Spring Break Family Camp Out

For spring break, I went with some of my family down to Canyonlands for a three night camp out. We hiked through horseshoe canyon (which is the canyon where Aron Ralston cut off his arm) and found some totally sweet Pre-Anasazi Indian hyroglyphics dating to over 2,000 years ago. We also saw a dinosaur trace fossil. I have taught about fossils and Anasazi Indians in my class this year, so I had a great time showing my students some of the photos and telling them how I was able to become an archeologist and a paleontologist over the break.


The kids had an absolute time of their lives. They were such good sports and were sad to go home. Over the three days, we went through Little Wild Horse Canyon (slot canyons) and we went to Goblin Valley State Park. We went to Goblin Valley and played for hours during the day (kick the can, sardines, hide and go seek...). Then we went back in the evening with a full moon and flashlights. So much fun!




Little Wild Horse Canyon


Goblin Valley

We camped on BLM land, so we were able to make a fire and cook smores.

"100 Waffle Street"... The New and Improved Salt Lake City

In fourth grade, we cover Utah history. One of our main units is all about the Latter-day Saint pioneers that came to settle Utah Valley. One of my favorite activities all year is when we built our own handcart, bring supplies from home, pack it and make our way to the Salt Lake Valley.

The students bring many items that would potentially be packed in a handcart and we weight each item to make sure we don't go over the limit that each pioneer was allowed. Some items were very light and it was difficult to weigh them on my scale, so this student stood on the scale and we had her hold each item to determine the items weight.



Here are two of the boys ready to head to the valley!


The Salt Lake Valley when the pioneers came over, was just that... a valley. So, as a class, we metaphorically took our handcart across the plains and we traveled to the valley to create Salt Lake City. The students learn about the grid system of our roads and have to label them appropriately before we draw out plots of land for each student to build on. Some build homes and gardens, while others set up a grocery store, barber shop or a livery stable.

The day we were trying to label the roads, we were discussing how the temple is the center of the city and then all of the roads are named according to their location from the temple. For example, as you go one block west of the temple, the road is named 100 West. Two blocks east of the temple the street is named 200 East. I was trying to explain this concept to my students. My students often use the phrase "Never Eat Soggy Waffles" to remember which way is North and so forth. So when I asked my students what the street one block west of the temple would be called, one student yelled out "100 Waffle Street!"





We all started laughing hysterically. I decided that as long as the students knew that the REAL name of the street was 100 West, we would add Waffle street as part of the title for our classroom map in honor of this student. (Look closely at the pictures above). He thought it was pretty cool.







I was pretty impressed with how well our city turned out. We are leaving it up for a while. The kids have loved it. They also made mini handcarts that they wanted to park next to their homes and gardens. To finish up the unit, we took a field trip to "This is the Place State Park" where the kids got to pull a real handcart of their own.

Have I ever mentioned that I love my job?!

"We Don't Need No Stinkin' Truck"

So I finally purchased a table and chair set for my backyard. My roommates went with me and we were super stoked. However, the chairs wouldn't fit inside my car. We tried to think of friends that had a truck that could help us out. However, we decided we didn't need a truck. We are three incredible girls and all we needed was a little twine! Luckily I have a bike rack on top of my car, so we had something to tie the chairs to.

So there we were, parked directly in front of the doors at Big Lots with my roommate Aly yelling things like... "Anyone know how to tie a knot?" People would drive by really slow with their windows down laughing at us. The people walking into the store also thought it was pretty funny. As we drove home, Jen and Aly had both arms out the window holding on to the chairs to be safe. We were quite the spectacle, but the table and chairs made it home! It was awesome!

We don't need no "stinkin" truck!