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Backcountry Camp Internet Briefing



For the Week of October 4-8



First, we need to go over some simple and helpful clues on the listserv practices. These suggestions will cut down on the volume of email you have to sort through coming from the list, and the size of the files your computer has to wait to receive.

1. Only post messages that are of interest to everyone to the list. If you are responding to a comment a teach posted, please direct that to their private email. That email address will always be up in the header as one of the FROM address. Do not send the mail as a cc to the teachers-l, just to the individual. This is also true when we ask for a reservation or feedback. Send that to camp@rain.org, not the list as a whole.

2. If you want to send picture files, please send any large files and attachments to camp@rain.org. If you have pictures you want fellow teachers to see, then you will need to mount them on your own server and create a link to them from the email. DO NOT attach them to the email. This is causing very long mail-read times for everyone.

You will soon see how much nicer this lets the list operate when it is honed down to messages of common interest to all. Please do announce class accomplishments, inventive hands-on projects, etc. We all gain from hearing about your successes !

The Week Ahead

Over the next month we move into specific studies of Native American life by tribal group - starting this week with the Chumash who lived on the remote Channel Islands and coastal mountain Backcountry. We will visit resources also under study by the parallel expedition on the Channel Islands, and you will find a great depth of materials to choose from. There are introductory pages, pages about food, trade, and language. Please select the pages you would like your students to cover given the time they have available, starting with at least the introductory pages. When there is an abundance of material, other teachers suggest having all students read the introductory page, and then divide in to groups : one can study the canoe and seafaring / trading activities, another the food and bounty, and yet another language. Then at week's end they can report to the class on their findings and, in this way, build on a new knowledge base for all members of the class.

Over in Science we are now ready to jump into California Dinosaurs ! Please have the students read these materials online in advance of the scheduled live chat with a California Dinosaur expert - Trail Guide Dick Hilton from Sierra College. Please have the class put together a group of four main questions to post during the chat. If you are not able to be online for the live chat, it is alright to post your questions earlier in the morning and come back and look for answers the next day. Chat time is 1-2pm on Thursday October 7th. Send reservations to camp@rain.org no later than Wednesday afternoon please.

In our Reading track, we are ready to start the book Ishi, Last of His Tribe. You have several options : if you have access to enough copies and are at an appropriate reading level, each student can read this book over the coming weeks. If you need to rely on the copy the Camp has provided, you can begin reading the book aloud progressing weekly. If you do not have time to read the entire book over the coming weeks, you can read from suggested excerpts that are detailed online. And if you would rather the students read the digest of the book that the camp has provided, that is available online and could be printed out for each student to read. Whichever method you use, there is an Ishi quiz available to test comprehension when students have completed their assigned reading or storytelling.

Hands-on activities this week include the construction of the Chumash tule houses using the paper models and recycled paper provided. We suggest adding colored pencil or crayon to the outer shag surface once the house is cut and glued together. With a house made by each student, you can begin to see the scale of a village coming together. In a few weeks they will also construct the tomol plank canoe and small basket that is part of the village scene. Then you will have the basic elements of a village diorama.