The great outdoors

The fourth and fifth grade wing at Mountain View Elementary School was recently transformed into an outdoor wonderland called Camp Read-a-lot. During the special three days, teachers infused the nature/camping theme into daily instruction to heighten student engagement and the enjoyment of learning.
 
With tents, sleeping bags, and faux campfires in classrooms, students engaged in a variety of activities that spanned all curriculum areas.
 
In math, for example, fourth-graders designed campgrounds and calculated the areas and perimeters of them. In addition, they practiced their multiplication and division using cards with camp-themed mystery pictures. In English language arts, the students used homemade fishing rods to fish for text passage cards from an inflatable pool. They then applied various comprehension strategies to the texts they caught. They also practiced their inferencing skills and went on a scavenger hunt to find domain vocabulary words related to camp.
 
Some classes also participated in a STEAM challenge to build a tent using toothpicks, aluminum foil, and marshmallows.
 
Of course, Camp-Read-a-lot featured a lot of reading. Students read a variety of books that were brought from home and borrowed from the library.
 
Fifth grade teacher Katie Goss made Camp-Read-a-lot tee shirts for all the camp counselors (i.e. teachers).