Class Introduction Is your child up for the challenge? We are going to attempt to visit 48 of the 50 states on foot, virtually of course. In this class, we utilize daily activities and transcribe the energy related to those activities into mileage to help us track our real-life location and progression around the States. Each live class session is filled with factual information, geography, US trivia games, and American Sign Language. Your kiddos will learn ASL signs related to travel, counting, map regions, and the States. We will even learn how to sign the state anthem song for each individual state. _______________________________________________________________ What to Expect During the Live Class During our live sessions, we will: - Review our virtual State travel challenge progression on a map. - Watch two informational videos about our featured states for the week. - Play trivia games related to the states we have studied. - Learn to sign the state song for our live class focus states. - Engage in a geography challenge similar in style to "Are you smarter than a 5th grader." _______________________________________________________________ Out-of-Class Activities In addition to our live sessions, we cover two additional states each week outside of class. These activities are not for a grade and can be completed at the parent's discretion. - State Videos: Watch two weekly state videos in preparation for the next week's trivia game. - Mileage Submission: Submit weekly steps or mileage several days before our next class so I can update the travel map to accurately display our progress. - Creative Sharing: Students have the opportunity to send videos of themselves signing about the modes of transportation they used that week. _______________________________________________________________ How to Track Your Progress There are several ways to track steps. The most recommended is using a pedometer or a Fitbit. Since 2000 steps is roughly equivalent to a mile, students can convert their daily steps for easy number management. Alternatively, you can use a step conversion chart (which will be provided) to turn minutes of activity, such as dish washing or lawn mowing, into steps. _______________________________________________________________ Academic Integration This class is a great accompaniment for families studying US geography, math, or writing. - Math: Practice ratios by converting between metric and imperial systems, or use car odometer readings to solve real-life subtraction word problems. - Writing: Focus on friendly letter or postcard formatting by writing to a family member about our trip's adventures. - History: Integrate US history with geography to help kids make connections between the cultures and practices within each state. _______________________________________________________________ Class Values: * Collaboration - Students will work collaboratively to reach the common goal of traveling around the United States in just 12 weeks1 * Curiosity - As we travel and learn about different states, students' will have their curious minds sparked in a variety of ways. * Perseverance - As we strive to meet our traveling goal, students will need to persevere through imaginary rain, sleet, and snow, and as we travel to each state and keep up with their daily tracking and logging of steps and mileage.