{"id":2454,"date":"2012-06-11T22:00:04","date_gmt":"2012-06-12T02:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=2454"},"modified":"2024-12-03T16:19:56","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T21:19:56","slug":"kent-meridian-elementary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=2454","title":{"rendered":"Kent Meridian Elementary"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/em>\"\"<\/a>Linda Burton posting from Kent, Washington <\/em>\u2013 \u201cWho likes to travel?\u201d I asked. Every hand went up; that means both hands from every kid; double the enthusiasm. I\u2019m visiting Mrs Macey\u2019s 4th<\/sup> grade class at grandson Sam\u2019s school, Kent Meridian Elementary; he’d help me set up the room before this happy bunch came back from recess. \u201cSo, did you know you are traveling right now?\u201d I continued. Summer vacation? Going home after school? \u201cNo, I mean, right NOW,\u201d I answered back. \u201cRight now, in this room, while you are sitting at your desks.\u201d A young man to my right caught the idea then, \u201cWe\u2019re orbiting the sun!\u201d \u201cCorrecto mundo!\u201d I praised. \u201cWe\u2019re traveling around the sun. Every time you have a birthday you\u2019ve circled one more time. I\u2019ve been around the sun 73 times already!\u201d Oo\u2019s and ah\u2019s, such a large number to comprehend. We discussed how many trips they\u2019d made so far; how many miles that was; an awesome fact. Then down to earth, my Journey Across America<\/em>. <\/p>\n

I talked about my car; a picture was projected on the wall \u2013 50 Capital Cities USA<\/em>; I talked about the traveling cats; I talked about the places I had been. I passed around a handout then; columns of numbers and dates and city names. \u201cThis is my schedule,\u201d I explained. \u201cYou can see I\u2019ve been in Salem, and I\u2019m going to Honolulu next. Sam\u2019s cousin in Shoreline is going with me. After that I\u2019ll be in your capital city, Olympia. And then, Juneau, Alaska. Guess who\u2019s going there with me?\u201d \u201cMe!\u201d answered Sam, looking around the room at his classmates, a big grin plastered on his face. \u201cI\u2019m going to Juneau with GMom in July.\u201d We talked about Alaska, looked at the chart. \u201cHow large is Juneau?\u201d I asked. 31,275! \u201cHow does that compare with the city you live in, Kent? The numbers for Kent are on the other side of the page.\u201d A flurry of paper shuffling. Kent is way bigger! 92,411! \"\"<\/a>Sam raised his hand. \u201cI want everyone to see the pictures,\u201d he said, referring to the photos I\u2019d placed on that back page. \u201cThe big one of my cousin and me by the map is my neighborhood. Behind the other pictures you can see my house.\u201d Nods from around the room.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow did you decide on your route?\u201d a question next. I talked about distance, and weather, explaining the plan to stay south in the winter and north in the summer months. \u201cAnd there is elevation to consider too,\u201d I added. \u201cYou live near Mt Rainier and almost every night the weather report tells us something about that. What is it?\u201d \u201cThe snow level,\u201d was the answer I got. \u201cExactly! Look at the \u201cElevation\u201d column on the chart. The capital cities that are very high will be colder and have more snow.\u201d Denver! Cheyenne! Santa Fe! \u201cSo you see,\u201d I explained, laser-lighting their location on the map, \u201cthese are cities in the Rocky Mountains that I am visiting before the winter snows begin.\u201d More nods.<\/p>\n

They were looking at the poem now and we\u2019re back to talking travel plans. \u201cLet\u2019s read it together,\u201d I said, \u201cwith a LOT of enthusiasm.\u201d And so they did!<\/p>\n

With my head full of brains and my shoes full of feet, Oh! the places I\u2019ll go! Oh! the people I\u2019ll meet! <\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cWrite your name below that,\u201d I suggested, \u201cand then write down THREE places you will go, at some time in your life. Pick out anywhere in the world you want to go.\u201d Heads lowered, serious thinking going on. We went around the room, each person telling one place on their list. \u201cNow, I want a picture of this traveling group!\u201d Mrs Macey directed, who to stand, who to kneel, I set the tripod up. Big smiles from all; then \u201cOh, one more thing!\u201d I said. I\u2019d almost forgotten about the books.<\/p>\n

I showed 50 State Capitols, Capitol Kitty<\/em>, and a 5th<\/sup> grade history book, different material, different styles. \u201cWhat would you like to know about the capital cities? What would you want to read?\u201d The three answers surprised and pleased me:<\/p>\n

(1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWrite about the cats and let them tell what they think about each city.\u201d<\/p>\n

(2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI want to read all the facts about the city so I can see what is different about each one.\u201d<\/p>\n

(3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI want to know what I will see when I get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The last bell of the day; time for them to go. A few lingered and continued to talk; to tell me where they\u2019d been, where they wanted to go; their family; their life. \u201cAre you happy about all the things you can do?\u201d I asked. The news is good. See all those arms in the air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Linda Burton posting from Kent, Washington \u2013 \u201cWho likes to travel?\u201d I asked. Every hand went up; that means both hands from every kid; double the enthusiasm. I\u2019m visiting Mrs Macey\u2019s 4th grade class at grandson Sam\u2019s school, Kent Meridian Elementary; he’d help me set up the room before this happy bunch came back from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4586],"tags":[750,3066,3068,748,751,749,3067,753,752],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2454"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6591,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454\/revisions\/6591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}