IN THE CLASSROOM -- A California state of mind

Danette Goulet

COSTA MESA -- In the fourth grade, students are at a stage where they

are on the cusp of transforming into older, more responsible children and

yet still maintain many childish traits.

One minute they can be seriously informing you of a fact and the next

grinning in chagrin as they make a mess of trying to write a sentence.

That is what I took away from watching them interact in groups, at any

rate. It was quite endearing.

Jennifer Wedlock’s fourth-grade class at Adams Elementary School was

studying the various regions of California.

The class was split into four groups to cover the four regions -- the

coast, mountains, desert and Central Valley.

The groups were studying their assigned area and creating a visual

aid, which they then used to teach the rest of the class about that

region.

As I approached each group, students were eager to impart the

knowledge they had learned.

First, I went to the Central Valley group.

“The golden poppy grows there. That’s the state flower,” said a

serious-looking Fletcher Lambright, 9.

“We’re going to make a chart, then maybe put a picture down at the

bottom,” said Ryan Knapp, describing the process.

This same group of children was, in fact, more interested in creating

color patterns with their use of magic markers than getting the facts

down on paper.

The mountain folks had mountains of facts to share.

“Over half the land in California is covered in mountains,” said Wes

Barloon, 9.

“There are waterfalls,” added Mario Ayala, 9.

“Yosemite has the highest waterfall in the U.S. at 2,425 feet,” Wes

said.

All this knowledge and they couldn’t stop giggling as one group member

wrote “visin” instead of visit.

Despite the hysterical interaction of these groups, Wedlock said an

activity such as this, where students take charge of their learning, is

invaluable because they take ownership of their learning.

That fact was easy to see from the proud way in which they shared

their knowledge.