I hope you are feeling better soon!
We are about to start our study of the regions of the US. This looks fantastic!
Jenny
Suntans and Lesson Plans
Thanks for the opportunity.
yvonneeyrg@gmail.com
I would love to use this with my 2nd graders! 🙂
Thanks!
~Wendy
sdwd727@gmail.com
This is fantastic! Thank you for sharing!
Salina
salinasalina@gmail.com
I would love to use this with my 2nd graders! It looks fantastic 🙂
Thanks!
Melanie
MelanieMorgan.EdD@gmail.com
This looks like a great social studies unit…the students will love 'traveling' through the unit!
I just discovered your blog/TPT store the other day…so glad I did! (Um, yeah, I am usually the last to know anything!)
tokyoshoes (at) hotmail (dot) com
So cute. American Symbols is one of my favorite units. Wish I was doing it this year. Just found your blog through the blogs by state. It is adorable.
Laurie
Chickadee Jubilee
This looks awesome! I would love to use this!
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