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Backcountry Briefing
Welcome to Alta California !
In December, we made an effort to wrap up our Native California studies and are now ready to feature the dynamic Alta California period that saw the first European and American explorers and settlers come through the California Backcountry. The Camp has extensive Alta California resources ready for your use this month at http://www.rain.org/campinternet/backcountry/history/exploreland/ and we invite you to use the overview in Before the World Rushed In at http://www.rain.org/campinternet/backcountry/goldrush/before-world.html . From there you can take your students into studies of the first explorers of the California Backcountry - the mountain men, trappers, and wagon masters who first crossed the Sierras to bring families to California. The hardships were incredible, their courage amazing, and the results have shaped our State forever. We also include resources about the Mission and Rancho developments along the coast.
For reading we invite your students to become familiar with the legendary Zorro and his real life counterpart Joaquin Murrieta at http://www.rain.org/campinternet/backcountry/humanities/zorro/ and we will be adding one of the first original Zorro stories ever written - and never before on the Internet - to the Camp library later this month.
Live Chat - Early California !
This week our LIVE chat event is with Dr. Jackman from El Presidio and we have already sent out the invitation that you can print and send home to families - and bring your own family online too ! There are some great pirate stories to be told Also watch the main Camp homepage for a link to the same flyer that can be printed out. Can you guess what was the most asked for item in the early California ports ? this event is Thursday night, January 11th, 7-8pm. Please send questions in advance to camp@rain.org and we will post them for classes unable to attend the evening session.
Meteorology
You will find our weather section under Science at this link http://www.rain.org/campinternet/backcountry/science/meteorology/. And instructions on How to set Up Your Weather Station are available at http://www.rain.org/campinternet/backcountry/science/meteorology/station-setup.html.
We ask that you get your weather station set up as soon as possible, and then devise a method to have students take turn taking readings from the station - daily if possible, weekly at the least - and certainly for any day there is precipitation. Camp has hired a new GIS specialist who will begin working on a weather database and map in February, so we plan to gather weather information from classrooms January-April. We will also have the annual live TRAIL GUIDE chat with a national meteorologist later this month so stay tuned.
There are amazing weather stories about incredible BACKCOUNTRY WEATHER - John Muir offers us several - all available for your students to learn about online all month long. From his Wild Rise in the Tree to a frozen night on Mount Shasta, please share with your students these words of weathering storms in the Sierras and Cascades. See the collection at http://www.rain.org/campinternet/backcountry/humanities/weather-stories.html .
Teacher and Librarian Literature Tour
For the next two weeks of online teacher training, we ask EVERY TEACHER to come into the Teacher's Chat room and take the Camp literature tour. If you have a school librarian, please invite them to also take the tour. They can access it by using the private adult-only log in of campdemo and the password islbcsw. If your school would like to participate in a grant application to the State Library to bring more camp and reading resources to your school, please send an email to camp@rain.org or note your interest in the chat room. Technology Literacy can BUILD English Literacy ! http://www.rain.org/mailman/listinfo/camp00-bc-l
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